AIBU? To think that a lot of people aren't drying their washing properly these days?

[Oobiedoobiedo]

I notice a lot when I'm out and about people who haven't dried their washing properly *, and so it has that sour musty smell washing gets when it's wet too long or isn't getting enough air. To me it's a really "loud" smell, and I just wonder if people don't notice it? Or maybe don't care?

*disclaimer: I'm not critiquing people whose circumstances mean they can't dry them any other way, I have been there myself, but the people who could dry it correctly but don't.

It just puzzles me.

We don't have an airing cupboard there's a boiler in the kitchen and i think a hot water thing in the loft. I use a heated airer but even then stuff takes a while to dry, might look at a dehumidifier too.

How do you know?
I have no idea how many of my friends have airing cupboards. I hazard a guess that the ones with newer houses do not.

I always dried in a hallway. It's genetally room with the most air movement. It dried faster than in a normal room and didn't go stale.

My boiler is coming up for 23 years old and it’s STILL a condensing boiler which means we don’t have/need an airing cupboard with a big old tank of standing hot water in it. I can’t imagine new build houses have such things?

Our boiler is on the wall in the utility room. We have no airing cupboard and never have had.

It’s really interesting that lots of people on this thread say they don’t know what the smell is/can’t smell it.

I think I’ve always been over sensitive to smelling this -
I appreciate what people are saying re cost of living crisis and bad weather at this point in time, but I’ve always smelt this on people on buses, sat next to at work, etc if they have an umbrella or a raincoat that they’ve not dried properly and then have started wearing/using again.

To me it really stinks - but some people can’t smell it?

As others have said, once it’s in fabrics it can’t just be washed out in a regular wash - needs vinegar and a non-eco longer wash, at 60 if possible.

Interesting, thank you.

They do sound like a great idea.

I hang washing out when it's dry and have a tumble dryer for the winter (which I am reluctant to use, for eco reasons and also due to the risk of shrinkage) so a lot of the time in winter I have clothes horses up. But they are always in the way. Would love a designated cupboard to use to keep things out the way!

@RoseAndRose , I use about half a small cup (say about 60-75 ml) of crystals in the detergent drawer, and about the same of powder (rather less than I used to use pre pods) in the drum.

No airing cupboard here. The hot water tank is in the loft and the boiler is outside (in a sort of little shed attached to the side of the house).

No airing cupboard here either, reasonable sized house. Our boiler is in the garage, we have a megaflo type cylinder in the bathroom.
My Mum has one in her council house.
The thing with airing cupboards is they only work with inefficient older type cylinders to keep them warm. New cylinders don't give off any heat, although I guess you could fit a small radiator in one or run hot pipework through.

I think you're right OP, suspect it's a sign of the times. Poor housing, cost of living, the time of year and weather (plus more and more people live in urban areas and don't have outside space even if the weather were fine).

Dehumidifier was one of our most useful purchases. Appreciate though that it was quite expensive and obviously takes electricity to run (I don't think much though) and it massively speeds up drying times.

We previously lived in a flat, with a balcony, but we're told by the property management we weren't allowed to dry laundry on the balcony. Just why, such a stupid stupid rule. Everyone needs to dry their laundry, absolutely nothing unsightly about putting a clothes horse out on the balcony for a few hours whilst stuff dries, as opposed to potentially causing a damp problem inside the flat by always having washing drying.

This thread has made me reminiscent of the airing cupboard in my childhood home with the huge toasty boiler drum in in it. You’d get things out of it and they’d always feel warm. Shame they vanished.

This is also a good point - if both people are out of the house all day at work, you're a bit restricted when you can a) put the washing on in order to be at home to take it out the machine straight away, and then b) even if you have outside space can't necessarily risk putting it outside if you then won't be at home to take it in if it starts raining.

My neighbours have an interesting approach to laundry. They wash their clothes, hang them out on the line and then just leave them out there for days/weeks at a time come rain or shine! There's been school uniforms hanging out there for the past week, not sure what the kids are wearing to school. I imagine their clothes most be getting all mildew covered sitting out in the rain for so long. I often wonder if they wash it all again when they finally bring it in and then start the whole cycle again!

This. I got a new washing machine and dryer about a year ago, supposed to be the new versions of the ones I had (14/15 years old when they finally bit the dust) and to get the same performance I had before I've had to put both to the most extreme settings. Washing machine is on 40 wash for clothes, 60 for bedding and towels, extra rinse, with the time saver option else they would be about 4 and a half hours a load, and the dryer is set to bone dry or whatever the highest setting is. Why would I go to the bother of hanging it all up again when it's a bit damp? I could see the point of having an option to take it from a bit damp to totally dry - to finish it off when it's been on the line on a less than perfect drying day - but when I try to do that it just clicks off because not enough water vapour comes off the clothes in the time it takes to start checking it. I end up using the refresh option that probably heats the clothes past the point where they got dry!

