Odour from clothes after wash

Eircom_Sucks

Now no smart comments

Ive used the washing machine cleaner and the machines been serviced 3 months ago

Its an old machine but works great

Problem is when the clothes come out , there is a musty odour , and ud have to use deoderant to mask it , just wondering what maybe causing it

I use a washing tablet and comforter when washing

Alkers

Is it there straight from the wash or when the clothes are dry?

lawred2

Eircom_Sucks wrote: »

Now no smart comments

Ive used the washing machine cleaner and the machines been serviced 3 months ago

Its an old machine but works great

Problem is when the clothes come out , there is a musty odour , and ud have to use deoderant to mask it , just wondering what maybe causing it

I use a washing tablet and comforter when washing

If it's straight from the washing machine, then your filter is blocked and needs cleaning. Then you should run a hot wash with soda crystals. Maybe chuck in a couple of tea towels or something.

If they are not smelling coming out of the machine but when they are dry, you are not drying them quick enough or you are trying to dry them in a damp environment... Like a clothes horse in a bathroom.

Deodorant doesn't cover that smell up the way. You might think it does but it doesn't. It's rank.

EdgeCase

Is the machine heating the water?

Also maybe the different detergent.

TomOnBoard

1. Clean filter
2. Put a pint of cheap distilled white vinegar into the machine and a couple of towels. Do a long hot wash cycle without derergent.
3. Add a half cup of white vinegar to each wash (conditioner stage) for a couple of turns and assess improvement.

snor

Make sure you do not use the blue comfort - I always get a musty smell from It.

tradesman

Check the rubber around the door... could be small bit of stagnent water there

monkeynuz

lawred2 wrote: »

If it's straight from the washing machine, then your filter is blocked and needs cleaning. Then you should run a hot wash with soda crystals. Maybe chuck in a couple of tea towels or something.

If they are not smelling coming out of the machine but when they are dry, you are not drying them quick enough or you are trying to dry them in a damp environment... Like a clothes horse in a bathroom.

Deodorant doesn't cover that smell up the way. You might think it does but it doesn't. It's rank.

+1 on the soda crystals, best thing for cleaning the inside of the machine and the pipes.

BrokenArrows

Had this before and i just put a load of bleach into an empty wash. Let it run for a while and paused it before it rinsed and left it for a while.

Ran a couple of rinse cycles then and everything was perfect after that.

EdgeCase

The main thing is run a 90°C wash once in a while with good quality powder detergent. These contain enzymes and peroxide bleach which is activated by high temperatures.

If you run short washes with liquid detergent (especially the cheaper ones and non bios) they won't remove the biofilm (bacteria and fungus) that can grow inside the machine.

If you so use liquid detergent, throw in a scoop of Ace bleach or vanish or similar own brand stuff with the white / light wash and it also does the same job - peroxide bleach.

Throw on a towel wash at full temperature at least once a month and let the machine stew and you'll generally have no problems.

If your machine is already mouldy it's hard to get the mould out. Run plenty of very hot washes (with towels in the drum to get the water to splash around the drum) and keep using something like Ariel powder on those washes.

Be careful using chlorine bleaches like domestos or Milton on a washing machine as many of them have aluminium drum mounts which can be damaged by this. They're generally only designed for peroxide bleach.

A lot of modern machines also have a maintenance wash cycle in the menu or by holding a key combination. Check the manual as these are usually designed to really clean out the drum. Normally you can run these with either powder like Ariel or a washing machine xlwner.

Another solution that works very well is run a boil wash with about 3 dishwasher tablets (you need a few as washing machines use a lot more water than dishwashers). Put the tablets into an old white socks or something like that to prevent them from getting stuck in the door seal when the machine starts.

Dishwasher tablets are generally safe for the components of the machine and contain powerful enzymes and oxygen bleach that is designed to break down proteins and will generally clean the machine well.

monkeynuz

EdgeCase wrote: »

The main thing is run a 90°C wash once in a while with good quality powder detergent. These contain enzymes and peroxide bleach which is activated by high temperatures.

