We were up at family friend's house a week ago, and my two daughter's brought their swimsuits for a soak in the hot tub. When we gathered our things to leave, my daughters put their wet suits into a plastic grocery bag. Until yesterday, we had totally forgotten about the suits. Uh, oh!
Do you know what happens when you leave wet swimsuits in a plastic bag for a week? The smell is horrible. Mildew is the culprit.
So, you've left your swimsuit or wet towel in a plastic bag or hamper all week. Mildew can make a big stink! How do you refresh your suit or towel? From cheapest to most expensive, here are 5 stink eliminating suggestions for you.
1) This is an old-timers solution for mildew. Fill a bathroom sink with lukewarm water amd 1 cup of white vinegar plus 1 tablespoon of salt. Add suits or towels (or anything with mildew smell), and swish around for a minute. Allow to soak for 30 minutes. (The salt and vinegar will kill the mildew.)
Drain the sink, press out most of the water, but do not rinse. Place item(s) in sun for several hours, until dry. Sun exposure will further kill any remaining mildew.
Wash item(s) in warm, soapy water and rinse very thoroughly. Repeat the rinse cycle. Dry thoroughly, and if possible, in the sun. (Hanging any laundry to dry in the sun will help remove mildew, leaving you with fresh-smelling linen and clothing.)
Most of the time, this will do the trick.
2) If it's your towel that has a persistent smell, and you are using fabric softener, try omitting the fabric softener, adding a 1/2 cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle instead, then sun drying. For some reason, fabric softeners, while smelling fragrant at first, can leave just enough moisture in the towel so that as it sits in the linen closet, it develops a bit of mildew smell.
3) Still stinkin' big time? Put the offensive item(s) into the washer, and fill with water to the appropriate fill-to line. Add 1 cup of baking soda. Run the machine just long enough to fully saturate the item(s) with the baking soda/water. Shut the machine off and allow to stand for 3 hours. Start machine back up and allow to run it's full cycle. Fill the machine with water and detergent, and run on warmest setting the fabric can handle. Baking soda is a natural deodorizer, and in most cases will rid clothing/linens of its malodors.
4) Not working yet? Try substituting Oxy Clean (or other oxygenated product), or borax, for the baking soda in the above instructions.
5) If the odor persists even further, consider one of the brands of hunting detergents designed to hide the hunter's human scent (products such as Scent-A-Way, available where hunting equipment and clothing are sold, a bit pricey, $10 for smallest bottle, I recommend trying everything else first).
If you notice a mildew smell on all your laundry, it could be that your machine needs cleaning. For a very detailed cleaning procedure that any normal person can do with everyday supplies, check out How to Clean Your Washing Machine.
For my two daughters' swimsuits, I went with #1 on the stink eliminating list. Lots of vinegar, lots of sun and a wash and double rinse. This was enough to solve the stink of the swimsuits.
Have you had success getting the stink out of laundry at your house? Tell me what you used.
