HELP - Stinky washing :-(

[MK37]

Having a nightmare,

Trying NOT to use tumble dryer, or trying to cut back as much as possible.. so hanging all washing up instead, which is fine.

Unfortunately weather has been absolutely pants so has been hanging up inside (on airer, radiators, bannister, top of doors, kitchenmaid) ... it STINKS. Like cheese or vomit.

Washing doesn't smell when wet coming out of machine, or if I do tumble it. Only if hung up inside.

Have done a deep clean of washing machine, have tried washing on a higher temp, but any of the washing that's been hung up inside smells horrendous 😭 so having to re-wash everything and then put in tumble dryer anyway which is obviously completely counter productive ....

Haven't really had heating on as haven't really felt we've needed it so could this be why? Washing does seek to be taking a couple days to fully dry.. All windows are opened every morning and closed about 4ish, is this enough air circulation?

What am I doing wrong? Or what can I do differently? Please help, all advice/tips/tricks welcome TIA xx

Drying outside (even if they don’t actually dry) avoids the smell. If you have no outside pace can you dry on hangers on a curtain rail with the window open? This works too.

The single thing that made all the difference to me was hanging each item over two bars of the airer rather than one, as a PP suggested.

It's the length of time things are taking to dry like pp said.

You can get washing dry indoors, but you either need heat or dehumidifying to speed it up (given that you're already opening windows, it's sounds like the worst of the wet will be escaping, unless you're not opening the right windows to get proper air flow...)

Also, I hate persil and don't think that will be helping. Anything washed and air dried slowly in persil is worse for this, in my opinion! Try fairy powder. (the powder tabs are the very best for fresh smelling laundry, but ££££)

I find if I hang my clothes on the airer, and the clothes are too close together, then they do tend to smell, even they dry in about 8 hours. If I do have to dry them inside and squeeze everything on one dryer, then I make sure underwear is the bottom, and larger things on top. V heavy items, like jeans etc, i'll put on the back of a chair, or somewhere where they have more space to dry. And then I'll regularly rotate the stuff on the dryer, so the wet stuff in the middle gets move to the outside. If it's cold enough, I'll put the airer right next to the radiator. But yeah you need to space everything out really well ideally.

Well it's going to cost more in the long run to replace mouldy clothes than it would to use heat to help with drying them. There are no magic solutions that won't involve some degree of financial outlay, even if that is just buying an extra airer so they're less cramped when drying.

I've never had a tumble dryer and agree with PPs that you probably just need a second airer so you can spread the clothes out more. Also make sure to hang washing out as soon as the cycle is finished, it will start to smell if left in the machine for longer than an hour or so. If it's still quite wet when it comes out of the machine then adding an extra spin should help.

We have this problem. We have to get the washing out of the machine the minute it finishes or the clothes start to stink. It didn’t happen with our previous washing machine which is also a Bosch.
Have you checked whether it’s the seal? We need to replace ours as it looks like a bit of water might be getting in ours but is expensive to get done professionally.

In my experience the synthetics will smell if not dried quickly. They tend to dry fast. So get the synthetics out and hung up in the air, coat hangers work well. Even on the line overnight if it’s going to stay dry. Cottons and natural fabrics will cope a bit better with taking longer to dry. Again I would be trying to hang stuff on hangers or somewhere warm

You need to ventilate the clothes as they dry basically. I do different drying depending on what I’m drying. Some stuff will go on the line regardless. Some stuff will go on the radiators, some in the airing cupboard.

the smell though is damp. Is home off water. It’s not the fault of the washing machine or the detergent. It’s the fact the clothes have taken so long to dry that the non evaporated water has gone bad.

When I hang too many things up to dry I always end up saying my clothes smell like sick! Maybe try a heated airer or start/finish off in the tumble dryer

What spin is your washing machine? Can you add another, standalone spin to get more moisture out after the normal cycle has finished (not all machines can)?

Re how long it takes things to dry, I washed some jeans yesterday which said not to tumble dry so I hung them up ( spread out) from the shower rail. I did an extra rinse in the washing machine. My heating did not come on as it was warmer than the 19 degrees I have it set for and my jeans are still damp 26 hours later. I had the bathroom window open for about 8 hours until the evening. They do not smell. I have popped them in the dryer now for about 20 minutes to finish them.

I am still using my dryer for most things as I hate the smell of washing drying on airers! I don’t really have anywhere to put an airer other than a garden room off my lounge and I don’t like looking at wet washing while I’m relaxing. I also had problems with damp when I first moved in and spent a lot of money on a new boiler and positive air exchange unit so don’t want to go back to those days.

Another option which I've tried in the past to save money is to half tumble dry things then finish on airers. You really need to be around to whip them out of the tumble drier and onto the racks for this to work though, or else they will smell.

My washing has started to smell a bit musty and I decided this morning it's probably the liquid detergent I've been using. I preferred it to the powder as the bottles take up a lot less space in my small kitchen.

I'm going back to powder.

If they’re not drying fast enough try spreading them out more and using a dehumidifier.

Ditch the conditioner. It’s terrible stuff and it fucks up your washing machine. If you want your washing to be scented use some of those scented bead things or scented oils.

What's troubling me a bit here is that if laundry is taking two days to dry, that means there's a lot of dampness/moisture hanging around inside your house in general, which isn't terribly good for you (or indeed the house itself).

How wet is your washing when you are hanging it up OP? A vigorous spin and drain cycle after the wash might help get rid of excess water.

I had this problem when I was living in a flat with storage heaters and it was rank!