If you run short washes with liquid detergent (especially the cheaper ones and non bios) they won't remove the biofilm (bacteria and fungus) that can grow inside the machine.

If you so use liquid detergent, throw in a scoop of Ace bleach or vanish or similar own brand stuff with the white / light wash and it also does the same job - peroxide bleach.

Throw on a towel wash at full temperature at least once a month and let the machine stew and you'll generally have no problems.

If your machine is already mouldy it's hard to get the mould out. Run plenty of very hot washes (with towels in the drum to get the water to splash around the drum) and keep using something like Ariel powder on those washes.

Be careful using chlorine bleaches like domestos or Milton on a washing machine as many of them have aluminium drum mounts which can be damaged by this. They're generally only designed for peroxide bleach.

A lot of modern machines also have a maintenance wash cycle in the menu or by holding a key combination. Check the manual as these are usually designed to really clean out the drum. Normally you can run these with either powder like Ariel or a washing machine xlwner.

Another solution that works very well is run a boil wash with about 3 dishwasher tablets (you need a few as washing machines use a lot more water than dishwashers). Put the tablets into an old white socks or something like that to prevent them from getting stuck in the door seal when the machine starts.

Dishwasher tablets are generally safe for the components of the machine and contain powerful enzymes and oxygen bleach that is designed to break down proteins and will generally clean the machine well.

I always thought that high temperatures killed the enzymes in biological powder?

EdgeCase

They don't until a fairly high temperature, but they activate the bleach in the powder more aggressively than it works at low temperatures.

The machine actually goes through a profile of keeping the clothes at about 40ºC which is ideal for enzymes and then takes it up to full temperature later in the cycle to really heavily activate the bleachy components.

The enzymes would have quite a serious impact on biofilm (layers of bugs) growing inside the machine by breaking down proteins, starches, sugars and lipids and making it easier for them to be washed away by the other components of the detergent.

The enzymes start to be deactivated above about 40ºC, but the bleach kicks in and other components of the detergent work well. The main thing you're doing at 90ºC is killing bugs with hot water and steam.

Calahonda52

EdgeCase wrote: »

They don't until a fairly high temperature, but they activate the bleach in the powder more aggressively than it works at low temperatures.

The machine actually goes through a profile of keeping the clothes at about 40ºC which is ideal for enzymes and then takes it up to full temperature later in the cycle to really heavily activate the bleachy components.

The enzymes would have quite a serious impact on biofilm (layers of bugs) growing inside the machine by breaking down proteins, starches, sugars and lipids and making it easier for them to be washed away by the other components of the detergent.

The enzymes start to be deactivated above about 40ºC, but the bleach kicks in and other components of the detergent work well. The main thing you're doing at 90ºC is killing bugs with hot water and steam.

Great posts, thank you, however no steam at 90C:D

uch

One thing I always notice is that if you wash sports gear (football Jerseys) with normal clothes I get a distinct hum off all the clothes, So I always wash sports gear seperately to avoid the smell

EdgeCase

Calahonda52 wrote: »

Great posts, thank you, however no steam at 90C:D

Of course you do. Just because the average water temperature's 90ºC doesn't mean that the machine hasn't evaporated a lot more than that. You'll find this out if you ever stick your hand over the spout of a kettle. The steam can be significantly hotter than the water as it's literally bubbling up through the water from the element surface. That's also why steaming vegetables works.

juke

I had that problem with my gym gear. Added a dash of supermarket bicarbonate of soda & vinegar to the wash and the stink went away.

Gimme A Pound

Is it before or after they dry? This was happening to dried clothes for me recently but I put it down to the high humidity/dampness.

listermint

Don't leave clothes in the machine for any length of time take them out to dry quickly.

Some clothes will need to be washed in bio , non bio won't lift ingrained body odours.

k123456

Lots of excellent advice above. To add ; leave the door open whenever you can , this helps to dry out the rubber seal and drum.