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My cotton t-shirts smell bad coming out of the dryer?
BlochWave
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
And just my cotton t-shirts. Pants are fine, underwear is fine, dress shirts are fine, polo shirts are fine. My white t-shirts (used frequently for undershirts) and my other colored t-shirts smell like...I don't even know. I mainly don't know why the hell we can't transmit smells over the internet yet, but in addition, I can't describe the smell. Musty, maybe? It's not like poo or BO or anything, but it's pretty harsh. This has happened over a couple of wash cycles now. I've made sure to be prompt with taking them from the washer and putting them into the dryer, and removing them from the dryer. I've added vinegar to the wash cycle, and tried both cold and hot water.
I use dryer sheets, and they smell fine coming out of the washer, so I would suppose something is happening to them in the dryer, but it isn't happening to my other clothes.
Anybody have a similar experience? I have tried to eliminate the commonly Googled suggested causes (letting them sit in the washer too long, for example)
I use dryer sheets, and they smell fine coming out of the washer, so I would suppose something is happening to them in the dryer, but it isn't happening to my other clothes.
Anybody have a similar experience? I have tried to eliminate the commonly Googled suggested causes (letting them sit in the washer too long, for example)
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It occurs to me I do live with a roommate, and he hasn't been complaining. Maybe it's my shirts? All...my shirts? This is kinda weird...and no it's not like a weak smell that a normal person wouldn't notice, they're practically unwearable. I've been classing it up polo shirt style recently
The sweat is worth a thought, but the smell is pretty divorced from BO-ish. If I had to guess, and I really am guessing, I'd say it's more mildew related than body related.
Edit: So I suppose I should gather up all my shirts and give it another shot. Any suggestions? I don't typically separate colored and white stuff. I guess I could try bleaching the white stuff?
But yes, try washing the stinky shirts by themselves, and add more soap than usual. Perhaps let them soak in soap a bit before washing them, just in a tub or large rubbermaid.
Have you recently changed laundry soap?
Edit: Also, when doing your next load, take one of the shirts you know will get smelly after the dryer and hang it to dry instead. You need to isolate the problem and determine if the shirts themselves just stink, the wash is doing it, or the dryer is doing it.
The youngest one is probably around 3 years old, the oldest....around 7... O_O
You may also be scorching them in the dryer. They could be so old that the cotton is getting singed ever so slightly, and they're smelling burnt. Try drying on a lower setting and seeing if it still happens.
Man I got plenty of undershirts that are that old, there aint nothin wrong with them.
This, so much. I find if you leave stuff in the washer for any more than about 30-45 minutes, they start to get a mildew smell. My grandmother leaves her stuff in all day while she goes out and does shopping and what not, and all the towels at her place smell like mold. My wet towels i leave in my hamper smell musty if i end up having to reuse them.
If it smells like mildew, this is probably it. But if youre sure thats not it, there might be mold growing in your washing machine and its mixing into the loads. Try running just bleach through the machine, empty, on the hottest cycle you can.
*edit* some people cant smell the mildew smell so maybe thats why your roommate isnt complaining. My grandmother for instance swears she cant smell it. I can though, and my mom can too. I can also smell the dye in black denim though (smells sharp and bitter). Drives me nuts.
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He said he was trying to be prompt, not that hes doing it immediately. Thats why i said it can happen in less than 45 minutes.
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Do the 7 year old ones smell worse than the 3 year old ones?
And ultimately, the "I need these to not smell by tomorrow" solution is to buy new undershirts; they are pretty cheap.
This happened to me and my wife when we bought our new house. Everything smelled gross and we couldnt figure out why. First we thought we were letting or clothes sit too long. Then we thought maybe we were singing them a bit (it smelled a BIT like burnt). But she investigated and found a ton of mold growing in the washer. She cleaned it out and it is fine now.
Got to admit, not sure WHERE it was growing in the washer, or how she cleaned it, but it worked.
This. It makes a world of difference.
You can wash your laundry in cold water--and you should. There is no reason to waste hot water like that on simple everyday laundry.
Unfortunately the funk from BO wouldn't be removed adequately with cold water. This is especially true with cold water, but, generally things with protein in them aren't easily removed in cold water. This is the same reason why when you do dishes you don't use cold water for them -- although not really in this case. Dirt and soil? Yeah it's fine to use cold water.
But it is an undershirt and they generally the the brunt of sweat. That's also probably why his other clothes don't stink. Urea and lactate are considerably more difficult to remove from clothes (especially in heavy sweaters -- like myself actually) with cold water. My whites used to have yellow stains in the pits whenever I'd use cold water.
I also use a regular liquid laundry soap, not the special cold water variety.
Yeah you don't need cold water detergent for cold water washing. Waste of money!
Being a... vivacious sweater could be his ultimate problem where he'll have to replace shirts ever year or so. There is just some low quality shirts you can't save from the funk.
I had this problem, my basement is not set up originally for a washer and dryer, so my washer drains into a utility sink, so the water has to travel up a rubber hose about 4 feet to dump the water into the sink. Some small ammount of water never makes it out of the washer then, and my shirts started to smell funky. My dryer broke and I got a new pair, and haven't had a problems since. About once a month, I do a load of all whites, where I pour vinegar in with the bleach and soap to help keep anything from taking root in my new washer.
Also, if you use too much soap, it's hard to rinse out, and it leaves a soapy residue which causes a funky smell. Check your laundry soap, you may be using too much.
- from here.
I would try that and see if it helps the situation at all.
Another thing you might try is a post-wash rinse like Canesten, if you can get it. Dettol do a similar product, but those are the only two I've seen around here. The brands might be different where you are, but it will be in the laundry aisle with the washing powder somewhere. It'll kill a bunch of stuff, just use as you would fabric softener.
Lysol makes a non-bleach laundry sanitizer, try washing them with that and then a double dry on high heat. That's worked well for me in the past.
If you haven't done it recently running a load of washing machine cleaner through your machine might help with any little pockets of mildew in there that are transferring to your clothes.
For some reason my wife decides to pull the detergent drawer all the way out. There was a slimy gross disgusting mold/mildew patch underneath where the tray sat. I have no idea how often we'd washed clothes with what amounted to a mildew filter. (Fill tray with detergent, water goes through tray to disgusting mildew blob, then straight into the clothes.)
She cleaned it and things are nice now. I would not rule out semi sentient amorphous mildew blob hiding under or in some tray or filter.
Front loading washers also have a small drain in the front gasket/seal that will clog with lint or hair. It leaves an ever present puddle that can't drain and will mildew/mold. They usually advise leaving the washer door vented slightly when not in use on older models. I believe newer models vent automatically so the drum and gasket can dry.