TLDR - You can reply to any of the questions below that you have a citation or knowledge about please and thanks. But basically I hang dry my clothjng and have had a problem with them getting that mildewy smell . Please help
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Im talking about a whole 2 cups of citirc acid per a load of clothing. What notablw effects on the clothing wll this amount have? Also I plan on leaving the citric acid solution on the clothing after rinsing away as much detergent as possible. Bad idea? Should I do a 24 or 8 hour citric acid soak? Nope ?yes?
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Also it should be noted that most of the clothing is heavy cotton as in 325 GSM or more cotton. Only like 1 or 2 of those peices of clothing are made of wool or polyester or spandex.
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Also citirc acid may lighten the clothing no? Or will the citric acid only lighten the clothing if it clothing is out in the Sun for too long, right?
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Will the citric acid impart its own smell to the clothing? Will it destroy it?
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Can I combine this solution with placing the citirc acid solution on the clothing and l then once its hang dried a bit I can then use a drying machine to dry it even more thoroughly to ensure that rhe mildew is like double dead? Also I cant dry my clothing when its wet as Im super skinny and that would make my clothing stretch far too much.
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Could the problem be that Im using too much detergent?
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Ive tried to look for other solutions to this and apparently drying the clothing after the mildew is already there will not have a drastic enough effect to get rid of it. Is this true please.?
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Should I just dump boiling water onto the clothing after it has washed or will this make it stretch?
Ive found I have this problem when I hand wash the clothing or machie wash it but surprisingly hand washing and then hand wringing it makes the smell of mildew less prominent.
Also I live in an apartment that has a public laundromat and the cleaning of the machines’ filters is a sporadic frequency as of now so…
And yes I do now know about mangles to wring dry clothing. I live in canada so if anyine knows any brands that arent absolute garbo please do link
Ive deided to not use the washing machines until. the maytag mechanics fix the problem of to dirty filter and the mildew. I live in an apartment with a public laundromat and the maytag mechanics for the machine come in sporadically
Thanks to all who answer.
Edit: Ive found that the trick that someone suggested involving using an essential oil (like tea tree oil or rosemary oil) plus vinegar during the final rinse did in fact get rid of all the midlew. Thanks . I may just add rubbing alcohol to that too to.make it even more effective.
Looks like there’s plenty of discussion around the washing machine already. Are you hanging drying clothes inside or outside?
If inside and you dont live in a particularly dry area, make sure to run a dehumidifier in the same room as the clothes. It won’t remove the scent from the wash of course but it will help dry them quicker and prevent any mildew that may have transfered to the clothes from getting worse at least.
I hangg dry inside when I know its about to, during , or soon after it has rained/snowed and I hang dry outside otherwise. ANd obviouuslt when hang drying outside the smell of mildew is far less notable due to all the wind and the sunlight’s UV rays which probably scramble up their DNA. A notable problem is that in toronto snow and rain randomly show up all the time so I have to be careful about when to hang dry outside.
I think Ill need to combine methods since this place is kinda humid and the air flow in this apartment is amazingly bad. Like a dehumidifier, a fan, and vinegar with an essential oil.
That sounds like a good plan. Hopefully the service tech shows up and cleans out the machines though!
The mildew is likely not in your clothes, it’s in the washer, which contaminates them every time you run it. If you leave the washer closed immediately after unloading it stays damp and grows stuff. Does the inside of the washer drum (while empty) smell bad?
If top load, fill washer as much as you can with warm/hot water and shut it off. Treat it with a fuckton of bleach, mix it and let it sit 30 minutes then drain and run a rinse cycle. If it’s a side load washer fill it with bleach and let it run without clothes.
Always empty clothes immediately after the wash cycle is finished, even letting them set 15min can begin to increase mold/mildew.
I smelled the innards of the machine about 10 different times on 10 different days for the last couple of months and all of them smell like a coombination of mildew and vomit. Very few of them ever smelled completely like nothing. Its a public washing machine cause I live in an apartment building with a public laundromat.
Also thanks. Ill try it.
Its a public washing machine cause I live in an a partment with a public laundromat.
This is the problem. It probably never gets cleaned properly.
Bleach is a good idea. You can also add a bit of white vinegar to your laundry load - keep it to 1/4 cup (60ml) and it won’t affect the smell of the clothes.
If you’re willing to spend a little money on it yourself, you could run an actual washing machine cleaning product like this through it:
Or complain to your landlord, try to get them to clean the machines.
Also if you can find the model number look up if it has an accessible filter that you can clean:
https://www.southernliving.com/how-to-clean-washing-machine-filter-12007426
It’s probably full of old gunk. Not all machines have them, but if this one does then it’s a problem you can fix by yourself in like 5 minutes.
Your last paragraph makes me think you really need to run a washing machine clean cycle with a washing machine cleaner in it a few times.
I cam use bleach or oxy clean to do this no?
Oxyclean powder does absolutely work as well as specific washer cleaner stuff (some of it is literally oxyclean with a different name and higher price) but not as well as cleaning the filter.
