AIBU, My clothes stink and I blame DH?

[Jojimoji]

DH took early retirement and as such is now responsible for almost all household tasks as I still have to work.

This is mostly marvellous, as I come home to clean house, dinners made, dogs walked .......and clothes washed. Herein lies the problem.

I workout almost every day. Intense workouts and I sweat a lot and my gym wear ends up pretty wet. I did the washing for almost 30 years in this family and never had a problem, but DH insists on not doing a load until there is enough dirty laundry to fill the machine stuffed to the gills. No half or three quarter loads permitted on his watch. And worst of all, he washes everything at 30 degrees. This just doesn't cut the mustard with my gym clothes.. often they've been rotting in the basket for a couple of days and then they are put through a coldish wash, bacteria remains, I put them on again, start to sweat and then I STINK. Or rather the clothes stink.

I've told him they need washing at a higher temperature. I've no problem separating my washing and doing my own. DH says that this is completely unreasonable. He pointed out the label on the clothes ( which does inexplicably actually advise to wash at 30!! ) says that it's unreasonable to separate my clothes for separate washes as the machine won't be full and then he reckons washing at 40 is worse for the clothes, and even reckons 30 degrees is more environmentally friendly and he is saving the planet.

YABU..let him wash the stuff at 30 and just put up with stinking out the gym

YANBU ..those clothes need washing at least 40 degrees. DH is wrong and you must wrestle the responsibility for the laundry away from this mad man.

Another option is to get him to add dettol antibacterial laundry sanitiser to the loads with sports wear. We wash our sports gear at 30degrees and did have the issue you are having but since adding the antibacterial liquid it’s no longer a problem 🙂

I use that dettol in-wash liquid and it is great for gym stuff. I can wait for a few days and everything comes out smelling good on a low temp. Performance tshirts, shorts- anything without lycra I stick in a hot wash with towels- normally my partners stuff so less invested in its longevity. It does the job.

I am the queen of the washing machine. I hate washing not done 'my way', when it involves my clothes playing a game of sardines followed by crazy unbalanced spin cycle. My clothes have also come out lemon fresh because my partner is constantly confused by dishwater and clothes tabs. Good job he excels in other areas....

Just put some antibac detergent in the wash. Putting on half a load is so wasteful.

Has anyone ever actually weighted a load of washing?

I get super sweaty at the gym too. I used to wash at 30 cuz of the environment but they always still smelt a bit. It wasn’t until I started washing at 40 that they started to smell fresh.

I also only put a wash on when the machine is full though so sometimes clothes would be left a couple of days. I don’t think this but makes a difference at least not to my clothes. It was upping to 40 degrees that did. I wash everything at 40 now.

30 degrees is not on, but it sounds like you were running a machine that was half full, which is really bad!

Also, I hope people remind me not to retire early if it means I have to be a housewife.

it isn't more environmentally friendly if you have to replace it because it stinks.

We used eco washing products for years before we realised how quickly we were having to replace kids white polo shirts because the stains weren't coming out!

Wash it yourself or tell him he can replace it for you....on an ongoing basis!

Have you discovered the spray for gym
kit yet? A mix of lemon and vinegar? On Amazon? It is brilliant!

I’d still be insisting on a 40 degree wash though. Even with the spray that I put on the pits and bits of all our t shirts and gym kit!

DH had a habit of putting his car detailing cloths through the washing machine. And everything that came out of it for days after stank of petro chemicals. I went mad but he kept on doing it. So now I use the child lock so he can't put a cycle on. He stands there most confused and asking what's wrong with the machine, and I shrug saying well it worked OK earlier....

I put the laundry in the machine before I go to bed and set the timer for it to start about 6am. Hubby then sorts it out when cycle ends either by drying it outside on the line if it’s a nice day or putting on the maiden or in the tumble dryer on rainy days. There is no way I would want all my laundry done at 30. 😬 It sounds rank and I would tell him so, don’t put up with it.

Just do your own washing, don’t even discuss it, put it on when needed at the temperature that is needed

easy

not worth arguing about

you are a free person and do not have to justify every micro decision in your life just because you are married

That's you told @Jojimoji

Not sure if anyone has suggested washing soda yet but that's a good option to power up your wash.i think it's alkaline so it wears out your clothes quicker but it gets rid of the residue. Probably best in this case to soak them between bringing home and putting them in, rather than adding to the whole wash, but you can do either.

I had a housemate who used to let her sweaty workout clothes sit for days and wash all together on a cold wash.

When she used the dryer the entire laundry room smelt like stale sweat. I told her to put methylated spirits in with her wash. It opens up the fabric fibres to allow the mold spores to be removed by the detergent.

This is something you need to do with synthetic fabrics as they hold smells.

A colleague of mine confirmed this is what you’re meant to do to combat these smells - he worked for decades in the garment industry (buying fabrics).

Washing soda will ruin her gym gear. It strips the colours off the fabric. I’ve made this mistake before when washing brand new clothes. All the colour was stripped. Washing soda is only for towels, white sheets and kitchen cloths.

Do you mean soda crystals?
They are used for degreasing
I wouldn't have thought they'd strip colour

I second antibac liquids for washing.

He is not wrong yo stuff the machine btw. It helps preserve clothes when it's more stuffed apparently

Just do your own on a quick wash @40 degrees Add some laundry sanitizer. I hate sports kit festering. We have cycle and running kit here plus sports towels. Has the washing machine somehow become his?

This is my future.
Even now DH occasionally gets a bee in his bonnet about reinventing a perfectly standard task.

Generally this involves all machines being absolutely rammed and delayed.

So the dishwasher won't be run after dinner but will be super stacked and waiting for a cereal bowl.

I embrace the 'good to try new things, shame it doesn't work and I had to use the mega expensive, wasteful 70 cycle to make up for it'.
So a shit open sandwich statement. (Shit sandwich - praise, shit filling, praise)

Yes just put it on straight away. The fact it is festering is half the problem. You can probably also get some kind of sanitising detergent for gym clothes which should help.

I love the word festering.
My clothes are definitely festering.

Are you frightened of him op? Just wash your own gym wear and tell him to fuck off if he says anything.

Yes,
the washing machine
the dryer
The dishwasher
The oven
The hoover...
They are all now his.
And I couldn't be happier *

*Except for the festering .

Also @Jojimoji machines being full or not goes by weight. Not volume. So a few pairs of jeans is quite heavy. If he is going by how full it looks, he might be over-loading it.

The point is surely that if he is not washing the stuff effectively then he is causing a much greater waste of money and planetary resources than would be the case using your methods. That includes both leaving your clothes to grow loads of bacteria and failing to wash it at the right temperature.