Ever since we moved into our rental house we have noticed a mildew smell on our clothes. It's mainly affecting my husbands clothes although sometimes a few of mine smell too. I do not leave clothes sitting in the washer because I know that can be a big culprit. We did not have this problem when we lived in our old house. I don't know if it is the water at our rental, which really doesn't make sense because I don't smell it in the kitchen. We don't have any air conditioning and I wondered if the heat and humidity in our house have caused this. Also, my husband is an avid runner. When he returns home, his clothes are soaked with sweat but he always hangs them to dry completely and then he puts them in the hamper. With two kids, I'm doing wash all the time so it's not like his sweaty clothes are sitting in the hamper for a week. He was running at our old house and this never happened. I am lost as to what can be causing this! I want to say it is my husbands clothes but why is it just starting with this new house? We are moving into our new house in a few weeks and the new tenet is considering buying our washer and dryer so we can just leave it. However, I don't want to sell her a washer if there is an issue with it. Sorry this is lengthy but I just wanted to see if anyone had any advice. Thanks for the help! BTW, we are using the same washer from our old house.
Thanks for all the advice! I'll start trying different things until the smell is hopefully gone. My washing machine is a top loader by the way. If we do end up getting a new washer, I think I will buy a top loader again because of what I hear about the front loaders.
Try some baking soda. See if adding a cup of it when you wash clothes,helps out. May be run some vingear and water in the washing machine and then do the laundry. Good luck
Use Oxi Clean. Or you can try the vinegar solution and see if it works.
My mother in law had this problem with her towels. And she lives in a brand new home with a brand new washer and dryer and their water is wonderful. She never figured out how to get rid of the smell. I seriously doubt it is your washer and dryer.
use your regular detergent and add a scoop of 20 mule team borax.
Try running vinegar through with your clothes and a couple of drops of lavender essential oil. Just put them where the fabric softener is supposed to go in your washer. It will help your washer to not smell. Also, leave the lid to your washing machine open when not in use. Do you have a front loader? This is a common problem with front loaders. My recommendations work for that. HTH
Try putting some vinegar in with your laundry and see if that helps.
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Try putting some vinegar in with your laundry and see if that helps.
I use white vinegar on my mildew smelly kitchen towels that can't be bleached, actually I use it for almost every load, cheap natural laundry booster.
I don't know if this applies to your situation but will respond anyway....My hubby sweats like CRAZY at night. He wears mesh shorts to sleep in, stating that they allow more air flow to his "man parts" LOL. Despite how I clean them or how often, they even come out of the dryer, freshly laundered, stinking like crazy. I have told hubby about this, but he won't part with any of them. So I simply wash those separately and dry them separately. Its a pain in the butt, but it DOES help keep the other clothes from smelling like a big ol' pile of funk. Ok, so maybe I'm exaggerating a tab bit about just how much they smell, but you get the idea. ;)
You could try running baking soda and/or vinegar through a cycle. Also...with no a.c. in the house...make sure the clothes are completely dried before folding and putting away!
I say use really hot water and a lot of bleach in the washer and run it a couple of times, I put straight bleach in the top of the agitator where the liquid fabric softener goes too, that way when it spins and distributes the "fabric softener" the bleach will go into all the inside parts there too. If the washer still smells like mildew then have your husband google the make and model and take the agitator out and see what's inside the area. Something might have gotten stuck and is rotting.
I love front loading washing machines so much more than top loaders. I think they wash better, they rinse better and they spin better. I had NO issues with any smells or bacteria, ever. My washing machine had it's own hot water heater, it plugged into 220, and it heated the water to 90 degrees Celsius, almost boiling. I had no issues with anything. When we moved it was damaged beyond repair and I didn't have the money to replace it, I wish I had held out so much. It was an Asko.
I was just going to add that the water in our house comes out of our bathroom pipe smelling like mildew. I wonder if your pipes may be the culprit?
I use a approximately 1/2 cup to 1 cup (depending on the size of the load) of white vinegar in my laundry when it smells and it works wonders. It even removes the urine smell from my L. one's clothes when he wets himself.
It could be that your closets are not getting enough air. Make sure everything is completely dry before it goes in the closet, and try Damp Rid to get some of the humidity out. If possible, hang stuff outside in the sun to dry. The sun takes care of a lot of things.
I have heard the same about front load washers if you have one. You have to wipe out the rubber seal after every use and keep the door ajar to prevent mold from growing on the rubber.
Do you have a front or top loader? A lot of front loaders get nasty around the door, and seem to give clothes a mildew smell. That being said, my mom did have the same issue with some of her towels in a top loader. We just had flooding in our town and I found a bin of clothes after one week that were sitting in water. I used Fresh Wave (http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10026221&..., vinegar and baking soda- and the clothes never smelled bad again! The Fresh Wave additive is natural, and smells like pine. Have you tried bleaching out your washer? It might make a difference.
Good luck!
T.
Barefoot Books Ambassador
www.ReadandGrow.com
Almost every summer our clothes start smelling like mildew I've learned that using Pinesol with my regular laundry detergent, it works! Just add two cap fulls with your laundry detergent and make sure you take the clothes out as soon as the washer's done, and immediately put them in the dryer. They could be a L. mildewed if they stay in the washer too long.
