mouldy laundry - help!

[Servalan]

DD(13) got very excited about the heavy rain a few days ago, decided she wanted to commune with nature and stood in the garden in the pouring rain for a good amount of time.

I hadn't realised that she had put her soaking wet clothes in the laundry basket.

Today I have a chance to catch up on laundry, asked my DD if there was anything she wanted to prioritise. She said her favourite hoodie - brought it down, upset there was a mystery brown stain on the arm.

Handed it to me and it absolutely stank, not just a mouldy smell - just general utter foulness.

Just looked at the full laundry basket - everything reeks, a load of stuff in it is soaking wet. One of her white bras also has mystery brown stains on. Most of the things I can't wash on a hot wash. Goodness knows what mould/bacteria there is in things.

I found a teatowel in there where there was blue mould on it (possibly from remnants of food on it). The teatowel I've thrown away.

I've just put a bunch of the stuff in the washing machine. Not turned it on yet - wondering how best to tackle it. Most of the stuff probably would suffer with 60 degree wash, I sprayed vanish on the brown stains and am waiting before washing.

I do have some of that Dettol laundry cleanser stuff, but don't know whether that'll sanitise things properly if they are mouldy? Not sure how to go about rescuing all of these foul smelling and/or mouldy things :(

Any ideas?

Thanks

Hi. I'd add a cup of white vinegar or baking soda to your wash - put it in the compartment with your washing powder. Either of these will "kill" spores which cause the mouldy smell. Run a normal wash. I'd then run a second wash using the Dettol laundry cleanser.

Thank you. Really appreciate hearing from someone. I'll try that. Honestly, the smell is so foul - not musty but something else. Laundry basket full to the brim too! Some of the stuff probably overdue a wash for a while at the bottom where other things have been prioritised which is probably making it worse. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if the clothes she put in the basket had only been a tiny bit damp rather than soaking wet!!

And the fact that they've been in there for sodding days!