How do I stop my washing smelling of poo?

[Coffeesnob11]

My son is potty training and sometimes does a poo in his pants. I get rid of the poo and wash his pants put before washing them but no matter what I do, the whole wash comes out smelling awful. I have tried washing at 40, 50 or 60. I have tried softener, no softener and a cap of zoflora but it all just smells horrible. Does anyone have any good tips?

It sounds as though your washing machine isn't doing it's job to be honest. How old is it.

Line dry?

Napisan. Longer washes. I know everyone on mumsnet says they use a 40 minute wash, but my standard is 2 hours!

Have you cleaned your washing machine

Are you using bio powder rather than liquids/pods. Powder contains bleaches that helps keep every cleaner

Buy cheap pants and throw them out as needed. If it's not all the time it shouldn't take too many pairs before it's no longer a problem.

Soak in water first.

Are you using enough detergent? Although to be perfectly honest I would start by running an empty hot (90) wash after wiping the insides (drum, seals, drawer etc) out with bleach. Then put the washing on for a good long hot wash with plenty of detergent- don’t be fooled by these people who seem to only ever do 25 minute 30°C washes and everything comes out sparkly. You’re washing literal poo. 40°C minimum with bio or 60°C minimum with non bio. Look up the proper detergent dosage for your machine capacity, water hardness and heavily soiled washing.

Soak in a bucket of napisan and water. Then when you have a few dirty pairs stick them on a 60 degree wash.

A handful of dishwasher tablets on a 90 degree wash will clean out your machine

Not worth the hassle, I'd just buy cheap pants for now, probably cost less than special detergents and extra washes plus the time involved on pooey pants!
I would check you are using the right setting and powder though and hopefully it's not your machine

With cloth nappies you do a no detergent cold prewash, just a really quick one.
Then use powder detergent because it gets in deeper.
Then line dry using the sun (bit hard this time of year but it still works usually).
Perhaps this might help?

I'd give your machine a good clean out too! Just in case it's clogged a bit.

Sorry should have added machine is 2 years old, I put the wash on a 4 hour eco wash or 3.5 hour cotton wash. I use powder (plenty of it) put directly into the drum. I have to use non bio as his skin doesn't cope with bio. I run a cleaner through at 90 degrees once a month. It works brilliantly for all my washing apart from his poor nappies. I don't want to chuck them as it's not great for the environment.

It'll be your non bio. It's rubbish for biological stains.

Another vote for Napisan as pre-soak and in the wash.

You could also try Ace bleach or Dettol laundry sanitiser.

I'd do a bio quick wash then follow with a non bio. Actually I'd probably bin them.

I can't believe people are suggesting you throw clothes out! How do you think people using reusable nappies cope?

OP - I'd give your washing a good clean cycle - 90c with some soda crystals to make sure it's nicely clean. Soak the clothes first, then wash on a 60c cycle, try putting some bicarb in there with them.

Do you put powder into the drawer too? I always assumed it should go in there so it was released at the right time and no just all washed away in the first lot of water. We use cloth nappies and whilst we get the odd time we need to re-wash, most of the time the washing machine and nappies smell OK after.

I use reusable nappies and was told not to use the eco mode or even just normal mode as it reuses the water to be more eco, which is fine normally but not great with poo 😂 so I use the short 15 minutes wash initially to get rid of the poo, it drains, and then I put a second wash with the tablet in on a 60 minute or an eco wash. No poo smell

Bin them. Life's too short, seriously. When mine were all potty training, we had dozens of pairs of cheap pants!

Check inside the rubber seal for nuggets

My son has a health problem which he means he's regularly pooed his pants for years, so I consider myself a bit of an expert in this field.

I put any pooey items on for a very short wash initially, I use the 15 minute cycle on my machine. Then I put the other washing in and do a normal wash. I rarely use biological powder, usually it's Laundry liquid. It comes out fine, no smells.

What you should never do is leave it festering, if pants get forgotten in his school bag I just bin them as the smell gets ingrained.

Vinegar is the business when it comes to cancelling biological odours. Poop smells usually pervade in the presence of small particles though, it sounds like there are tiny particles of poop all over your clothes. Maybe you're better off throwing the pants away than trying to wash them, especially since it's only the odd accident. Training normally only lasts 1-2 months.

I wash separately on a boil wash. I wait til there are a few pairs, sadly that doesn't take too long here..

Dettol Antibacterial Laundry Cleanser