Laundry Help!

LegacyUser

Hello,

I have made a bit of a boo boo and I'm hoping some wise people can advise me

I am expecting my first baby and as advised by my midwife I have been washing any new clothes or blankets I get for the baby in non-bio. ( I respect this may seem a bit OTT but its my first baby and I'm doing as I'm told)


Anyway my sister donated a bag of clothes from her baby to me - they are clean just have that musty smell from being stored away.
So I washed them with some of my new stuff and to my dismay the new stuff came out smelling musty too!

I washed the new things on their own with non bio again and this time a little fabric softener - but they still don't smell clean to me.

I don't want to wash them again as I'm afraid I'll wreck them now before the child is even born!

I'm letting them dry at the moment but I'm not confident the smell will fade.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
The Laundry Dunce.

lynski

i know the weather is sh1te at the mo but i find line drying beats all for smell.

Twinkleboots

There's a fairy non bio fabric softener out there too( two for 4euro atm in dunnes actually) maybe lash a heap of that on and wash them one last time and then as lynski said try and get them out on the line for a few hours to get that fresh smell!

xzanti

Maybe take them to your nearest laundromat and ask them to give them another wash in non bio.. The big dryers in those places always seem to bring the clothes up that bit fresher and softer than doing them at home.. I find anyways

You're not being ott.. I was the very same having my Son (first baby as well) I was so fussy about washing his stuff.. but you tend to chill out a bit after the first couple of weeks imho..

Rosy Posy

if its not too delicate stuff (like fine wool or silk) you could put a tablespoon of baking powder in the wash- its a great odour neutraliser and won't irritate baby's skin.

cbyrd

Washing the clothes is not a bit ott .. its highly recommended. Most clothes are not made locally and hence are shipped all over the world.. so they're sprayed with pesticides and mouldicides and fungicides . . not what you want to be putting straight on your baby..

wmpdd3

You could try getting the smell out of your machine first by running a hot wash with no detergent and then washing them again. Napisan could work too. I often have to run an empty wash in the machine after washing pooey clothes!

LegacyUser

Thanks everyone for the suggestions,

@lynski I don't have a washing line but I left the clothes horse by an open window and that seems to have helped things. They don't have that lovely fairy smell but they don't smell as much of must as when I took them out first

@Twinkleboots cheers for the heads up on the fabric softener I must pick some up later

@xzanti I was a little weary of tumble drying myself because some of the stuff is non tumble dryer friendly but if things don't work out I could always take the stuff that is ok to tumble and let a professional handle it

@Rosy Posy - I had read about soaking things in a bit of baking powder and water but I never thought of putting it in the machine, would you do that without any other detergent in as well?

@wmpdd3 - thats a good tip, I've tumbled other clothes and done a wash of other stuff in the machine since and they smell ok, but it's good to have options for my next impending laundry disaster... i feel it won't be long!

@cbyrd - thanks, good to know I'm not crazy for doing this - as you can gather I'm not the most domesticated individual.

Thanks again!
The Laundry Dunce

silly

you could put in a small cloth - facecloth or a baby bib soaked in the comfort pure into the dryer with the rest of the clothes.

Rosy Posy

I usually add baking powder to the machine as well as the detergent. Its also great for bleaching out stains without being toxic