only help my unbelief

I’m a very particular person, about some things. For example, I can’t abide getting anything on my hands, but I’m OK if my bed is left unmade in the morning (although I do like the feeling of a made bed). When my boyfriend was in town over Christmas break, he was very amused when I refused to come near him after he got grease from my George Foreman grill on his shirt. I explained that as soon as I’m aware of any sort of spot, stain or mark on any article of clothing that I’m wearing, I have to change. If I am in a place where I can’t change, I will spend the entire time until I can change thinking about how much I can’t wait to change.

That said, I’m particular about my towels. I bought five towels when I went off to college, which to some is a bit much, but I need to have one towel to put on my head and one to dry off my body. This is necessary because my hair retains so much water, if I only have one towel, my body never really gets dry, and I get water all over whatever I put on.

Additionally, I cannot tolerate any sort of smell in my towels. The first thing I do when I get out of the shower is dry off my face, and if I smell any sort of mold or unpleasant odor, I will use that towel, but when I’m done, I’ll put it in the dirty clothes. I now actually have seven towels (two were a gift), which is good, because I don’t have to wash my towels very often, even if some are smelling moldy.

But after having them for a few years, I’ve started noticing I have to wash them more often. I used to wash them all every few weeks or so, but the moldy smell started coming back more quickly. But then – while reading the Heloise column in the paper over break, I found a remedy. Apparently, washing your towels in white vinegar removes the smell.

I forgot about this remedy until yesterday, when I was down to my last two towels and both were smelling moldy. But I typed “vinegar mold towels” into Google search and quickly came up with instructions on how to perform the moldy-smell-removing task.

I took my towels out of the dryer this morning, and they smelled fresher than they have in a long time.

I contemplated for a few moments how I could make this experience have any sort of spiritual or eternal value, and decided it would be a stretch. Instead, this is a practical post for any of you who have moldy towels.