A few years ago I was listening to some Sunday morning Radio 1 show with some DJ or other being all Sunday morning and chatty about nothing in particular and he asked his listeners a rhetorical question. Why, he asked, does my towel smell? His confusion lay in the sequence of events that lead to the use of his towel, principally that he showers, thus removing any bad smell from his body before it comes into contact with the towel. If he’s removing smell-related things in this process why after a week or so does the towel begin to smell?
I took one look at the radio muttering something like “well that’s fucking obvious” and continued with whatever it was I was doing but the unanswered question stayed with me. For years. Every time I wash my smelly towel, and frequently when I just look at a towel, the voice of this DJ hovers wafts through my brain. I mean. this must have been at least three years ago as I haven’t listened to Sunday morning Radio 1 for longer than that, but there he is, glorying in his cult-of-stupid chit-chat about smelly towels and there’s nothing I can do about it.
Except maybe if I blog the answer loud enough perhaps this phantom will hear and leave me alone. So, Mr DJ, the reason your towel smells is as follows. When you dry your body you rub tiny flakes of skin onto the towel. These then sit on the towel and, since the towel is wet, they go mouldy. After a week or so this will begin to smell. You can increase the time before smelling will occur by rapidly drying your towel, say on a radiator or by hanging it outside on a sunny day, and not storing it folded in a frequently damp place such as your shower room. I would assume that vigorously shaking the dry towel to dislodge any dead skin would help but to be honest haven’t tested this. Actually, I’ve not tested any of this – it’s just fucking obvious.
It’s also obvious why you haven’t listened to Sunday morning Radio 1 in three years!
It can’t be just the bits-rubbed-off factor. If you leave any damp clothes that you’ve just washed, but you leave it in the machine or all scrunched up, then it gets just the same smell as a week old towel from the bathroom.
Stale water doesn’t smell very pleasant either. Funny that.
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Washing on a low temperature also doesn’t help. I tend to stick my towel in the airing cupboard during winter to help it dry off and freshen up.
Of course, being paid Radio 1 Dj salary he’s probably paying someone else to do his washing – someone else who uses his towel to clean their dog or local pub toilets.
The answer here, old boy, is to find something else inordinately more inane and vastly more mindless to replace your meme obsession. I recommend blogging…
Funny – I just googled for the same thing and there’s only like a bazillion hits. Must be an epidemic.
Typical responses to fix the problem involve vinegar (white – distilled).
Some suggest using a cup; others just filling a Downey(R) ball and tossing it in.
Haven’t tried it yet, but towels ain’t as cheap as they used to be.
LNBruno
This site provides information, products and advice about how to clean cat urine odors and stains from mattresses, bedding, furniture, upholstery, floors, subfloors and ceramic tile.
Wooo! Could this be the new Working Gloves???