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Bath Towels Have a Stinky Metallic Smell?

OK I realize this question has been on going on here for years, but here's what I've got. About a 9 months ago our bath towels began having this smell, almost like a pee smell or a strongly metallic type smell. It is absolutely the worst thing to pop out of the shower and bury your face in a towel that smells that way.

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My disabled dad said he could smell it in his clothes and beard and as soon as one of his face towels got wet. (These face towels are kept in a separate 1/2 bath in his room, but there is only one full bath in house.) The smell on him is confirmed by a 3rd party. My clothes I don't smell until I break a good sweat, but even then that smell is different. It is more of a musty smell which I know is from having one or two sweaty shirts at the bottom of the pile and then forgetting and not washing for 3 or 4 days. (I am single so its just me doing just my laundry.) My disabled mother has no smell on any of her clothes, but confirms that yes the towels stink. It is not the white ones and I assume it's because they are bleached.

Now a little more history. 1 year ago my father fell ill and came to live with me. He demanded a new septic system for whatever reason which was a disaster from the moment he picked up the phone to call an installer. Needless to say 3 weeks later I noticed the ground was really wet at the back door and so I pulled off some skirting to have a look and wow there was three weeks worth of raw sewage under my house. (No exaggeration, 2100 square ft of 3-4 inches of sewage was not going into tank, but instead blew a clean out off underneath because it was barely on cause it was supposed to become a vent pipe, but was forgotten. The main line was clogged and so the sewer went to the path of least resistance.

I fixed it and dug a trench to drain the sewage only to have it happen again, but this time it pulled the washer drain pipe out of the wall from underneath because of all the weight of sewage again backed up and that pipe runs the full length of the house. So I ran the washer drain and bath tub to its own line and it goes out to the field. (I live really far out in the country and seeing it is classified as gray water the health guy said it was fine.) This reduced the stress on the septic and the leach field and hopefully stopped the clogging.

I left all the skirting off the house over the summer and fall to air it out. There were no more problems. A few months after that we got the smell in the towels. So during the septic issue I had to replace wax rings because of the stress that the 3 week clog put on them. When I did I noticed that the subfloor was black and wet from the wax ring leaking. I couldn't replace it because there was a lot of tile that I just put down over both bathrooms so I soaked it in bleach let her dry for a few and hoped for the best.

So when the smell arrived in the towels I thought it may be from the wood cause of where the towels were stored they could possibly be getting some air from an access shaft or tunnel that was used long ago to retrieve dirty laundry since it wasn't sealed off. When I went in to seal it, yes you could smell the same smell. So it seemed. So I went at it caulking all shelves in the linen closet, all drain holes in the vanity, all supply line holes, all bathroom trim, tub drain, and all.

Still the towels stunk. So we washed a load at my grandmother's and they came back with no smell. I work as a service technician on home appliances so I knew this was no fabric softener or stagnant water smell. Those will gag you. This one just makes you crinkle your nose the whole time, but still unpleasant. So I replaced the water heater. That anode rod inside the water heater was way past deteriorated it was gone completely. You know the one that they put in there that is supposed to keep it from smelling because whatever reacts with the rod instead of reacting with the tank. I am not sure of the chemistry there, but none the less. Oh, I also replaced this because I first drained the tank and was gonna rinse it good and when I drained it the last several gallons were black and it emitted the same smell of pee or metallic smell. It is not a raw sewage smell, but more like a treated sewage kinda or like on of those public restrooms where you walk in and it looks like somebody did the hokey pokey while trying to pee and nobody cleaned it just let it dry, but mixed with a copper penny smell. The rinse didn't help my smell. Maybe a little. So I replaced the tank with a new high dollar one. And it seemed like that worked. Conveniently the washer went out soon after and so I replaced it. My dad got better so he moved back to his home, but not long before he left the smell slowly came back. Some towels, the worst ones never really lost the smell. But the house had begun to smell and it's gone and not came back. But some towels do. Now I don't know if they are new or maybe some of the ones that didn't get so smelly the first time so we saved em or what, but they have the smell and it seems to be slowly getting worse in them.

