White vinegar is a cleaning staple for many, especially when it comes to laundry – specifically towels.
Mrs Hinch fans love using distilled white vinegar when cleaning their towels, especially when they start to smell musty.
Brenna Ryan, a cleaning expert at Victorian Plumbing, has weighed in on her thoughts of using this staple household ingredient on towels and how the hack should be carried out properly.
She said: “We love this hack from Mrs Hinch fans, who are adding white wine vinegar into the washing machine when washing towels.
“This is a quick and easy way to stop any musty smells appearing in your bathroom.”
“To try the hack yourself, simply add half a cup of white wine vinegar into the drum of your washing machine. This helps to loosen up the towel’s fibres and remove any dirt and bacteria trapped in them.”
One thing that Brenna claims is a must when using white vinegar to remove musty smells and ensure towels come out of the was soft and fluffy is to use the right temperature.
She said: “One tip I would recommend when doing this is to increase the heat of your wash, though washing clothes can often be done on colder washes when washing towels increasing the heat to 40 to 60 degrees can help to ensure they are fully clean, soft and free of the bacteria which causes this musty smell.”
Don’t worry if the towels still have a vinegar smell when coming out of the washing machine, this will go during drying.
White vinegar can be used to clean towels with a soak and hand wash. It is naturally anti-bacterial and acidic meaning it will remove sweat, oils, other stains and also residue from shower gels and shampoo.
Fill a sink, bucket or bath with enough warm water to cover your towels and add one cup of white vinegar for every bucket of water used.
Simply soak your towels for 30 minutes in the solution and then rub them between your hands to remove any marks or stains and ensure the liquid has fully penetrated the fabric. After 30 minutes, rinse, squeeze, shake and hang out to dry.
Aside from white vinegar, Brenna suggested that households can add bicarbonate of soda into their wash to help give towels a helping hand, increasing freshness and eliminating odours.
Similar to vinegar, baking soda is used in several alternative cleaning methods. Add half a cup of baking soda to your wash and it will react with any softener residue and dissolve it. In addition, it eliminates certain odours accrued from dampness.
Using baking soda may be a better option than vinegar for those worried about odours and contamination, as it is a more neutral substance that will not linger in any noticeable way.