Clothes smell after washing. Have tried EVERYTHING *title edited by MNHQ*

[badatwashing]

Hello,

I'm looking for some help in desperate times. I know there's a lot of information about this problem on the internet but I am certain I have read and tried it all, and still suffer from this problem!

After washing my clothes (T Shirts being biggest culprit) the smell at best musty, at worst like a combination of mold & BO. It's most obvious around the inside collar, you can also smell it when they're still damp during drying.

Here is what I've tried with varying degrees of success, maybe there's a magic combination I haven't managed, or I'm cursed? But hopefully someone might have the answer before I have to buy a new set of T shirts every 2 weeks!

1. Problem has followed across 3 houses & 4 washing machines, which rules that out.

1. Loading machine at less than 50% capacity.

1. Only drying clothes outdoors in sunlight.

1. Drying clothes on a heated rack & with a dehumidifier.

1. Washing with clear vinegar & bicarb soda (has moderate success but smell comes back by the next couple washes)

1. Washing at 60C rather than 30, seems to work sometimes, but sometimes not.

1. Had all T shirts professionally dry cleaned, smell returns after next couple of washes.

1. Have tried a vast selection of detergents, fabric softeners, liquid, pods, powder etc.

9.Affects t shirts of any quality (different cotton, polyester blends etc.)

The clothes don't smell when I take them out of the machine, but once I've hung them up and I can smell the musty smell on my fingers, so it would imply that the odour is already there, and not occurring during the drying process.

Sorry for the essay, but I am all out of options & ideas and at the point where I just end up having to wear clothes that smell. The smell is always most prominent in t shirts, as I've mentioned. I can also smell it on socks & underwear but strangely never on bedding or dress shirts.

Grateful for any ideas/ opinions!

Do you do maintenance washes on the machine? - 90⁰C wash without clothing. Have you cleaned out the filters and the dispenser drawer and the bit the drawer fits into? Powders are better at keeping the machine clean as they have bleaches in them. Liquids/pods don't have these bleaches

I spray the underarms of tee shirts and gym wear with antibacterial surface spray, then leave for 5 minutes before washing.

We get that, but wiping down the rubber seal with a bleachy cloth then an empty bleach boilwash followed by an empty white vinegar boilwash stops it happening for a while. Next winter, usually.

We keep the door and powder tray open when not in use, keep everything dryer.

I spray collars and arm pits with white vinegar before washing after suffering this problem
My wardrobe stank of BO. It was a bit grim

Do you iron the t-shirts? If heat kills the smell, ironing might be the answer?
Does the wardrobe/chest of drawers you keep them in smell? Where do you put worn t-shirts before you wash them? If you use a laundry basket - does that smell?

I know you said you used a variety of powders, pods etc but are you using non bio stuff? I find if I only use non bio I'll get them smell on clothes, so I use a biological powder every so often and that helps with the other washes too.

Have you tried zoflora or something like Dettol laundry cleanser? I found using something antibacterial stopped the lingering BO smell.

How long after the wash has finished do you remove clothes from the machine? I find this happens if I leave then in for longer than an hour or so. If I take them out and put them in a laundry basket, and hang out later, it's fine. But if I leave them in the machine for any length of time they smell.

Second the rec for biological powder!(not liquid). I wash all my sweaty t shirts in it, then use wilko laundry cleanser to kill the bacteria (instead of fab con)

I had a top that stunk like you describe, so I tried that as a last resort and hey presto! I since converted to that method for anything I wear when exercising or getting sweaty.

I had a T-shirt that did this. I soaked in for a good few hours in white vinegar before washing with another good slosh of vinegar and it’s been fine since. Definitely give the machine a good clean and don’t leave washing in there/in a damp pile if you can help it.

What do you use to wash yourself?
Soap - I mean proper bars of soap, are far better at cleaning your pits than shower gel, which leaves a film on your skin.

Front loading washing machines clean through agitation i.e. clothes running together as they are washed. Try filling the machine to be loosely full when dry.

If using non bio wash at 60. Bio 40 should be fine.

Are you using the right dose of washing powder as listed on the packet?

I wash everything at 60 degrees that can be washed that hot, and always add a capful of Zoflora to the wash. This solves the problem you describe. (Used to have it, don't now.)

A washing machine engineer told me people get smelly washing machines because they wash at low temperatures that dont kill off bacteria, so even if you prefer to wash at 30 or 40, you could do an empty cycle at 90 with a capful of Zoflora or purple or blue Dettol once a week and see if that helps.

Have you tried stripping them?
Either soak them in hot water (over 60 degrees) and biological detergent and laundry booster, then put them through your machine on a hot wash with no detergent, and rinse repeatedly until no bubbles are visible,
or put them on a 60 wash with detergent, then a 60 without detergent then repeat the rinse cycle until until no bubbles are visible.

Another good way to remove odour is to leave your washing out in the rain letting it get wet and dry (and darked on) repeatedly then finally put it through a rinse cycle. This is a long process though!

Thanks so much for all the tips!

To answer most of the questions, I have tried both bio & non bio in the past. I haven’t tried running a cleaning cycle on my current machine actually, so I will try that with a powder.

I always take the clothes out of the machine immediately, mainly as a result of this!

I keep my worn clothes in a laundry basket, which smells no worse than you’d expect from worn clothes, not overly sweaty or smelly.

I think I have two issues, getting rid of the smell that’s already in the clothes already affected, and then trying all of the above to stop it from happening again!

Are you using enough detergent?
I put two Persil capsules in the drum with each load.

I do the following since I had that problem:

Wash using a bio product

Use dettol sensitive laundry cleanser in each wash.

Maintenance wash at 90 degrees per manufacturers instructions once a month

Press the ‘drain’ button after every washing is done to try and get rid of every last drop of water sitting in its internal bits in case it goes mouldy.

Hang up thin stuff immediately to dry. Put anything thick in the tumble dryer for ten minutes to get some wet out of it. Then transfer it to the radiators or washing line if a good day.

Leave the washing machine door open a bit when it’s not in use

I used to get this a lot when using various liquid detergents (esp non-bio)

Now use bio powder (cheap one from a Lidl) at 40 & it’s no longer a problem.

Oh, yes, & always leave machine door ajar (& detergent drawer when I remember)

Can you reach the outside of the metal drum around the seal at all? Is it slimy?
Only use biological powder - old fashioned loose powder - for a while and definitely no fabric conditioner
It will kill fungi/mould in washer and hopefully your problem will go
maybe some oxi action stuff in with whites or t shirts if particularly smelly
Liquids are not fungicidal

Also I never put detergent in the drawer, only fabric rinse - I put the powder in the drum in one of those old dosing balls you used to get on top of bottles of Ariel years ago.

I’m pretty sure liquid detergent, particularly, must cling a bit to the sides of the pipes as it goes down, & you can’t easily clean those. I do occasionally use one of those small bottles of w/m cleaner.

I alternate non-bio powder at 60 degrees for sheets and towels with bio liquid at 30 degrees for everything else and that seems to keep my previous mildew problems in check.

I used to do non-bio liquid at 60, Kittens, but I’ve started using bio powder at 60 instead - somebody pointed out that as the cold water heats up, before it gets to 60 it goes through 30-40 degrees, which is where the bio does its business.

Everything’s clean & smells really fresh so I reckon it works...