Washing sheets effectively

[Criteria16]

I always wash my (all white) bedsheets with powder at 60 degrees or over. I changed them every 1-2 weeks but I change the pillow covers every other day more or less. We shower daily, including hair, and we shower before bed if we exercise.
I am not sure I am over sensitive to this but I think they smell literally just after one night sleeping in them! Could it be I don't wash them effectively? Is there a magic trick?

I change my bedding every 2-3 days.
I use daz sensitive pods 45 minute wash then in the tumble dryer with tumble sheets smells lovely.

Try alternating your fabric conditioner each wash. I have mine on a rotation of three, that way you get the ‘newly washed’ smell each time and don’t get blind to the scent. I do the same with my floor cleaners.

Is whoever sleeps in your bed drying their hair thoroughly? Any chance of a fungal infection, as that has a lingering smell?

Stop using fabric softener.

It is the cause of most washing issues. I clogs your machine, builds up a residue on clothes and can cause smell issues over time as fabrics aren’t able to breath as they were intended to do.

Also use less detergent - the pods overdose and will cause whites to turn grey over time due to detergent build up. Use a liquid/powder - you only need about half what the manufacturer recommends (they just want you to buy more!) unless you have very hard water.

White vinegar can also be used in place of fabric softener - the slight acidity will help remove any detergent residue.

Smell your washing machine? It may have got a bit stinky. Once every few months I clean out the filter and put on an empty wash at 90 with a half bag of soda crystals. Then I clean the door seal and drawer and do an empty rinse. This keeps it really fresh.

Otherwise I find that the clothes get a stale smell quite quickly, once the washing powder wears off.

More great ideas. I will give a go at using bio powder and stop using fabric conditioner.
No, the washing machine smells fine as do all the other clothes, and we don't go to bed with wet hair. And I am using a top sheet exactly so that I could change it more often!

I'm nowhere near your league of clean and mine smell ok even after awhile. I use bio liquid with no softener. I also air the room and bed every morning. Although I hate to admit I do not wash them weekly, even fortnightly! Sometimes it's many weeks. But I'm nearly 50 and nothing detrimental has happened to me.

I do wash my sheets most days n 90 degrees with Aldi powder and a sanitizer. Line dry. Iron. They feel crisp and very well laundered when I get into bed.

Completely agree! Biological detergent for bedding towels etc

I find Ariel Platinum Stain Removal pods the best

Of course it does it you dont air it as you sweat at night, every morning i pull the quilt back and fold it over to the end of the bed, plump the pillows and pull the sheet tight and leave the window open wide all day, if i go out i close it and then open it when i get in, keep it open till you go to bed and you should really keep it open at night, also have a mattress cover and wash that when you wash your sheets, i wash my pillows every spring

I find it interesting, if not a little concerning that out of almost 40 comments, only @Jollyhockeystickss and I seem to have mentioned the need to AIR the bed/bedding whilst everyone else is going into detail about how to wash their laundry and what detergent to use. Is this a generational thing, is no one taught these things ?

Are you ever washing the pillows themselves? The heat from heads is possibly warming up the sweat which has soaked into the pillows and transferring it to the pillow cases.

I came here to ask if OP is airing the bed and the room. I'm 60 so maybe there something in the generational thing.

Late to the thread to add my vote to washing the pillows themselves more often, and ideally drying in the sun. Natural fibres for the pillow cases, hot wash and powder as you’re already doing, and chuck in some Vanish powder or laundry detergent for good measure.
I also have a horribly sensitive sense of smell so feel your pain!

Our set is changed twice a week and washed at 60. Each night I turn one of my 2 pillows over so I sleep on a clean side!

We’ve just got back from holiday where we were spoilt with clean sheets every morning and I’m missing it!

I wash my sheets at 90 on a combined wash and dry cycle (we have a washer dryer), which takes over 5 hours! They smell amazing. I don't use fabric conditioner, just an arial liquitab.

We have a larger than average drum.

Thing is, if I forget to press the wash and dry button, it just washes them, and then I have to press a separate 'dry' button. It takes the same amount of time but the end result is awful, horrible. The texture is different and so is the smell.

It is even worse with towels. They come out all fluffy on the wash/dry setting but like cardboard on wash then dry.

I can't explain it.

We have a Bosch btw.

Won't it just denatured the bio bit of the detergent if you wash at 90? I've never washed anything at 90 in my life!
I have a very good sense of smell and hate musty type smells. Could it be the duvet or pillows? I have a friend who doesn't seem to have ever washed her duvets or pillows (sheets are clean!) & I just can't sleep when I stay there because of the stale smell.

I agree about the biological washing powder, but people where I live wash in cold water mostly, and I have a top loader so the cycles are short and my sheets never smell. Line drying also is a good thing to do, along with using natural fabrics.

Sorry if this is a personal question but are you on HRT ? My sense of smell became so acute when I started HRT that I couldn't use any perfumes even my former favourites as they all smelled incredibly strong. Dh kindly said i could work at the airport as a sniffer dog.

Yes, totally have this too. It can be awful. 😔

I don't know tbh. The machine offers a 90 degree wash and i feel confident that will get everything clean and fresh. And it does.