Mouldy smelling clothes (were left damp)

suzywoozy_3

I have sprinkled bicarb in smelly trainers before and left it for a few days and they've been fine. could work for football boots too.

moanymoany

Bicarb is a good idea. If a child or animal has an accident on the carpet, then mopping as much as possible and then sprinkle with a layer of bicarb and let it dry then vac it off - really works so it should be good in shoes and with clothes.

bigsmoke

thanks everyone! i washed them on high with biological poweder last night and have hung them around the flat to dry. they're still smelling a bit musty but that might be me being paranoid! will wait until they're dry for a verdict.

if they still smell, i think i'll try the bicarb in the wash as i don't have any fabric conditioner.

i've never done this before - do i use normal washing liquid at the same time as the bicarb? how much bicarb do i use?

i've got visions of my kitchen being filled with bubbles, haha!

thanks again everybody

ceridwen

I've had this problem before now and/or bits of mould physically showing on clothes. So far I've found it works to wash them in water that has my usual cleaning product in - and then rinse them with water with a few drops of essential teatree oil in (knew my aromatherapy oils would come in handy some time).

basmic

Can I be the first one to recommend that you stop using washing liquid, and change to washing powder - mostly becasue washing powder contains bleach and liquid doesn't.

You see, the bleach in the washing powder helps to keep your machine clean. By no means am I saying it'll be clean as a whistle, just because you use powder in place of liquid, though.

For your reference:

• Which is the best washing machine detergent to use - washing powder, liquid or tablets?
• Washing machine smells - causes of grease, slime and black mould inside washing machines
  

bigsmoke

ooh, i never knew that, thanks!

the reason i changed to liquid is that i don't have a car and hurt my back, so i started buying the concentrated persil that does 20 washes from a little bottle as it's so much easier to carry. always buy it on offer of course!!

i use non-bio as i sometimes get itchy when i use other stuff, but my flatmate uses biological (but also liquid) - do you think this means our machine will get manky? would doing, say, one wash in 10 with powder keep on top of keeping it clean? so that we still dont' have to carry the powder too often?

update on the stinky clothes: they've now been hung out for a few days and are a lot better. i have had to throw one item away, but it was kind of on it's last legs anyway so don't feel too bad - a knackered sports bra probably isn't too good for you anyway!

i'm going to try the bicarb, and then perhaps give them a rinse in some tea tree shower gel that i've got (don't have any essential oils - do you think shower gel will do the trick?!). please don't shoot me if this is a really stupid idea!!

maz_student

This is hilarious! I thought I must be the only one in the world who has ever done this. Same thing happened to me a few months back. What I done sounds crazy and over-the-top, but it worked and im wearing my clothes now.

This has a really strong smell... you can even smell it even if u havent opened the box yet (but dont worry, your clothes actually wont smell of it).

Anyway i poured about 3 cups into a big bowl and added water, then added the whole thing down the washing machine.

VERY IMPORTANT: Do *not* put all the powder into the drawer first and then add water down the drawer....if you do this then you will cause a blockage in your washing machine. Its *really* important to put the three scoopes of washing powder into another container (e.g. a big bowl or measuring jug), add water and THEN pour this mixture down the washing machine drawer. Very important!

Wash it at normal temperature (dont choose 60 degrees because it will damage your clothes, 40 degrees is fine).

When it comes to conditioning, dont be stingy: I poured three or four cups (cant remember) of the Blue lenor fabric conditioner. Also, dont use the "concentrated" fabric conditioner... use the normal one

Once again, it sounds stupid but i was willing to try anything because i didnt want to throw my jumper and other stuff away!