I have a front loader and if I leave the clothes in the washer after the cycle for even a few hours, some of our clothes come out smelling like mildew, especially stretch jeans. My husband discovered there is a way to drain stagnate water out of the bottom of the washer, which he does once or twice a week and it seems to help keep the washer from smelling, but I still have some clothes that smell. Does anyone have a solution or product that they use that can get the smell out? I have a pair of jeans I cannot wear until I can get the smell out. Thanks!
Thanks for all the great suggestions. I bought some borax and white vinegar at the store, so I'll give it a try! I wish I could leave my washer door open when not in use, but I can't because the laundry room leads to the garage and the washer is right next to the garage door. If I leave it open, anyone coming thru will hit the washer door with the garage door. I try to remember to open it at night when I know people aren't coming and going.
I have some fabric I bought at a garage sale that had a musty odor...
I soaked the material in a bucket of hot water with 1 C of vinegar..... I soaked it a while, then washed it as usual, also using the vinegar in the water.
Yay!! No more musty odor!
Try adding some baking soda and some vinegar to the wash load and set your washer for an extra rinse. It helps!
Add a cup of white vinegar to the wash.
Soak the clothes in the washing machine overnight with vinegar water. Let them soak for at least 8 - 10 hours. Then wash them regular. If that doesn't work, do a second round but after the vinegar, add another step. Soak them overnight in the washing machine in the regular detergent but go a little heavy on it. Then make sure to do an extra rinse so they are not soapy. BTW, you are not supposed to put the clothes in with the Tide Washing Machine Cleaner stuff. It says that on the box.
Vinegar.
Also, you should probably run your washing machine through a bleach and then a vinegar wash (without clothes), because you may have some mold/mildew build up. Use lots of bleach and vinegar for each rinse.
I have a regular top loader and I found that my towels got that smell. I add a cup of white vinegar and it totally got rid of it. I don't get gym smelling towels either.
I have had this happen too. It's hard to add bleach to a front loader so it doesn't drip on the clothes and damage them.
I did this today and it worked well. I did the powder detertgent, the fabric softener, then I added half the bleach to fill the little cup then I added water to fill it the rest of the way.
The clothes came out smelling fresh due to the bleach killing the bacteria in the fabric.
I use bleach about once per day in a light or white load so I don't have a bad smell ever in my washer. I've had it almost a year and use it frequently.
Tide sells a cleaner that works great. I guess the easiest thing to do is put clothes in dryer when done. Leave washer door open.
Try pulling back the rubber from around where you close the door. There might be balck mold growing. If that is the case, you will need to clean it, and that should take care of the smell.
I recommend OxyClean. I put a scoop in each load and it really helps with odors (kid clothes and workout gear). For tougher odors and stains, you can soak clothes in OxyClean (check the box for proportions) and it will help tremendously. Good luck!
When this happens with my towels, I soak them in Borax for 30 minutes and the wash them like as normal. It's cheap, fast and works every time.
For your jeans there is a product called smellsbegone. You can get it at bed bath and beyond. For your machine, I use vinegar and run it through an empty hot water wash. Then run another wash with just water. Prior to that I clean the rubber ring and pull it back and clean the inside of the lip-then the glass. And I learned that it is best to keep the door open when not in use-so the inside can air dry (not sure why this didn't occur to me sooner). If your not comfortable with the vinegar wash-check your manufacturers recommendations. Some say 3/4 cup of bleach-but I've always used vinegar for the coffee pot, dishwasher, etc.
baking soda and white vinegar.
khairete
S.
Sorry, but I don't know any solution except sunshine! Happy, you live in Arizona so you usually have lots of it.
First off, keep your wager door open all the time when not in use! Second, google your problem and washing machine model, there may be other issues and solutions like replacing a seal or cleaning a tray etc that may be common for yours specifically.
