Why do my clothes smell?

[Weirdfan]

Not freshly washed stuff, things that have been in the wardrobe a while and not a musty smell, really unpleasant, like a sour, dirty smell? Is my washer just not getting things properly clean and once the detergent smell has faded the 'real' smell is noticeable? My washer is old but the drum doesn't smell and it's still removing obvious marks and stains so really not sure, would switching to anti bacterial detergent help? Currently using bio powder so would hope that was powerful enough but maybe not? Keep having to rewash stuff if it's been in the wardrobe more than a few weeks, happening with DD's stuff too so not the wardrobe either, any ideas anyone?

Are they still slightly damp before you put them away?

Do you wash them at low temperatures? I had terrible problems with things smelling sour (particularly school uniform) and it turned out that DH had been washing them at 30 or 40*. I found that washing things at higher temperatures every so often sorted it.

What are these clothes made of? Manmade fibres hold smells more than natural fibres. What type of wash programme are you using? Short, low temperature washes don't kill bacteria effectively. Not making sure things are completely dry before you put them away or not allowing enough air circulation when they are drying can mean they become smelly.

Damp?

No, I'm really careful about that, it's not that musty, damp smell you'd get from that either, it genuinely smells dirty.

I dry pretty much all our clothes on the line or on an airer in a well ventilated area and then chuck in the dryer (instead of ironing, I hate ironing!) when dry or very nearly dry to finish off. They then tend to sit in a folded pile on top of the tumble dryer where it's warm for a day or so before I get round to putting them away but everything feels properly dry and smells fresh when I'm putting it away and will still smell fine if used again in the next 3-4 weeks, it's stuff that's been there longer than that which has the bad smell.

I do wash mainly at 40 but it's all stuff that says 40 on the label, will I not ruin them if I wash at higher temperatures? Towels that haven't been used in a while have also had the smell come to think of it (kept in airing cupboard not wardrobe) and I always wash them at 60 so not sure it can be that either

Is the wardrobe damp or mouldy?

Oh sorry just read your towels smell aswell but are kept somewhere else.. hmm

Do you keep shoes in the wardrobe? Took me ages to work out that keeping shoes in the built in wardrobe was making the thing smell 🙄

I had this. Put my washer on an empty 90 degree wash with a tablet and also washed my fabric conditioner drawer out. Sorted it.

When I was using gel in the washing machine my clothes smelt awful, switched to powder and not had an issue since ( I did have to get a new washing machine too though as the gel gunk had stuck to all the pipes and ruined it )

Sorry just read your original post properly 🙄

Do you use powder or liquid? I think powder on a long wash at least 40 is much better

Oh and biological powder

Are you adding enough detergent? I always add more than it says on the bottle or things don’t smell right. One dose is usually for a 4-5kg wash try doubling up!

I do the empty 90 cycle thing fairly frequently and have to clean the drawer regularly or it gets clogged using the powder. Confident it's not anything in the wardrobe as it's happening with stuff in DD's wardrobe and the airing cupboard too, it's baffling isn't it? I think it has to be my washer, last engineer said it was very gunked up (hard water area and I don't use calgon) but it's under one of those extended warranty policies so they just keep fixing it as best they can.

Clothes that have gone away damp don't end up smelling musty.

Damp clothes end up smelling like dirty vomit. It's a very distinctive smell and 'musty' isn't it.

So I'd wager that your drier is kaput and your washing isn't going away completely dry.

Yep, I use bio powder, long cycles and MIL still tells me off for using more powder than it says even though I'm 46! I think I might need to accept I need a new washing machine

I could have wrote this after finding mine have started to get like it. I am keeping shoes in there so will take those out and am using a stronger softener, as been using the baby pure one, and wondered if that's why.

Its probably the machine if it's regularly gunked up.

How is your drier BTW? I have a washer dryer and I think it smells a bit funny whenever I use the dryer. Like a metallic smell. I only ever use it occasionally for towels and bedding though, so can live with it.

Hi,
Just a tip I use laundry disinfectant like the dettol laundry cleanser and Ive found it makes a big difference to how the laundry smells. I like to wash at low temperatures but still have all the bacteria gone which was making things smell!

Towels come out bone dry DontBiteTheBoobThatFeedsYou and you can feel if towels are still damp so pretty sure dryer is working ok. Maybe I'm not leaving clothes in the dryer long enough when I put them in to finish off/de-crease though, will try doing them for longer. Mind you towels have ended up with the smell too and I'm sure they're properly dry when they go into the airing cupboard so that doesn't really make sense either You're not far out with your description of the smell though so I'll definitely look at my drying process in case I'm missing something.

Dryer seems fine Santanomore, it's newer than the washer and has had a new pump fairly recently (smell problem was happening well before and is still happening after so not connected), no funny smells and dries in about the time I would expect, stuff feels dry when it comes out. I will try switching Snowwhite83, I did wonder if the Dettol stuff might help. Thanks for helping me try to figure this out, it's frustrating when I try so hard to make sure we all have nice clean clothes.

I found this with some summer clothing that had been put away for a few months since a holiday. Washed, dried and ironed beforehand but had a weird smell a few weeks later. Haven't been able to fathom out why.

I got DD's summer quilt out a few weeks ago, had been freshly washed and line-dried before bagging and putting in the top of her wardrobe last autumn, stunk to high heaven!