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.

I can't stand wet washing hanging around the house it smells musty after a day of waiting for it to dry.

I put anything that doesn't matter about shrinkage in the drier (towels/bedding/socks etc).

Everything else goes on the line outside as-long as it isn't raining. I leave it there all day then when I bring it in at night it is either dry, or almost dry. The almost dry stuff goes on the maiden overnight and is usually dry for the following morning.

On days where it isn't possible to put it outside, I hang everything on the radiator and blast it all for an hour with the heating on. Once I've turned the heating off I leave everything hung on radiators until they go cold. I rotate everything around as it starts to dry then anything that is still a bit damp goes on the maiden to finish off.

I'd rather suck up the cost of having the heating on for an hour than have damp smelly washing hanging round the house forever and a day.

I had years of this - I couldn't afford to put the heating on, I couldn't afford to run the washing machine on a long cycle so had to use short cycles on a low temp as much as possible.

How do you know if it's for those reasons or just because they can't be bothered?

This time of year is terrible. The heating isn't on and it's so wet - and has been all summer (wettest July ever since records began here).

“Vomit”? Yeah right

That poor woman

Ours sometimes smells. It’s barely stopped raining here since June, we can’t afford to put the heating on, our modern radiators are tiny anyway, and we both work full time so we don’t have time to be sat around waiting to immediately get the washing out of the machine!

This thread has made me order a heated drying rail.

I either dry any washing on the outside line, inside line in bathroom, or tumble dry. Have never left damp laundry around unless it was drying in a scheduled location

I think washing on cold has a lot to do with it as well, I don’t feel our clothes are clean smelling on less than 40 or these 30 min quick washes

Can anyone explain to me why washing & dishwashing capsules have to be coloured?

I never wash anything below 40 degrees, ever!
Do not give a shit about ‘the environment’

I don't use capsules as they work out more expensive than having the heat on for an hour. I use powder and sometimes white vinegar in the conditioner drawer. I gave up using conditioner years ago when an engineer told me that it gunges up all the pipes and hidden areas in the machine and contributes to loads of call-outs.

I wash most loads at 30 but will use Napisan for underwear or DP's workout clothes. I give my machine a 90-degree cottons wash once a month to kill any residual bacteria.

I don't own a tumble dryer but I do use an airer with a de-humidifier if it's damp. I leave a window open and the door to the room I'm drying in closed.

My clothes never go away unless they're bone dry. If clothes are musty they're harbouring bacteria or mildew spores. Who wants to wear clothes that are alive with bugs? My daughter calls those types of smells bacteria farts!

I never put anything in the drawer of the washing machine

Poor woman my arse, why should everyone else suffer because she refused to wash and worse musty smelling clothes. Don't feel to sorry for her as she was done for stealing nearly 200k from her employer. With that amount of money she could afford clean clothes and shower gel.

Right. So her being smelly was neither here nor there really.

I'm from a tropical country (so clothes get dry to the point of the fabric stiffening, and literally get a nice "sun smell" within an hour or two) and when I first encountered this smell everywhere in the UK I was taken aback. (Please note I'm not trying to act superior or anything, I'm sure there are many culture shocks that go both ways!) I now constantly worry about my own clothes stinking too!

I think people here get "nose blind" to the smell though, maybe because they've never really smelt odourless clothes. That includes my British partner, who's otherwise very very clean. He tends to describe my clothes (hung indoors in our UK flat) as "bone dry" when to me they're still a bit damp. There won't be a smell as yet, but I worry that if I fold it up that horrible pong will emerge. So I leave my clothes hanging and spaced out for as long as possible, a nice big indoor obstacle course that drives my partner nuts haha

*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.

Well you are..because how do you know who are the people that can’t due to circumstances beyond their control against those that just don’t care and don’t want to dry it by your standards? Do you need to ask people in public when your nose is mildly inconvenienced how they dry their washing? 👀😂 I find your post smacks of superiority and snobbishness.

To be honest it might not even be the washing/drying part of it. Our house has damp issues (a lot of people will have that now not using heating, drying washing inside instead of tumbling it etc) and has a constant odour. I can wash all my clothes at high temperatures, clean the machine regularly, dry on the line in the blistering sun but at the end of the day, they will still smell because of where we have to store them. Not much can be done about that unless we spend thousands (that we don't have) dealing with the cavity and replastering the house, replacing carpets and soft furnishings so here we are. We did the roof and hoping it improves some. I lost most of my sense of smell a couple of years ago due to covid so now I can't even tell how bad the smell is (my partner is nose blind to the smell anyway as when I moved in he totally wasn't aware! I had a big problem with it). In one sense it's a blessing but also I have to try really hard to not think about it or I get really down. Interesting that you've noticed it on lots of people. Makes me feel a tiny bit better I suppose.

When I dry my washing inside (no tumble dryer) it doesn't smell. I had no central heating for 3 years so my house was also always cold. But I also always have windows or the french doors open all year round (so the cats can go in and out as they please) so there is always fresh air circulating in my flat.

My ex dries his inside and uses a tumble dryer and smells musty so I don't know what causes it.

@PuppyMonkey my heated airer works a treat. I don’t use the cover though I just switch it on and leave the window in that room on the latch and my clothes dry fully in a couple of hours (even a full rack)

it’s weird because the clothes where the heat bars have been feel warm and the other bits of the clothes feel damp but if I switch the maiden off and then check when the clothes have all cooled fully they will be fully dry, I think your mind just tricks you

I have a work colleague who has a strange smell to her, what my old dad would've described as fusty. Definitely like damp washing. I think another colleague was going to say something to the team leader about her but haven't heard anything more about it. I wouldn't have the heart to tell someone in charge about it though as you don't know what some people's living conditions are like. Although she has also smelt of BO and I find that less excusable. A flannel and can of deodorant doesn't cost the earth.

I’ve used them for years. My clothes smell wonderful. I sniff my clean, dry laundry all the time because I love it 🤣

Some people don't notice this smell. DP will happily dry and wear clothes that have sat in the machine overnight whereas I absolutely won't.

Soda crystals aren’t expensive and a scoop in with your detergent works well. I had 2 t shirts this summer that had the fusty smell, one cheap cotton, one more expensive and heavyweight. A couple of washes with the crystals in got rid of it. I add them to every 2 or 3 washes now. I stopped using pods as they left a slime on the drum.

Can't say as I've noticed this smell at all.

What I do notice is smokers, they fucking stink. Was in a busy train carriage and didn't notice any smell until the last person got on who had clearly just smoked a cigarette. They ought to be jet-washed.

I think fabric conditioner contributes and holds the smell in