when i wash my clothes they smell sour. how do i get the smell out?

Question

i do put them in the dryer right away and i use new tide with downy and also downy liquid.i used hard water for 18 years no problems now i have city water and problems.

Answer 1

put 1/2 cup of vinegar into the rinse cycle and leave out the fab. soft. The vinegar will remove the build-up soap deposits in your clothing plus soften them. You will NOT smell like a pickle! Vinegar is great in place of fab. soft.

Answer 2

Luckily, there are only a few things that can cause this problem, and all can be solved without too much trouble.

1. Check your washer. Sometimes the washer itself can grow mold inside the little holes, between the part you see and the washer drum. I keep my lid open all the time to encourage air flow, and stop mildew and mold from growing inside.
If you think that the smell may be coming from your washer, just run one load with 1 cup of full strenghth Clorox, and NO CLOTHES. This will get rid of any and all smells and leave your washer squeeky clean and fresh.

2. Try to put the clothes that have finished the wash cycle right into the dryer as quickly as you can. Even clothes that sit for just a few hours can start to get smelly. How quickly depends on the ambient humidity of the air in the laundry room. (In the winter, you have a little more time before the washed clothes become smelly.) If you notice that they are, don't put them into the dryer, because they will still not be fresh smelling. You would have to wash them again before drying them.

3. Make really sure that your dried clothes (especially thick towels and sweaters) are super dry before folding them. They will mold over a little if they are damp. Sometimes if you feel the clothes/towels/blankets when they first come out of the dryer and are still a little warm, they might feel dry, but try feeling them when they cool off. You might find that you thought they were dry, but they were actually a little damp.

4. Make sure that you are not overstuffing too much into the washer. You need enough laundry detergent (I always use more than it says), and you need enough water and room in the washer for the clothes to move around.

5. Get a brand of laundry detergent that mentions odor remover on the label. Make sure that you like the scent before you use it. There is a big difference between laundry detergents. I would advise you to avoid the "free and clear" unscented detergents.

One of these issues will definitely fix the problem, and if you go ahead and try these hints, you should not have any more sour-smelling laundry problems, ever. Good luck!

Answer 3

Try using something like All Free Clear, make sure your loads have alot of water and less clothes, and don't let them sit in the washer very long before they're hung to dry or put in the dryer because it could be mildes.

When there isn't enough water it can smell bad. Laundry detergent that's scented can really sometimes reek but smell good while you're pouring it.

Answer 4

I'm not sure what you may be washing your clothes in, but try using fabric softener. This gives your clothes a nice clean scent. If you are washing your clothes and removing them from the machine right away, they shouldn't be smelling sour. You could be overloading the washer which causes clothes to go in dirty and come out dirty. Try minimizing your loads and like I said before, use fabric softener. Good luck.

Answer 5

Two things you need to do. 1 you need to get the clothes all the way dry before you fold them. When you take them from the dryer they may feel dry but they aren't. This is true with towels especially. Just lay them out on the bed or somewhere they can air out for like all day before you fold them and store them. Heavy clothes like jeans will do the same thing. 2 you can use a fabric softener that will help, but sometime not. Fa breeze works real well when it comes to smelly laundry, but it's kind of expensive to use. Good Luck!

Answer 6

You know on Those commercials they show Well there is this One with this guy playing sharades all the Other people are guessing like "mermaid, dead guy etc. " spay some febreze on ( the clothing kind) i reconmend the citrus and light it smells GOOD! but if you don't like it there is MANY, MANY more where that cam from
HOPED I HELPED A LITTLE BIT!!

Jennifer B

Answer 7

one cup of ammonia works for me. I use it when my clothes didn't quite make it to the dryer on time. heh. Wash them again and it will take the smell out. Also, if the problem is in your washing machine, do a load of white and use bleach along with your detergent.

Answer 8

RE:
when i wash my clothes they smell sour. how do i get the smell out?

Answer 9

I agree with the people who said to put some white vinegar in the spin cycle instead of using fabric softener. It is a natural deodoriser and disinfectant, and they're right, it doesn;t leave you smelling like a pickle because once it dries, its odorless.

Answer 10

Put a half cup of white vinegar in the washer with the detergent.