Smelly sheets

[BrutusMcDogface]

Hi! I just took a set of clean sheets out of my airing cupboard to put on the bed, and they smell really weird. Sheets always do when they’ve been left in there a while. Does anyone know why? Is it the heat or something?! Very sad to have to re wash sheets when you have 15,000 loads to do already!

Were they completely dry before you put them away?

Either they are not totally dry when you put them away, or there is something in the airing cupboard that imparts smells on things.

Thanks. Yes, I’m pretty sure they were. It isn’t a musty, damp not-dried-quickly-enough kind of smell. I can’t describe it.

@BrutusMcDogface

Thanks. Yes, I’m pretty sure they were. It isn’t a musty, damp not-dried-quickly-enough kind of smell. I can’t describe it.

Is the smell just on the sheets, or is it there when you open the door?

My mum once noticed a strange smell on things that she took out of her airing cupboard. After a while she decided to empty it as everything she put in there came out smelling weird. In between some towels she discovered a mummified bird We still have no idea how it got in there. Hopefully it's nothing like that OP!

OMG 😱

I sincerely hope it’s not! Now I have the heebie jeebies though🤣

Hmm, I’m not sure to be honest. It’s there in amongst the smell of laundry powder from the bits I’ve just hung up in there.... interestingly it’s only the sheets that come out smelling but they are in there a lot longer than drying clothes.

Quote fail, was replying to Matilda.

Yes i would take everything out piece by piece and then have a good look round with a torch in the cupboard when empty.

We had a dead mouse in ours that made everything smell weird.

I think it's just a smell from being stored. The only remedy is to change your sheets more regularly! Try just rotating between two sets (or less) per bed so they get stored for as little time as possible. If you can get away with sharing sets between beds (e.g. DC sharing a room) then try having e.g. 3 sets between 2 beds. I get this but am a slattern and don't change them anywhere near as often as I should. They retain the just-washed smell for a couple of weeks, but store any longer and they start to smell different. Not unclean just not fresh.

I do find I need to wash our sheets at 60 degrees or higher though, otherwise they have a smell which I think is from sweat, body oils, skin etc not being fully washed away. That is a different thing entirely.

Put a wardrobe humidifier in and a wardrobe air freshener

Circulate the sheets- put clean at bottom of pile, and take sheets from the top, otherwise you end up with some randomly not being used for ages.

I do wash sheets at 60, but do need to get rid of some sheets (and about 70% of everything else in the house, but that’s another matter!)

Thank you all 😊

Did they get left in the washing machine for a long time after they were washed?
I had this problem when I washed bedding and left it in the machine overnight.

I store each set within one of the pillowcases for that set. You could do that and pop a dryer sheet in with them to keep them fresh?

Thanks peace Lily, good idea!

No, MrsMoaty. No idea what’s causing it!

Is it a mouldy mildewy smell?