I had towels that were sitting on the basement floor when we had a late spring snow and subsequent fast thaw. The towels got wet and smelly and I didn't realize the situation for a while. I will say a couple of things briefly. I tried Febreeze and it didn't seem to help at all. I tried vinegar in with the whole wash cycle and it also didn't seem to help much. A 2nd and 3rd wash did seem to do the trick, but some towels are clean, but still have small spots on them. I hope that the spots lessen with further washings.