So I got a new tank, new washer, sealed leaks, and any drain near the towel storage or washer is run to a over land flow system with no smell and completely separate from septic. My grandmother is on same water system where we washed that one load to see if it was our water source. I have lived here for 20 years and before that my great grandfather live here for like 80 years and this is the first time this has happened. What could it possibly be? I don't wanna cover it up or take the smell out so much as find the source and fix it.

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Gold Feedback Medal for All Time! 949 Feedbacks
May 22, 20170 found this helpful
Best Answer

Well, i will have to say - you have been having some very unpleasant odor problems but I do not believe it is rust in your washer as you just stated you had bought a new washer.

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You say that you and your grandmother have the same water source but I'm sure you have different piping from your well to your house. I'm only saying this as I believe you will have to start at the first source of water and go from there.
You have not said anything about the quality of your drinking water so I'm assuming you are not having problems here? I first though it would have to be your hot water heater as these give nasty smells when they go bad but you have now replaced this so it has to be something else. Did you replace the lines from the water heater to your washer? Do you have the same problems whether you use hot or cold water in your wash? Have you changed laundry detergent during this time?
I am glad you are draining your washer and sink to another area as I believe this is a good move (wish I could do this again) but since it seems you may have a very old septic tank (and field?
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can't remember what you said about this) you may still have a problem sometime in the future and may eventually have to move your septic to another area. I'm saying this because I lived in an area similar to what you describe and due to the age and condition of my septic system, I did have to get a completely new system.
My son will be visiting me later and since he has had a lot of experience (ugh!) with this sort of thing, I will ask him if he has any suggestions for you to try.
We did have some inspectors from our county extension service come to our property and test the ground and they did have some helpful suggestions but this is something to ponder about before doing that.
Maybe someone will come along that has some helpful suggestions.

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Anonymous
May 24, 20170 found this helpful
Best Answer

We discovered the source was the water heater. When that rod that is in the tank is completely gone then the chemicals in the water begin to react with the tank causing an awful odor ....... but only in your hot water. Problem is the smell remains long after you have actually your problem. Solution to the smell AFTER we locate the source was BORAX.

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bleach worked but only on whites for obvious reasons, ammonia did nothing, vinegar also did nothing, didn't get to try baking soda cause I had some borax from when my niece was making slime for science and figured hey wth.... and presto, ONE WAS AND EVEN WITH NO DETERGENT JUST BORAX AND WATER.

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February 5, 20190 found this helpful

I have a tankless hot water heater. Do they have the same rod you are talking about? Your answer makes more sense to me than anything else I have read.

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Bronze Answer Medal for All Time! 242 Answers
May 22, 20170 found this helpful
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Not sure I would have an answer that would help, but I would like to make a suggestion. It seems to me that you have done pretty much everything that you could think of to get rid of the source. Kudos to you! Now I wonder if maybe you could try soaking and then washing them with a cup or so of baking soda in every washer load of towels for a bit.

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I have found that baking soda in the wash cycle helps with all sorts of odors with good results. It's cheap enough!... and definitely worth the try!

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Diamond Post Medal for All Time! 1,246 Posts
May 22, 20170 found this helpful
Best Answer

there might be too much iron in your water supply. try a softener.

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Gold Post Medal for All Time! 677 Posts
May 21, 20170 found this helpful

Examine your washer. You may have a rusty part.

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Anonymous
May 24, 20170 found this helpful

Washer has been replaced

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August 15, 20180 found this helpful

I have had the same issue and cannot find the answer. It is only on some towels and not on any of our clothes. It is driving me nuts to try and figure out the answer.

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January 1, 20190 found this helpful

Clearly your pipes are haunted.Who ya gonna call?

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October 2, 20200 found this helpful

I am having an identical problem! Im on city water, and I replaced my hot water heater. It did seem to make it better for a while, but the smell is slowly coming back.

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It is kind of like a copper penny smell. Did you eventually find a solution or the cause?

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