Washing doesn't smell fresh - any ideas?

TDA10

Hi there,

I have a washer that is just over a year old, working fine, but lately I have noticed that the clothes don't smell fresh after washing and I'm not sure why. I'm not sure how long it's been like this - it's only after my M.I.L washed something for me in her machine last week that I noticed it smelt lovely that I started sniffing my own washing!

I use various powders - 'Surf with Essential Oils' at the mo and sometimes use softener but it makes no difference. It's not a horrible smell, just smells of nothing really.

I'm not overloading the washer, have put washing machine cleaner through and ran a hot wash but to no avail.

Any ideas welcomed

brightontraveller

It could be your machine. Run your machine on the highest setting and add a cupful of bleach. Do the same again and add a cupful of vinegar . This will clean the water pipes and the machine


Some people also put a cup of distilled vinegar in the rinse. It should be gone in a few loads.It won't make them smell of vinegar and it will give a nice PH balance to the load and acts as a natural fabric softener

tanith

Does your MIL dry her washing outside? I find it makes all the difference if its windblown... Washing thats always dried in a tumble dryer or on radiators tends to smell musty or just of nothing much.,....

alwaysonthego_2

sometimes your nose senses get use to a usual smell what about trying a different scented wash powder. i like lenor 'in pink' makes my washing smell lovely

rancid-a

No washing machine in my flat, do most of my stuff at Mums I do have to wash my work gear in the sink though, dry it over the bath (It would get nicked if I put it outside). To get rid of the odd damp smell after it dries, I just blast it with some Fabreeze conditioner - just before setting off to work too.

Doozergirl

If you overload the machine then the washing powder can't get through properly.

H always overloads the machine - if I do the washing, it smells considerably better.

So try putting a bit less washing in and see if that helps if cleaning the machine hasn't

floyd

Most washing machine manufacturers will suggest running your machine on a 'maintenence wash' once a month. This basically means running the machine empty as hot as it will go with either biological powder or soda crystals in the drawer, this kills any nasties that tend to lurk when using low temps and non-bio powders and liquids.

ElegantlyWasted

brightontraveller wrote: »

It could be your machine. Run your machine on the highest setting and add a cupful of bleach. Do the same again and add a cupful of vinegar . This will clean the water pipes and the machine


Some people also put a cup of distilled vinegar in the rinse. It should be gone in a few loads.It won't make them smell of vinegar and it will give a nice PH balance to the load and acts as a natural fabric softener

Hi bt - do you put the bleach/vinegar in the drum, or in the drawer?
Thanks x

TDA10

Thanks for all the replies - I have done most of the above like changing the powder and hanging washing outside (when the weather allows...!) which didn't make any difference, but I haven't tried the bleach and vinegar suggestion yet, so I'll give that a go asap.

Thanks again :beer:

Hitch

We had the same thing, my sister washed something using her aurf small and mighty....a world of difference.
Now we use that, and get a nice fresh smell every wash now.

I think you get used toy the one you use after a while, a change every so often makes it noticeable :)_

brightontraveller

ElegantlyWasted wrote: »

Hi bt - do you put the bleach/vinegar in the drum, or in the drawer?
Thanks x

You can put in either but best in draw as it will clean pipe/shoot to drum