Laundry and deodorant help please

[Itsfab]

I am noticing that when I am ironing Dh and the DCs shirts the heat from the iron makes the shirts give off a less than fragrant odour. Clearly that detergent isn't sufficient. Another shirt I ironed tonight smelt of the bold capsule I washed it in which is fine. The others were washed in persil powder.

DS uses Lynx. DD uses kids fresh from boots or sanex. She takes offence whenever I mention she isn't as fresh smelling as could be.

Do I need to wash at a higher temp, use different detergent or something else and what can I do about DD who has only just stopped moaning about having to shower daily and "doesn't care" if she is the smelly kid who gets teased. Clearly I care and make her wash but the laundry is also a problem.

It's fab - look at the details on your machine, often the longer washes are actually more economical and use less water that the fast washes. On ours the 40min wash is the worst for water consumption and the Eco wash takes 2.50hrs

That's very useful, thank you. I will have to have a more thorough look for the instruction book as it doesn't state water usage on the machine itself.

its the same on my dishwasher - my Eco wash is longer than the standard wash but uses less energy/water

I have two, they are never happy, being told what to do

Omw, I would be so confused as what detergent to use too if I lived in UK. Here we get off the top of my head about 5 brands, and there will be a choice of automatic not so foamy or top loader/twin tub/handwash type much more foamy. Only very recently has a liquid version come out.

I much prefer powder to liquid.

Soap wise - with a teen boy he only uses bars of soap. Those with a bit of anti-bacterial ingredients in them, like Dettol soap, Protex, or Lifebuoy (yes we still get that ).

The Ariel and the Dettol combo seems to have worked as there was no pong on the few shirts ironed so fair. More to do so will see how they are.

Is there a huge difference between 40 and 60 as I am worried about the children's school uniform, PE kit and my bras shrinking.

bio powder is your friend (any really, there is not mich difference between them)
have you done a maintenance wash on the mashine?

and step away from the iron. waste of time, space and dnergy!

60 kills most bacteria, 40 doesn't

I do do maintenance washing and ironing is a necessity. Scruffy uniform is not allowed nor would DH want to go to work in creased shirts. I don't iron anything of mine or any home clothes.

Use powder, not liquid.
Wash at 60 or put the Dettol laundry cleaner in the fabric softener compartment if things must be washed at 40.
Run the machine on a standard wash, not a quick wash. Only use a quick wash. for clean clothes that need to be freshened up, e.g. out of season stuff that's sat in a suitcase for a while (but was clean when it went into the suitcase).
Sunlight breaks down organic stains (any stains from stuff that goes into or comes out of your body, so tomato or other food stains, pee / poo / sweat etc). You can put clothes next to whichever window gets most sun if you can't hang stuff outside. It may take a few days but the stains will fade even indoors if they are at a sunny window.
If there's a build up of deodorant-type product on the clothes already then try soaking them in a solution of bicarbonate of soda or the vanish-type products you can buy.

Also if only certain people in your family have the problem, it could be that those people need to wash their bodies more and rely on deodorants and anti-perspirants a bit less. Also check if the people affected are wearing natural fibres like cotton (good) or man-made fibres like polyester (bad).
Another idea is to use those laundry products for washing sports kit.

I have had a similar problem with my ds's shirts, i worry about washing at 60 if it shrinks stuff.

I don't iron clothes unless I need to, but it is another weapon in your arsenal because the heat and steam have an antibacterial effect. So it's not daft to iron tea towels etc should you want to.

Halo sports wash - only £4 for a big bottle in Sainsbury's. It's been recommended on here many times and works really well. Don't know how it is in relation to sensitive skin tho'.

Thanks for the thread Itsfab, I came on MN to start one just like this!

Shirts, vests and t-shirts generally pongy (dh and dc), and I need to launder dc pyjamas after one wear. I will get some white vinegar and see how we get on. We use non-bio at 40, but I tend to do whites at 60. Might try the Zoflora or the Dettol laundry additive too.

Dh has stains under the arms on his work shirts, any ideas how to get rid of these? I have put conc. laundry liquid on the pits and let them sit for a bit before washing, but no joy really.

Dc also has lots of coloured clothing, which goes into a 40 wash with non-bio or bio, whichever I have with me at the time. The smell usually goes after washing.

Used a roll-on with dc, but the ball got quite pongy, and although I ask dc to wash armpits in the morning (normally bathes at night, we have 3 to get ready in the mornings, so it's all a bit rushed), on school days it can all be too rushed.

On MN advice, have swapped the roll-ons for a Mitchum 48h stick deodorant, hopefully it will be effective. I don't want dc being picked on at school.

I have washed twice on 60 with the Ariel excel gel and Dettol laundry cleanser and it has helped. I also picked up some Zoflora in the pound shop yesterday but will have to reread the thread as can't remember what I am meant to do with it. Can't remember if I have tried the vinegar yet.

Still an issue with DD. She does not like me speaking to her about hygiene and says no one goes around sniffing her when at school. She is taking it personally and is very annoyed when I say she is going through puberty now and isn't going to be as fresh as she was. She doesn't care but I do and need to find a way to get her to understand without being unkind and upsetting her. Showers are happening most nights not so that is something.

