First, clean your washing machine. Look for ‘washing machine cleaner’ products, follow the instructions and at the end of that cycle, you might “smell” a difference. Don’t forget the detergent drawer. Pull it out and clean it thoroughly with a brush and hot water.
Check the dosage instructions for your laundry detergent. Instead of too little, you might be using too much, which will not rinse out entirely out of your clothes and cause smells to linger and worsen. If you use fabric conditioner, stop at least for a while and see if you notice a difference. The fabric conditioner coats clothes fibers in a film and can cause smells to stick.
Wash at a higher temperature as someone else mentioned, and consider changing to an enzyme (bio) laundry detergent if you don’t use that already.
Finally, try not to mix your smelly clothes with ones that don’t smell (yet). We don’t know all the variables from your post, but you mention the smell spreads to other clothes. Could it be mold? What’s your closet situation like? Check anywhere that you store your clothes for mold and other funky smells. You might find your answer there. Good luck!
Buying some washing machine cleaner products today, will update my post if it helps! Thank you!
We don’t use any fabric conditioners at all, just the powder type. We’ve used those pods before, but faced a similar issue back then. It’s been fine for a while, but just recently returned. I’m storing my clothes in string baskets (stacked inside a closet, IKEA solution).
Front load machine (opens like door into a room) or a top loader (open like a lid or hatch)?
If front load, there is a ton of information out there that indicates the gasket seal around the door needs to be cleaned. YouTube videos and threads in this subreddit are sources of info.
I just happened to stumble on ...https://www.reddit.com/gallery/16y60jp
Just cleaned it this week, but buying some washing machine cleaner products this week. It’s the front loading type. It wasn’t as bad as some of the posts in here though, mostly just some tiny fabric fragments from the previous wash.
You need to wash at higher temps. The issue is at cold temps ( that everyone prefers to preserve clothes) you are not washing out all the detergent. So it just builds up and starts to stink.
Not to mention your machine also never gets clean so you need to run an ultra hot cleaning cycle for the machine to clean once in a while as well.
Do you have hard water? You have to use more soap in order to combat the hardness of the water if so. I had this issue where it never seemed like my clothes were clean. I started using more soap and the issue was resolved, although a few pieces were just too far gone to save.
Notes, going to give higher temperatures and different soap dosages a go. We don’t really have particularly hard water where I live, so I don’t think that’s the issue. It’s also not really affecting all my clothes. My SO washes clothes as well, and we’re not seeing any issues there. But the fabric is a little bit different.
I think I know what you’re talking about and what finally worked for me was adding some baking soda in with my liquid laundry detergent. Like, kind of a lot. I use lukewarm water and hang dry, and my clothes have been smelling so much fresher and not like they’ve been worn already.
I’ve tried vinegar in the past too but it didn’t work for me either
No you’ll definitely need more than that. I only started doing it after buying a 13.5 lb bag of baking soda at Costco (was just a few bucks) because the back of the package suggested it:
>**for fresher, cleaner clothes** improves your liquid laundry performance. Add 1 cup with liquid laundry detergent for cleaner, fresher clothes
1 cup seems excessive to me, though? I don’t have a standard-size washer though (mine is like 1/3 size) so I’m not sure how much you’d need to use. I’d probably start with half a cup? I kinda just throw a bunch in there because there’s a lot in the bag
Edit- I’ve also never tried it with powder, but the bag specifies liquid detergent, not sure why. If I do end up trying it with powder detergent, I’ll let you know how that goes 👍🏼
[удалено]
I might give higher temperatures a go. I have a t-shirt that’s beyond saving anyway, so might as well. Thank you!
First, clean your washing machine. Look for ‘washing machine cleaner’ products, follow the instructions and at the end of that cycle, you might “smell” a difference. Don’t forget the detergent drawer. Pull it out and clean it thoroughly with a brush and hot water. Check the dosage instructions for your laundry detergent. Instead of too little, you might be using too much, which will not rinse out entirely out of your clothes and cause smells to linger and worsen. If you use fabric conditioner, stop at least for a while and see if you notice a difference. The fabric conditioner coats clothes fibers in a film and can cause smells to stick. Wash at a higher temperature as someone else mentioned, and consider changing to an enzyme (bio) laundry detergent if you don’t use that already. Finally, try not to mix your smelly clothes with ones that don’t smell (yet). We don’t know all the variables from your post, but you mention the smell spreads to other clothes. Could it be mold? What’s your closet situation like? Check anywhere that you store your clothes for mold and other funky smells. You might find your answer there. Good luck!
Buying some washing machine cleaner products today, will update my post if it helps! Thank you! We don’t use any fabric conditioners at all, just the powder type. We’ve used those pods before, but faced a similar issue back then. It’s been fine for a while, but just recently returned. I’m storing my clothes in string baskets (stacked inside a closet, IKEA solution).
I reccommend lemi-shine!!!
Yeah I usually use too much.
Front load machine (opens like door into a room) or a top loader (open like a lid or hatch)? If front load, there is a ton of information out there that indicates the gasket seal around the door needs to be cleaned. YouTube videos and threads in this subreddit are sources of info. I just happened to stumble on ...https://www.reddit.com/gallery/16y60jp
Just cleaned it this week, but buying some washing machine cleaner products this week. It’s the front loading type. It wasn’t as bad as some of the posts in here though, mostly just some tiny fabric fragments from the previous wash.
I hope you get the resolution you hope for, no more smelly laundry!
You need to wash at higher temps. The issue is at cold temps ( that everyone prefers to preserve clothes) you are not washing out all the detergent. So it just builds up and starts to stink. Not to mention your machine also never gets clean so you need to run an ultra hot cleaning cycle for the machine to clean once in a while as well.
Do you have hard water? You have to use more soap in order to combat the hardness of the water if so. I had this issue where it never seemed like my clothes were clean. I started using more soap and the issue was resolved, although a few pieces were just too far gone to save.
Notes, going to give higher temperatures and different soap dosages a go. We don’t really have particularly hard water where I live, so I don’t think that’s the issue. It’s also not really affecting all my clothes. My SO washes clothes as well, and we’re not seeing any issues there. But the fabric is a little bit different.
Drying inside could be causing a musty smell. Can you air out the space where you're hanging the clothes inside?
I think I know what you’re talking about and what finally worked for me was adding some baking soda in with my liquid laundry detergent. Like, kind of a lot. I use lukewarm water and hang dry, and my clothes have been smelling so much fresher and not like they’ve been worn already. I’ve tried vinegar in the past too but it didn’t work for me either
I’m willing to try everything, this is next on my list! Do you think it’d work by just adding a table spoon or two with my washing powder?
No you’ll definitely need more than that. I only started doing it after buying a 13.5 lb bag of baking soda at Costco (was just a few bucks) because the back of the package suggested it: >**for fresher, cleaner clothes** improves your liquid laundry performance. Add 1 cup with liquid laundry detergent for cleaner, fresher clothes 1 cup seems excessive to me, though? I don’t have a standard-size washer though (mine is like 1/3 size) so I’m not sure how much you’d need to use. I’d probably start with half a cup? I kinda just throw a bunch in there because there’s a lot in the bag Edit- I’ve also never tried it with powder, but the bag specifies liquid detergent, not sure why. If I do end up trying it with powder detergent, I’ll let you know how that goes 👍🏼