What causes clothes to go smelly when they are drying?

[Meglet]

I often end up with smelly clothes once they are dry so I have to re-wash and dry them again . It only seems to happen on the airer.

What causes it? Is it just when it stays damp for too long? I don't seem to have any air circulation in my house so clothes can be damp on the airer for a day or so unless I whack the heating up full blast.

Yes its the moisture making the clothes fusty.Like wet towels.It happens to me when I leave things too long in the laundry basket on a wet day (no tumble drier).

thought so. I do have a tumble dryer but can't put all my cheap primark tat clothes in there.

Nice warm house it is then.

I spoke to my washing machine repair man about this and he says it's a build up of sludge (nice, I know) from washing powder or liquid that hasn't properly dissolved so it doesn't get fully rinsed away from the machine.
Apparantly it's down to us washing at low temperatures and the answer is to run the machine on its hottest setting with a tiny bit of bleach in the drawer every 10 washes or so.
My man said he sees this all the time nowadays and the machines he services are full of mouldy sludge squidging round in the bottom of them!
I've swapped from using 'eco' washing liquid to normal (supermarket own) non-bio and I also use a 'stain buster' like vanish (with bleach for whites, without for coloureds). Since I started using the 'stain busters' regularly I've not had the horrible musty smell.

Yes,straight on the radiators,although I run out of room,annoyingly.I have a hanging rail and things dry a bit faster on that than on the clothes horse,so that might be something to consider.

It's mould. My mother called it 'wetthendry'.

You should open the window in the room where you're drying the clothes and make sure there's plenty of air circulating. An extra spin in the washer can cut the drying time considerably.

ooo, that's interesting about the sludgy washing machines. I do try and do a hot wash once a week, but fail. Generally I do 2 short washes a day on 30 /40 degrees. Will make an effort with more hot washes and see if it helps over winter.

I run out of radiator room too, and airer room so just stick it all on the washing line so it doesn't get crumpled.

ooo am going to put mine on a hot wash now, thanks!

Thanks for this, I have the same problem. Will try the hot wash!

Dont put toomany clothes onto the airer...if it is too full then the air cant circulate either.

It is to do with the drying not the washing of your clothes as other posters have said.

I dont have a tumble dryer either and it is a pain when the wether is wet and i cant get it outside.