One of the things I like about staying in hotels is the towels - you get a nice stack of thick, clean fluffy white towels. But have you ever noticed the particular smell that hotel towels always seem to have? It’s not an unpleasant smell - in fact I kind of like it as I associate it with the thick fluffy towels - but it’s kind of odd; difficult to describe but maybe slightly acidic, almost vinegary but not quite. The smell seems to be pretty much universal, at least among big chain business hotels.
No detergent or fabric conditioner I’ve ever come across smells like that, so what gives? Is there some kind of special hotel-towel detergent, or what? Or is this particular smell just a figment of my imagination?
I’d describe the smell as being similar to that of carbolic soap; I suspect they are boil-washed with very strong detergent to keep them nice and hygienic and pristine-looking.
I used to work at a hotel, and in a pinch, I washed towels once or twice.
The machines in which the towels are washed have various buttons on them, indicating which items are being washed. There are different soap conatainers attatched, and when a button is pushed, the machine dispenses the proper type of soap and proper temperature of water.
The soap is a commercial grade substance. When I worked there, it came in huge jugs, which was ordered from the company catalog along with other standard items like the shampoos and ashtrays. Many chains used this same catalog. (You’d just indicate which logo you needed on the stuff.) That’s why the smell is so consistant.
