Where do you keep bed linen to stop it smelling musty?

[Darkestseasonofall]

No matter where I keep spare linen by the time I use it it often smells musty.
I tried those Lenor unstoppable beads, the smell was so overpowering it actually gave me a headache.
I like to wash and line dry bedclothes and put them back on the same day, so the spares are hanging around for a while admittedly, but I'm at a loss.

What temperature are you washing the bed linen at and on what kind of programme? I've only ever had things smell musty if they weren't dried quickly. This can be exacerbated by washing at a low temperature/on a quick wash which doesn't deal with bacteria effectively.

If none of that applies, try storing with scented drawer liners or sachets.

Try storing unwrapped bars of soap between linen, works for me.

I think it’s just the hanging around. I think it’s unavoidable. Maybe if you air it on the line it might go. But generally I think you need to stick to always putting it straight back on, or always use a set that had only been in the cupboard for a week or so.

I agree with PP, rotate the bedding instead of using one set all the time and the spare set hardly at all

I was just thinking this last night! I have lots of beautiful bedding and always end up using thr same set because if I don't, I have to wash 2 at once (the one that's on and a clean set from the cupboard that is clean but smells musty)

I've found this more with Egyptian cotton. I don't know if it's the tighter weave that traps more skin and bacteria.
I sorted out the airing cupboard yesterday and could smell it. I think boil wash is the only way but I'll try the soap bars idea.

I have never lived in a house with an airing cupboard, so don't know if they do anything special. I have an ottoman in which I put all my spare bedding and I use drawer liners on the base and sides. Not to everyone's taste, but i have no issue with my bedding smelling like my nan.

I have a big cupboard at the top of my stairs where i keep spare laundry and towels. They never smell musty no matter how long they hang around before being used.

Do you have a damp problem?

My aunt's clothing and bed linen always smelled musty - but they had a well next to the house and the damp crept in.

i like the sound of using unopened bars of soap.

Put ur sets together inside the pillowcase and put Lenore tumble dryer sheet in with then store wherever u have been

Some obvious suggestions, but are they completely dry when you put them away or could there by a damp patch at the back of the cupboard?

Rotating the sets you use definitely helps, nothing should be going musty after only a week in the cupboard/drawer/wherever you keep it.

I have never noticed any smell. Our house is quite warm usually and ours is kept in a cupboard in a bed room on the top floor which has a radiator inside the cupboard! I presume when the house was built it was exactly for that - that the bed sheets and towels would be in there and in a sense kept warm in their own little nest.

The smell isn’t quite musty. More dusty. I first noticed it as ‘loft smell’ when getting baby clothes down that had been there a year or so.
And now I notice it on bedding. They’re definitely bone dry when they get out away. It happens in the bedroom cupboard and in the plastic storage boxes under the bed too.
House is warm, loft is new and very well insulated and thermostat is on 21 all year during the day and 16 at night.

So I don’t think it’s dampness.

Wish I knew what it was. I do have a good sense of smell though.

Under the bed, we don't use any scented anything (we use an Ecoball). No smell problem.

I only use 100% cotton and I have two sets for summer (1 in use 1 in the wash), and 2 sets for winter. Never put away unless thoroughly dry. In summer I line dry, in winter I leave them in the airng cupboard. Bedding always smells fresh. I think you might be putting away slightly damp bedding.

I'd kill for an airing cupboard, I have fond memories of my Nans (and finding hidden Christmas presents in there too).
I hot wash on 90, good quality cotton bedding, line dried where possible or if not tumble dried to death, definitely not damp going away.
House is not damp, it's a 60s build so we'll insulated.
I've tried keeping in the divan (really musty there, I assumed due to lack of air circulation) and in the top of the wardrobe.
I think I may need to just alternate sets, but like everyone else we have favourite sets, especially the dc, and the spares are more for emergencies.
Thanks for all the tips though, I may try some sort of scented soap / sheets, but I worry they'll still be musty underneath the scent.

It depends what you mean by musty. That to me is a very specific smell caused by damp. I also think that our noses have been 'trained' to recognise the perfume of detergent/fabric conditioner as being 'clean'. That smell inevitably fades over time and I think the absence of it can make it seem that fabric that smells neutral, or of a faded version of that perfume, isn't clean. I keep our bed linen in the airing cupboard. It doesn't smell the same as when it's freshly washed, but I know it's not actually musty and once it's been on the bed for a few hours then there isn't much difference compared with washing straight off the line.

Maybe try keeping lavender sachets in with the bed linen if you want some scent or just airing them for a few hours before use?

This is driving me mad too OP.

We have an airing cupboard which has a hot water pipe. I don't see any damp, and yet the moisture absorbing crystals-thing I put in there does fill up.

I can't find anything in there that feels damp. And yet some things smell horribly musty.

I think once they're smelly they need a really long hot wash or they regress quickly after washing. But I've no idea why some smell and others don't. I've even got things on a shelf where some smell and others don't. And I had no problems for years up until very recently.

Pffttttt.

You don't need to wash bedding on 90! You'll destroy the elastic and any plastic snaps.

“Musty” = damp when folded / stored, or damp in the storage areas. Well insulated houses can still have damp, eg due to condensation.

I only resolved this by reducing the amount of sets I used and alternated them regular. However I also moved house... the old flat did suffer from damp

reallybadidea the musty things in our cupboard are bad to the point of being headache inducing, it's a whole other world compared to just 'not fresh'. I don't use scented softener and dislike the smell of that just as much.

I have this problem. Our house does suffer with damp. We have a dehumidifier, windows open all the time, heating on etc. but still musty.
I just leave them on a chair in the bedroom, can't put them in anything.

Need a pomander