How can I get a mildew smell out of my laundry?

Question

I don't know how the smell got in there, but I have some clothes that have been washed and dried, and when they get damp, like after my shower, they have that mildewy smell. Is there some laundry treatment, product, etc. that I can use to get that smell out, or do I just have to throw the stuff away?

Answer 1

add some white vinegar to the wash without detergent. then re-wash with detergent. (do a fabric test first!)

Answer 2

Assuming it is actually coming from your laundry, try this: First, run a wash cycle without clothes, just hot water and bleach (or throw your whites in there with it, I guess). This will clean up the machine itself.

Next, wash your clothes as usual and add 1/2 cup baking soda to the rinse water. This is an excellent deodorizer. Then, if you can hang them in the sun to dry, so much the better. Sunlight will kill mildew.

I have used vinegar in my wash water (it acts as a fabric softener), but I find I am still able to smell it in the clothes--especially I first take them out when they have been sitting in the drawer. It smells like BO to me.

That's if it's really in the clothes/laundry. There's another possibility, especially since you specifically mention the shower. The mildew may be in your bathroom. If there is any little crack in your tile, fault in your grout, etc, you may have mildew growing in your walls. Your damp clothes and (especially) towels in the bathroom will really soak up this smell.

I had this problem recently. I thought it was the washer, because my towels would smell bad by the next day after washing them (I never smelled anything in the air, just the towels). Around that time I had mentioned to the landlord that my grout needed touching up, but they decided to replace it all with a one-piece surround (they were slowly re-doing all the units that way). Well, when they pulled all the tile out it was all mildewy. You never would have guessed it looking at the bathroom before they tore it out. Once it was cleaned up, my stinky towel problem went away.

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
How can I get a mildew smell out of my laundry?
I don't know how the smell got in there, but I have some clothes that have been washed and dried, and when they get damp, like after my shower, they have that mildewy smell. Is there some laundry treatment, product, etc. that I can use to get that smell out, or do I just have to throw the...

Answer 4

I swear that my family has the stinkiest, dirtiest laundry on the planet. And nothing helps with bad smells like borax. I also have found that with milldew smells adding a bit of regular bleach to any load of laundry helps. Here is what I do, add about an 1/8 of a cup (about 2 tablespoons) of regular bleach to an empty washer. Fill washer completely with water, add detergent and allow to agitate for a couple of seconds to mix. Add any type of clothes and wash as normal. This has gotten some bad smells out of dark colored towels & jeans with no change in their color.

Answer 5

Try pouring a little bit of baking soda and white vinegar in your washer when you do laundry next time.. should take care of the smell and you clothes will smell fresh and clean again.. If you have room try hanging your clothes outside in the fresh air will also work..

Answer 6

The best way to take care of this is to wash the clothes as normal-except add about 3/4 cup of baking soda and about 1/2 cup of white vinegar to your wash. Then, when they are in the rinse cycle-add some more white vinegar to the load. This will help freshen them instantly, but it will also keep them fresher longer. They won't have a perfume smell to them, (unless you a LOT of soap in the load) but just a clean and fresh smell to them. The vinegar in the rinse cycle will also help soften your clothes some. This is important especially with towels cause if you use fabric softener a lot with them, it takes away the absorbency.
I have 3 kids and one grandson living with me-so, believe me I KNOW this works.

Answer 7

Try an extremely small amout of Javex in the laundry. Too much Javex will destroy your clothes and it will smell. Dry them outside. The smell may be coming from the drier vent and /or filter. Clean those.

Answer 8

It's fairly easy, but takes some time. Clean out your wardrobe. Put the washing machine at the hottest setting (i.e. 90° celsius or around 200 °F) - if the fabric is not too fragile, you can get away with it once or twice. Then put them in the dryer and dry them completely. Meanwhile, clean out your wardrobe and the places where you keep your clothes. If you wash all of your clothes in one go, that should solve the problem.

Answer 9

I have to agree with some of the others.. wash with as hot of water as the garments will allow.. maybe spend some extra cash on some Tide, if you dont already use it, throw in some color safe bleach and let them soak for a bit... and I think the drying in the sun may help too, if its not sunny or a HOT sun.. put them in the dryer on as hot as the garment can stand... if that doesnt work, call a local dry cleaners.. they may be able to put them thru there process, depending on the material, and their chemicals may get it out... Good luck, I have had that happen before, it took some extra washings and few extra dryer sheets..

Answer 10

Wash it again in the hottest water that is safe for the fabric (add some borox if you have some, I love that stuff) and dry it in the sun on a line. (if you can). Not only will the smell be gone, it'll have that marvelous smell of outdoors!

Answer 11

i use a 1/2 cup of Borox with my reg. laundry soap and it gets all the other smells out of clothes.