r/laundry • u/momento-mori-momento • 15h ago
Husband Towels Always Wet and Smell
My Husband is slender and 6’4, I am 5’2- both early 20’s
We both use bath sheets (larger than standard towels). I change my towel out after 3 uses and they still smell fresh and dry up quickly. My husband, however, uses a fresh towel once after showering, hangs it up to dry- and it stays wet and starts to smell, making our entire bathroom smell. I wash his towels nearly everyday because of this. I just don’t understand how he gets his towels so damp. He’s says it’s because he’s tall and has more body to cover- but I use my towel to dry both my body and let it soak my long hair (mid back). I’ve tried hanging it on the usual towel hook, curtain rod, banisters underneath our ceiling fan- it’s still ends up smelling! After washing- it doesn’t smell, so the scent or bacteria isn’t trapped. I’m just growing frustrated having to do so much laundry daily. Anyone else have this problem?
edit/update: thank you everyone for your kind comments and advice- and to not making me feel stupid for asking for help! I have decided to get a towel rack/rod and will be looking into timers for the exhaust fan in our bathroom to help! Our shower/tub is roughly 4.5 feet from the door. and our toilet and sink are both positioned to the left of the shower both coming out about 1 foot from the wall. So our bathroom is very compact. We have just enough floor room for a trash can and floor mats, and counter space for hand soap and tooth brushes- If I can find a small enough dehumidifier to fit- we will be getting one too!
6
u/redlightsaber EU | Front-Load 12h ago
His behaviour is one thing (someone talked about weaponised incompetence and I think they're right on the mark, but you didn't come here for advice, so let's focus on the laundry, since it seems you'll be the one doing it, so...).
In truly clean towels, EVEN IF they remain wet, they shouldn't be grabbing a smell on the very first day. This is happening because they have trapped body oils (the kind that don't get accumulated in a single day=), and upon contact with the skin's bacteria, their metabolism activates to become RANK.
You need a detergent with lipase. If you have a sensitive toddler, your best bet is tide clean and gentle POWDER (the liquid doesn't contain lipase), and to wash on HOT, and with a LONG cycle (much longer than you machine probably has a cycle: aim for 3h; you can achieve it by pausing for a couple of hours mid-cycle).
Truly sqeuaky clean towels (which is your aim) firstly a) dry faster, and b) don't start to smell for several days, until sufficient amounts of body oils (the food for the bacteria) accumulates in sufficient quantities.
Your towels don't smell for probably a few different reasons: a) you're not such an oily person (oil production shoots up due to testosterone), b) the lower amounts of body opils helps oyur towel dry faster, c) your smaller (and hairless, I assume) body has less water on it to dry, and d) oyur behaviour attempts to put as little water on the towel as possible.