And Another Thing…(Giveaway!) *CLOSED*

As long as we’re on the subject of towels and towel issues…

(Ok, so we’re not really on that subject, but we were at some point, so let’s pretend we still are. By the way, I still haven’t bought a new towel rack.)

(I know.)

It seems that it is a frequent occurrence to find my kitchen towel soaking wet. And half the time, my bathroom towel (yes, the single, solitary one hanging by “my” sink) is sopping wet too. How in the world does that happen?

I’ll tell you how. I have learned that some people can use a towel and leave it damp. Others use it for the same purpose and leave it soggy. How exactly that happens, I can’t really explain. But it does.

And do you know what happens when a towel that’s soaking wet ends up sitting on the counter like this?It gets stinky, that’s what. You know, that musty, towel-that-never-really-dries smell. And you can wash it. But that smell rears its ugly head once the towel gets wet again. And then your husband washes his hands seven times, trying to get the smell off, when he’s just putting the smell back on there with the wet towel he’s using to “dry” his hands.

Oh, that’s just at my house?

The fact still remains that towels that are well-used sometimes smell less than fresh, especially if you don’t use a lot of heavily-scented laundry products (which I don’t.) However, I’d like to introduce you to a product that is changing the smell of towels everywhere (or at least my house).

Smelly Towel Cleaner.

Smelly Towel is a brand new product from the people at Smelly Washer, and I have been testing it for the past couple of months. It’s very unassuming, with simple packaging. The bottle is small and doesn’t take up a ton of space on my laundry shelf. I opened it up and immediately loved the citrus scent. It was a little clumpy, but I am not dissuaded by clumps, so it wasn’t a big deal to me. I love that it’s all natural, too. I’ve been trying to use fewer chemicals around the house, and am very comfortable adding something with all-natural ingredients to my cleaning stash.

The first time I used Smelly Towel, I just threw it in with a load of regular bath towels. The bottom of the washer was wet and I heard it start fizzing when I poured it in. I was surprised, but also pleased because it made me feel like it was doing something! I hadn’t thought these particular towels were stinky, but when I buried my nose in them fresh out of the dryer, they were especially fresh – something I hadn’t noticed before.

Then I quit messing around and got down and dirty. I have some kitchen washrags that I use to wipe Caedmon down after mealtimes. Usually I’ll pull one out in the morning, use it throughout the day to clean him up after he eats, then toss it into the laundry after dinner. Those things get some heavy use. And they don’t always smell the freshest since they are used mercilessly to wipe a boy clean, sometimes from head to toe. But after going through the wash with Smelly Towel, they smelled fresh and clean. In fact, when I was folding them, I took one to Husband for a quick sniff-test. He agreed that they were much better smelling than usual.

But I got a chance to really put Smelly Towel to the test a couple of weeks ago when we had some “yadda yadda yadda” going on around here. I know it’s not made to get puke smell out of stuff, but I thought I’d give it a shot. Hey, the first load of “yadda” laundry went in at about 2am, and I’m likely to get wild and crazy if I’m up past midnight…just like a gremlin. And you know what? It got the puke smell out. Completely. With a good sniff test, there was no yeah-it’s-clean-but-still-maybe-smells-a-little-funny-smell. Caedmon’s blankets and sheets and all the stuff I used to clean all the “yadda yadda” came out of the dryer smelling as if it had never seen the likes of the grossness that had been thrust upon it the night before.

And I’m happy to report that Husband no longer washes his hands seven times to get off a smell that comes from the kitchen towel. He might still wash his hands seven times, but at least it’s not for that reason.

I do have to be careful about laundry products, because my guys have sensitive skin. That’s why I don’t use heavily-scented stuff in the laundry. Smelly Towel Cleaner has not bothered their skin at all.

Smelly Towel Cleaner isn’t available for purchase yet, but it will have a similar price point to Smelly Washer ($16.99 + $5 shipping). I know it seems like kind of an expensive purchase, and before I’d tried it I probably would’ve thought it was too expensive and I didn’t need it. Wait. Knowing how cheap thrifty I am, I definitely would’ve thought it too expensive. But now I am convinced it is worth it. Besides, you only use about a Tablespoon of the stuff in each load (which, conveniently, is a cap full, so no measuring!). I have used my bottle of Smelly Towel Cleaner quite a few times and have hardly put a dent in it. A bottle of it is going to last a long time.

So why would I tell you about a product you can’t buy yet? Because you can win a bottle of your own right here, courtesy of the nice people over at Smelly Washer and Smelly Towel!

To Enter:

• Leave a comment telling me about your stinky towels. Make sure to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win!

For additional entries (you can do any or all):

• Follow my blog/subscribe and leave a separate comment.
• Follow me on Twitter and leave a separate comment letting me know your Twitter username.
• Tweet, Facebook Status or blog about this giveaway. Leave a comment with a link.
• Add my sweet new button to your blog and leave a comment with a link.

The Details: Contest open to residents of the US and Canada 18 years or older. Entries will be closed on Wednesday, March 31 at 10:00pm CST. Winner will be chosen by random.org and announced on Thursday, April 1, 2010. Winner will be notified by email and have 48 hours to respond. If no response, another winner will be chosen.

Disclaimer: SmellyWasher.com sponsored this giveaway by providing the giveaway prize and bottle of Smelly Towel Cleaner for me to sample and review, but did not edit or preview this post. All experiences and opinions are my own – and ya’ll know I have enough to go around. To see more, click here.

And for more Works for Me Wednsday, head on over to We Are THAT Family.