Any ideas for shampoo would be great as her hair never looks clean for more than a short time. I assume okay to wash every day though she will not be happy about it! She has a lot of thick hair and rarely brushes it properly so it gets knotted and frizzy and has refused to have it cut for months as she wants it long. I have told her if she does not keep it clean and brushed she will have to have it cut.

I've read the whole thread and am puzzled.

Bacteria cause a smell on people when they react with sweat and this smell can pervade clothes of course.

But the bacteria are not on the clothes themselves to cause a smell?
www.antiperspirantsinfo.com/en/all-about-sweat/why-does-sweat-smell.aspx

The smell is caused when the bacteria on the skin mixes with the sweat/ gunge from our apocrine glands ( see link)

The bacteria are probably inactive once the garment is not being worn because it's body bacteria that causes the smell.

The whole point of washing clothes is not to get rid of bacteria- there are billions of bacteria in the air and on us all the time and the minute anything is taken out of a washing machine bacteria will land on it. But they aren't the bacteria responsible for smelly sweat- they live only on our body under the pits, groin etc.

The solution is to use a good enough antiperspirant to stop the sweat in the first place, but if this doesn't always work, wash the clothes on a hot enough wash to remove the residue of sweat and stale antiperspirant.

As apocrine gland sweat is greasy ( see link) then a bio laundry product is going to be best and a hot wash. You don't need do anything to 'kill' bacteria.

I also think OP that you may be overloading your machine. This will limit the agitation and may mean clothes are not getting a good rinse.

I am sure I've read that a decent load is 6 shirts and that any items that are mixed fabrics ( ie polyester and cotton) should have more space in the machine .
I'd never mix loads of items: mine usual mix is 2 bath towels, a small guest towel and a bath mat as one wash on 60C, a set of undies and socks as another ( maybe 6 pairs underpants and 6 pairs knickers and 6 pairs socks; half a dozen shirts ( 100% cotton) as another wash.
Bedding is one king size sheet plus 2 pillow slips as one load, one king size duvet cover as another load.

I've got a mid-range Miele machine which uses the right amount of water for the load as it weighs the clothes.

Blinking heck, if I had to put such minimal amounts on the machine I would do nothing but run the machine. My children have all clean clothes and pyjamas every day.

Washing all towels and bath mats together is not advisable.

I do struggle to get the king size duvet cover, sheet and 4 pillow cases in but it does all fit. I will look at putting less in though and give it a go. I don't have a half load wash and would never put on only half a machine.

Are you on a water meter?

I'm wondering why you are stingy on the water use and bundle so much into the machine. I'd never put a king size duvet, sheet and 4 pillowcases in together- they'd barely move in the space let alone get an adequate rinse.

This is possibly why the clothes are not coming out clean because the water isn't getting through them enough to wash them.

why do they have new pyjamas daily? Most people would wear them for several days, surely? Do you have a clean nightie every day?

Why would you not put 2 bath towels and a bath mat in at the same time?
Our bath mat is 100% cotton, same as towels and same colour ( white)- so no problem as far as I can see.

when you say they have ALL clean clothes daily do you mean they have a new pair of trousers, skirt, jumper, blouse/ shirt, underwear and nightwear every day?

There really is no need for that surely? Clean undies yes, clean blouse/ shirt yes, but not jumpers/ sweatshirts and skirt/ trousers and nightwear?

You might be better off having fewer changes of clothes and washing smaller loads.

How rude .

I am not stingy. I do hate wasting water, we should all be more careful with our water usage, and I am just doing what I thought was right. Unfortunately I did not have a mother or father to teach me how to keep house so I am just muddling though.

I am not going to list each item of clothing that have every day but yes, the children get through a lot of clothes.

It is about the heavy weight of the whole machine being filled with towels.

I wasn't being rude- not intentionally. But you seem to have a problem that has 2 sides to it- the family creating more laundry than is 'reasonable', and then washing too much of it together so that the water can't circulate freely enough.

Instead of you always trying to manage the dirty clothes pile, it might help if they wear something more than once- that's all. I know loads of young people think nothing of wearing something once then throwing it in the laundry basket- without any consideration for the person who has to wash it or the expense of doing so. Maybe they need a reality check on this to help you?

I didn't suggest putting all towels and bath mats together. I said I put 2 bath towels and 1 bath mat in the machine.

Having spent my childhood in dirty clothes I am not going to moan more than I do about the amount of the laundry. I just wanted help as I had a particular problem and didn't know what to do about it. Who knew that even a thread on laundry can get your parenting criticised and rude comments thrown out.

At least my comment about the towels in the machine has come from something I have read about making sure there is different weights of laundry in at once, rather than a dig.

Good grief- calm down! No one's having a go at you- you asked about laundry and I suggested you overloaded the machine which might account for the smelly clothes!

And the reason this is happening is perhaps down to your kids wearing clothes for 1 day only and you stuffing a big load into the machine because you want to save water. Maybe consider that you have gone to the other extreme compared with what you experienced as a child- and don't be so touchy?

If you have a handbook that came with your machine it should tell you the recommended weight for a load and also it might say how this can be made up- eg 4 shirts, 6 pairs of pants, and 3 tops.