Last chance to enter the Group Effort Pay it Forward contests, which all end today. There were still a couple more contests added late yesterday, and so you’re practically a shoo-in to win those if you quick go enter.
I’m spending the 3-day weekend trying to figure out why my house reeks. It REEKS. It’s a sour-milk kind of reek, so I’m suspicious of the laundry piles, which are indeed hilly. But, like Jonniker’s, my washing machine has been repeating on me recently. The other day, I got out of the shower, dried off with a fresh-from-the-dryer towel, and had to get back in the shower and re-shower, because the towel left reek all over me.
Why the sudden reek? Is it my new laundry soap? I got a bunch of Tide on clearance, and it does smell kind of like men’s deodorant (it’s a mountain-related scent), but that shouldn’t be too reeky, and I stopped using the Gain fabric softener I didn’t like.
I’m going through Jonniker’s comment section now, looking for more substances to throw at the problem: so far I’m armed with baking soda, vinegar, and bleach.
We had a sour towel problem for awhile too. David found a couple of different tips on the internet that all said to use POWDER detergent for towels (or any other loads that are coming out clean but smelly). I can’t remember the reasoning for this, but I DO know it has helped. At first, we were just using the powder stuff on just towels, but laziness has won and I’m now using it for all of our laundry.
The only thing that is worse than the smelly towel smell is the MILDEW washcloth smell. *SHUDDER*. Since I mentioned it, I’ll tell you my solution for Mildew washclothes is: GARBAGE. If I get a clean one wet and it ALREADY smells, I toss it.
SO! I hope you can find the source of your smell. Over here? We’re loosing the ant battle.
I somtimes get a mildew smell, and if that happens, I do a pre-wash with a cup of ammonia, and wash everything as usual and it turns out fine. Not sure if it would work for a sour smell though.
Sometimes the washing machine becomes contaminated and needs to be run with some cleanser. Or more drastic measures, like taking it apart and cleaning out a filter.
(Not that I think you haven’t done a search on this yet, but I’m amazed at how many people have this problem:
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf452244.tip.html).
Good luck!
Please find out how to get rid of this problem because it often plagues me as well! And so far I have not found anything that works.
Short of buying a new washing machine. Which will probably be next because ours is on the verge of death…
Sorry about the reek–I, too, use the garbage solution. Here’s a commiserative funny story: Last week I moved. I had placed all the the hotel and first-day things on my porch rail, so they wouldn’t go into the moving van. My brother and nephew loaded those things into the car for me. The next morning, I went out to the hotel parking lot and opened the car door and EEUUUUW! It smelled awful in the heat, and kind of chicken-y. Well, it turned out they had very carefully packed into my already-stuffed car a large black plastic bag of trash (containing chicken bones), nicely stowed alongside my black luggage! The nice thing was that once I made a deposit to the hotel dumpster, the smell went away quickly. [I sent my brother a thank-you email, and he said “Here to serve.”). Okay, it doesn’t help your problem, but I hope it makes you smile.
I suggested baking soda over at Jonna’s and I will say it here. IT WORKS.
My towels used to get all skanky and nothing worked. I now toss in 1/2 cup of baking soda and they smell divine.
Are you using Gain?
Swistle, I have front loading machines, and they are notoriously known for smelling sour. I got some detergent stuff from http://www.smellywasher.com and it worked like a frazookin miracle! I know I sound like a commercial, but it was that good. Price was about $20, but that gave me a baggie of the stuff that will last for a good long time. Check it out, and then maybe write a review :)
Janet- *whine* That sounds like WORK!
Rah- It DID make me smile! AND gag!
Canape- I did recently use Gain fabric softener, but stopped because I didn’t like the smell of it (apples). Normally I use Arm & Hammer or Purex, though right now I have a big supply of Tide I found on clearance.
With two messy little boys and an oblivious husband, my towels (and anything unfortunately too close) often smell…musty. Bleah. So I’ve become great friends with the baking soda — I just sprinkle on a generous amount (whatever seems it’ll do the trick) and VOILA. Laundry that is happy and fresh. :)
You can also a few drops of tea tree oil. I do that with my cloth diaper loads and they come out smelling great. (Don’t use more than a few drops though as it is powerful!)
The “Queen of Clean” recommends cleaning out your washing machine every…I can’t remember how often. You are supposed to run 1 quart of bleach through your longest, hottest cycle, followed by 1 quart of vinegar through your longest, hottest cycle. I have done that when I notice that my clean laundry is smelly, and it does help!
Oxyclean! It keeps clothes from getting that yucky mildew-y smell. It also gets it out. I don’t know how or why but it work.