I left clothes soaking in my washer too long with detergent added to the water. Needless to say, we had a very busy week and forgot to run the load. How can I get the odor out now sticking to the load of clothes? Thanks!
I once left a comforter in the washer & forgot about it for a few days. When opening the washer lid, I about passed out from the stench. When in doubt call Mom! Mom recommended using 20 Mule Team Borax with your normal detergent. Followed the directions on the box & it was as good as new after washing it only once. Great stuff & can be used for many other cleaning problems.
I swear by clear ammonia. I too have committed the "sin" of leaving damp stuff lying around and the smell is unbelievable. We also have a male cat (neutered of course) that has a very bad habit of urinating on clothing etc left on the floor (I have 2 kids so you know what this means). I just pour a 1/2 cup of ammonia in the RINSE cycle and it works great! It may leave an ammonia smell right out of the washer, but once the stuff has been in the dryer, there is no smell. You can also use 1 cup of white vinegar, but I like the ammonia better. In fact, I keep a gallon of the stuff right next to the washer!
Febreeze makes a laundry odor remover that works great, but I usually do the vinegar method too. There is also a product called Affresh that will clean all the odor causing residue in your washing machine. The package has 3 tablets and we got it at Home Depot. You just drop a tablet in and run a hot wash (empty). This was a miracle for me! My washer was really smelly after washing so many flood soaked items this summer.
Wash them in gain with baking soda it is known to take out odors and it is all I use and then I use gain fabric liquid softener in island fresh it must be ultra. You will never go back to any other detergent again. I promise baking soda is what takes the smell out of laundry!
A further option is to run a quart of vinegar (white) in your empty washer to remove all mildew from it especially if you have front loader as they have many more hiding spaces in the rubber gaskets inside the door to grow uglies. Same works for dishwasher periodically. Sparkling Clean! GrannyGail
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Request: Removing Odor From Clothing Left In Washer
Archived on 09/12/2008
How do you remove "sour" odor from laundry left in the washer too long?
Glenys from Georgia
Answers:
RE: Removing Odor From Clothing Left In Washer
Been there, done that! I run it through the wash again using vinegar for wash and in place of fabric softener. They won't come out smelling like vinegar, just fresh and not like mildew. (06/19/2008)
Yes, as Glenn's mom said, simply re-wash and the vinegar will help rid possible mildew. Not even a dozen dryer sheets will take the sour odor out otherwise. (06/23/2008)
