Removing Old, Unidentifiable Stain?

[danemodsandy]

Here's a question for Launderess or someone else with some serious laundry chops:

I have a set of kitchen dish towels that I recently retrieved from storage, where they'd been for maybe six or seven years (they were basically lost, LOL). Ten of the dozen were fine with regular laundering using detergent and chlorine bleach. But two have tannish stains of unidentified origin, and have not come clean. They were clean when put away, but were stained when re-discovered. It is possible that mildew is the culprit, but I do not know that for sure.

Does anyone have any tips on dealing with a stain when you dunno what it is?

 

[danemodsandy]

P.S.:

The towels are 100% cotton, in white. Shoulda said that, huh?

 

[toggleswitch]

Mascul-out

 

[gansky1]

Give them a soak in warm/hot water and Glisten dishwasher cleaner - I used some on a few towels today (see clothesline thread) and they came out great!

 

[bingwsguy]

I thought I was seeing things

I would also like to know what causes those stains and how to remove them as I have had the same problem with white napkins/tablecloths. When ironed and put away they were not there, then after 6 months or so, they "magically" appeared. Nothing would remove them for me...

 

[MrX]

It's definitely mildew.

You need to put them into a washing machine on a long cycle with plenty of a good quality biological detergent that contains oxygen bleach.

i.e. Persil, Ariel, Omo etc. I assume in the US, some of the Tide HE or All HE type detergents might be similar.

A 60C wash should suffice, but you could go hotter if the teatowels will survive a boil wash.

If you're using a top loader:
Put the clothes set the machine to hot cotton cycle. When it gets to the end of the agitation part of the wash. Turn it off and leave it soaking for a good long time.
Restart the machine on a short cotton wash and let it rinse and spin out.
Should do the trick without using chlorine if it's a good enzyme detergent with oxygen bleach.

If it's a Front Loader - wash on 60C + cotton cycle.