I am having a laundry crisis.

[ShanaMama]

My clean laundry is coming out smelling like rot. I am not exaggerating.
I use free & clear detergent for the whole family because DD2 has eczema & very sensitive skin. So my laundry never has the freshly washed scent, but it should have a neutral clean smell. I've found a couple of things in my dresser that smell nasty & couldn't figure out why.
I am sometimes guilty of overstuffing the load, plus the clothing these days is rather sweaty. So I was very careful with the last two loads- I put in a medium load on large water setting and set it to heavy duty & second rinse just to be sure. The wet clothes smell disgusting!!!! I am so frustrated because I don't know what to do & I think it's revolting to smell your clothig to see if it's clean. Not to mention the smell- truly revolting!
I've had this in the past where one or two sweaters of mine keep coming out with a mothball or mildewy smell. I think I threw out one nice sweater because I gave up on it & didn't want it smelling up my other clothes.

[SnuggleBuggles]

are you promptly moving them from the washer to the dryer? Mine mildew really fast in the summer so I have to be on top of the laundry switching.

Beth

[ShanaMama]

Just want to add that this is not one or two items like I've had in the past. This is the whe freakin load of laundy. I'd love to switch to scented detergent but don't want to mask an issue that clearly exists. What is going on here??

[teedeedee]

This happens to me every once in awhile. Try scrubbing the inside of your washer out with baking soda and then running a load of hot water with vinegar. Then, I will sometimes run a second load of hot and more vinegar just to let it really get through it really well.

PS- if your washer has a place that you put softener in- try dumping some vinegar there too...I haven't used softener in a few years but I was having the same problem you are and did the vinegar there and it really helped.

[ShanaMama]

are you promptly moving them from the washer to the dryer?

Beth

Um, no.... :bag. Now that you mention it, both ofcthese loads sat in the washer overnight. But it's really cool in the basement, probably 50 degrees compared to the 90s we've been having.

[Naranjadia]

Do you have a front-loader? We found that the lip around the door needs to be cleaned or our clothes smell. We wipe it out and then run a load of hot water & vinegar, like pp said. Once we found 2 nasty baby socks wedged in there. :p

[wendmatt]

I think it's leaving it overnight. Even if it's cool it's starts smelling gross pretty soon. I would rewash and put straight in the dryer and see if it's better. If I ever leave stuff overnight I usually have to rewash.

[mamicka]

Um, no.... :bag. Now that you mention it, both ofcthese loads sat in the washer overnight. But it's really cool in the basement, probably 50 degrees compared to the 90s we've been having.

I'm willing to bet that's it. In the summer, if I leave my clothes in for more than an hour after the wash has finished I'm at risk of having to rewash due to the smell. Even when the a/c has been keeping the house nice & cool. It's a pain.

[TonFirst]

I think it's leaving it overnight. Even if it's cool it's starts smelling gross pretty soon. I would rewash and put straight in the dryer and see if it's better. If I ever leave stuff overnight I usually have to rewash.

Yeah, this. Happens to me every time I leave anything in there overnight.

[swrc00]

I had to stop using Tide Free and Clear because of this. The towels especially were smelling gross. I switched detergents and haven't had a problem.

[twowhat?]

If you have a front-loader, you should always leave the door open when the washer is not in use. The water-tight seal required for front-loaders also keeps the drum from ever drying out completely unless you leave that door open. Also leave open the little door for the detergent compartment - water collects there too.

Even if you have a top-loader, you should be leaving the lid up whenever it's not in use to let it dry out quickly.

Basement might be cool, but it is probably damp too. Easy for things to mildew.

Stuff should definitely be moved prompty to the dryer!

But before I do any of these things, I'd run a hot cycle with bleach (no clothes, just run the washer), and then a cold rinse with vinegar.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

If you have a front-loader, you should always leave the door open when the washer is not in use. The water-tight seal required for front-loaders also keeps the drum from ever drying out completely unless you leave that door open. Also leave open the little door for the detergent compartment - water collects there too.

Even if you have a top-loader, you should be leaving the lid up whenever it's not in use to let it dry out quickly.

Basement might be cool, but it is probably damp too. Easy for things to mildew.

Stuff should definitely be moved prompty to the dryer!

But before I do any of these things, I'd run a hot cycle with bleach (no clothes, just run the washer), and then a cold rinse with vinegar.

:yeahthat:

we clean our washer regularly, maybe once every 1-2 months (ours u just put in 1 cup of bleach and hit "clean"). also, we always leave the top open to dry it out (we have a top-loader but it's an HE)

and if we ever left clothes in there overnight (happened maybe a couple times to us) we'd just wash them (and dry them) again. a hassle, but i don't want to deal with possible mildew, smell etc.

so far we've never had an issue with clothes smelling bad and we also use a "natural" detergent (no fragrances at all) since we wash cloth diapers.

[ShanaMama]

My long reply just got lost in cyberspace so I'll just retype a great big thanks y'all! I've already rewashed some and it seems fine. I'll be much more careful about changing over the loads. Also it's time for me to learn about cleaning the washer after 3 years living in this house. :bag :duck: