My washing smells like NOTHING

[Ladyoftheapple]

Someone please tell me where I am going wrong. For years I have been washing and for years my washing has smelt like nothing or even slightly just off 🤔 this is whether I line dry or tumble dry, if I tumble dry, it has that funny tumble dry smell but nothing else.

I wash on 40 degrees, sometimes hotter if the washing is extra dirty.

I put in plenty of non-bio detergent and fabric softener. I just use a regular Tesco fabric softener which smells lovely in the bottle but nothing once I've washed and dried. My Nan uses the same one and her washing smells lovely. I've had new washing machines and tumble dryers due to previous ones breaking and that made no difference

Please save me

I have this problem too. Wondered if it's to do with living in a very hard water area. One thing I used to do many years ago as a teenager was to spray my tops with perfume as I put them out to dry. Seems a bit extreme now and I no longer have the necessary disposable income to use perfume unsparingly- but it was effective!

The only fabric conditioner I have found that I like and actually last smell wise is Comfort Strawberry & Lily.

I can't stand those scent beads and I recently tipped an entire bottle of fabric conditioner when I couldn't get my usual and bought something that smelled nice in the bottle. Unfortunately it just made my washing smell like stale sweat and I had to wash it all again!

For reference my fabric conditioner goes in the middle section??

Also not gone nose blind as have checked with friends who definitely say my clothes smell of nothing

Do you measure it or just free pour? The middle section is designed as a siphon so once the liquid goes above that lower blue section then it will all immediately drain out

Couldn't agree more

Yes clean… fresh off the line etc ☺️

I wouldn’t say others smell badly, there’s been many times when I’ve been in the class for parent and child activities and I can definitely smell other peoples fabric conditioner 🤷🏼‍♀️ I also smell a mix of perfumes, deodorants etc. I can’t say in the whole time I’ve had school children I’ve ever encountered a child who smelled badly in their classes.

Some people like it, some people don’t. I’m in the team of I enjoy smelling my fabric conditioner. As I mentioned, I use a little of it as it is a stronger scent.

Definitely, because the quick wash cycles are designed for about 1/4 of a normal load size, not very dirty clothes, and therefore use much less water.

Try a normal cycle and look to see if you have a time adjust or speed up button. Also see how long it actually takes - I think those times they show are really just estimates. But 2 hours seems like a reasonable amount of time, anyway.

@CoffeeWithHer

😆 Unfortunately no lottery win here either.... I think it's just a habit I've picked up from my mum.

Softener is gross! Makes everything feel weird and greasy.
I love a crisp sheet or a stiff shirt.
You just need to rotate your laundry detergent. (as in swamp brands not put it in the wrong way round...)

Ha snap! It really is lovely.

@McGregor33 haha. It's good I guess?! I've very sensitive skin so I guess maybe most of the stuff I use is minimally fragranced.
Bar of soap, spray of Chanel. Fairy non bio in the wash.
My favourite smells are quite weird actually. I love fresh tarmac and petrol smell 🤣

BTW it's not adverts that make me want nice smelling washing, I like it when I stand near somebody in a queue or something and I can smell the washing powder on their clothes, or when I buy things second hand and they smell all clean and scented, or when SIL does a load of washing for me and it smells lovely. (I have asked SIL to show me exactly what she does and what detergent she uses and no luck!)

Changing brands didn't work so I don't think I was nose blind, although I can notice a scent on some clothes that I've packed away in cupboards, not all of them. Straight out of the machine, sometimes a load would smell faintly of sort of pasta/starch, and socks. I think I wasn't using enough detergent and/or was putting too many clothes in at once, because once I've put those clothes through another wash they have been better. Older machines definitely seem better at this so I do think water amount is a huge culprit.

There is a way to adjust how much water goes into the cycle at all if you feel brave enough to take the top off and adjust it with a screwdriver. I haven't gone this far as the machine is new and I don't want to void the warranty, but if I had an old machine which was already out of warranty, I'd probably try it. Youtube will tell you how to do this.

It is the nicest smelling one I’ve found and until then nothing would’ve convinced me to move away from the all expensive beads, gels and conditioners!

Its also never caused my baby to react and she seems to react to fresh air 😂 fresh tarmac is actually one of my favourites! Or the smell of the sea!

I fear the majority are missing the OP's point!

She wants her washing to smell.

Sorry I am no help as eczema limits what we can use and I have long since been able to stop smelling my own laundry. Always admire other people's though!

@Sia8899 what?!! The fabric conditioner just goes down the drain if I just pour it in?!!! Which is what I always do 😱😱

I love laundry smelling of chemicals😂

I use Ariel pods, lenor detergent and scent beads if they are on offer.

I think the key is not to overfill the washing machine. If I've chucked too much in the drum the smell isn't as strong.

Strong scented washing powder is the worst for asthma & eczema sufferers too.

Nose blindness

I can go better than you, OP. My husband’s clothes are washed in the same loads as mine. His have a lovely fresh laundry scent, mine do not. I can only assume I woman it away.

Weird. Could it be a fabric thing? Do you tend to wear the same fabrics as him or not?

Mine’s the same. I’d go to my mum’s and you would get a lovely fresh laundry smell. I can smell it a bit if I use fabric softener but not much.

Good, OP! Why do you want it to smell of anything? Fabric conditioner has a vile smell, so that's really best avoided.

We have a new machine, regularly hot wash or use the washing machine cleaner.

use plenty of cheap bio powder (Lidl or Asda) and usually no conditioner. Sometimes a tiny bit of fairy conditioner.

always smells nice

Ive had this problem in the past too, I usually try switching brands and see if it makes any difference, sometimes it works : The new Fairy Outdoorable Cherry Blossom fragrance is lovely.

Oh no, I've just bought DH a lambswool sweater from Woolover for his birthday 🙈