Impact of Antibacterial Detergent on Used Towel Microbiomes at Species-level and its Effect on Malodor Control

The generation of malodor resulting from microbial transmission and re-exposure to soiled clothing and textiles during the laundry process is a persistent concern among consumers. While the use of antibacterial detergents has been shown to mitigate malodor generation in textiles, the impact of these detergents on microbial exchanges and their subsequent effect on malodor in textiles remains inadequately investigated. Here, we present the findings from a study examining the microbial exchanges at species-level resolution among used towels during laundry. This was conducted based on three independent wash batches comprising of 124 towel samples where the results revealed the homogenization of the microbiome among the post-wash and indoor dried towels that was dominated by known malodour producing micro-organisms. Overall, we have holistically demonstrated that the microbial exchanges during laundry process is likely the result of mechanical agitation via towel-to-towel contact and water-to-towel. Importantly, laundering the towels with an antibacterial detergent, attenuated the microbial transmission, and significantly reduced the abundance of multiple malodor-producing bacteria detected in post-wash and indoor-dried towels as compared to the control where a non-antibacterial detergent was used. These led to a significant reduction of malodorous volatile organic compounds produced from the washed towels, which was noticeably perceived by both naive sensory evaluation and GC-MS measurement. These findings provide mechanistic insights into the formation of bacteria-caused malodor formation in washed clothes, and demonstrated the crucial role of antibacterial detergent in the control of malodor generation.