I do think it’s a combination of washing on lower temps, liquid/capsule residue, leaving stuff in machine for ages before taking it out and not drying properly.

DD moved into a rented flat recently with a new looking washer. It was full of sludge and mould due to low temp washing with liquids/gel by owner. Machine stank and so did her clothes. We tried everything to clean it out but it still stinks. One of her friends had the same. People just don’t do 90 degree washes nowadays which clears the machine out.

I do an empty maintenance 90 degree wash every few weeks with washing machine cleaner or small amount of bleach. It’s a 4 hour cycle but I only leave it until it’s heated up fully for 15 mins or so, then put it on a rinse cycle which cuts that time in half.

We have a dryer and I’ve never not had one. Couldn’t imagine it. Normally hang most stuff (except for underwear /socks as it’s just a faff) and finish off for a few mins in dryer. Unashamedly will put whole loads through dryer occasionally if I cbarsed to hang it. Also spin stuff twice/three times to reduce drying time. Current dryer is so efficient, has an express drying cycle which dries towels, bedding, jeans in 35 mins!

Its terrible in this day and age that people have clothes drying inside for days causing damp, mould and smells. I can smell it from a mile off!

Thank you

I shall be trying it out in the coming week

I never understood why British homes dont have an outside roofed space for drying laundry. I am in Europe and most flats have a balcony, either their own or shared in older houses. With the humidity and frequent rainspells it would make sense.

I wash at 40°c and use powder. I was using tabs, but powder definitely smells better. I use a wee handful of unstoppable when I do bedding. I am lucky to have an airing cupboard that I put 2 clothes horses in. Everything smells lovely, including the airing cupboard. I do take towels off slightly damp and finish them in the dryer, because I hate crispy towels. I only do that once a week as I think the dryer is just so bad for the environment that I want to minimise the usage.

Out of interest, how do you know when your washing mashine heats up to the desired temperature?

I’d have thought a dehumidifier would be the best option for drying clothes indoors if you don’t have or want a tumble drier. We used one for a damp problem in the loft - amazing what it collected in a short time.

I don't think people 'air' clothes any more, maybe that's it?I line dry as often as possible then air clothes on the clothes horse for a minimum of 24 hours, even if I tumble dry I air them. My dd tumble drys then puts away, I notice her stuff has a particular smell, not bad or anything but noticeable.

Yes - my children who have flats and have to dry everything on airers in the kitchen/diner/living area. The lightweight gym stuff is OK but once they start wearing heavier hoodies or tracksuit bottoms or jumpers then they take so long to dry they smell musty. There isn't really any way around it so I encourage them to bring stuff home as much as possible so we can either hang it outside or finish it off in the dryer for 20 minutes.

Sometimes its down to them only having a full load once a week so the sweaty exercise stuff just festers. This doesn't worry me so much as my parents whose clothes often have a similar smell - my parents are in their late 70s, have no money worries, solar panels so electricity costs not an issue, and plenty of space to hang stuff outside to dry. But they insist on putting clothes on an airer after leaving them in the machine for a couple of days after being washed at 30 deg with ecover liquid. They do this with bed sheets too!

My washer isn't the most expensive around and about 2 years old but it doesn't have a 90 wash at all, highest it goes is 60.
I use it about 4/5 times a week, 2 full loads and then 2 half loads because I need to wash my uniforms for work every 2nd day and about once a month I run a 60 cycle with a washing machine cleaner and I leave the door open when it's not in use.
I have to pre treat my whites or anything with stains to get them clean and I dry in the spare room hanging stuff on hangers and the clothes horse and then I have a heater/dehumidifier that I run for a couple of hours with the window on night vent as well. It's got a timer as well which is a God send as I can put it on and not worry about remembering to turn it off.

It's cheaper than the dryer and I have a small dryer which only takes half a wash load at a time so takes less of my time transferring it all over as straight out of the washer and hung up to dry.

But sometimes if there's something particularly heavy and I don't increase the time the heater is on they do start to smell quite quickly and need washing again. Also if there's too much at one time and the air doesn't circulate enough.

My main issue is lack of time between work and everything else I need to do, I don't get in until late after work and as I live in a 1st floor flat, washing machine on at those times wouldn't be fair to my neighbour so I do sometimes do 3 lots on a day off and then have to find a way to dry it all.