Laundry Odor Removal
One of the worst aspects of doing the laundry is dealing with stinky clothes. Whether it’s gym shorts or just a pair of well-worn socks, stinky clothes are an unfortunate reality. However, there are some very practical steps you can take to fight laundry odors that involve minimal effort and common household items.
Clothing Odor
Soak your stinky items. Create a hot-water soak and add a few ounces of lemon juice or dishwashing detergent to the mix to help neutralize most major odors. Soak the clothes for no more than 30 minutes, then drain.
Perspiration may leave odors on your clothing. Spray white distilled vinegar directly on the sweaty areas on your clothing, underarm and collar, and wash as normal.
Add a deodorizer to your wash. Load your clothes into the washing machine and, during the preliminary fill, add 1/2 cup of vinegar or a few tablespoons of baking soda to the mix; allow the wash to run normally with your regular laundry detergent.
After your clothes have finished washing, transfer them directly to the dryer. Even a small delay can foster odors. Throw in some scented drying sheets to help further neutralize odors in the dryer.
Clothing quickly absorbs any type of smoke odor, which can be hard to remove in the laundry. Fill your bathtub with hot, steamy water and add one cup of vinegar. Hang the smoky clothing over the steam and close all doors and windows to help trap the steam in the room.
There are laundry detergents on the market that claim to help remove odors from clothing. It may be helpful to try one of these detergents.
Washing Machine Odor
The inside of a washing machine has all of the elements to become a smelly problem. The humid conditions can, often cause a musty odor. Remember, clean laundry starts with a clean washer, Iit is important to clean your washing machine regularly to ensure a fresh-smelling laundry room.
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Tips & Tricks
Many stains are more likely to be removed entirely if soaked in cold water before it has had time to set.
If in doubt, test your color garment for colorfastness – apply warm water to an inconspicuous part (inside of the hem, for instance), then press this part with a warm iron between two pieces of white cloth.
To protect your favorite garments, try turning them inside out before washing.
Use a partitioned laundry basket to sort your laundry as you remove it.
Overloading your washing machine could mean that your clothes don’t properly get clean.
White streaks of powder left behind on your clothes due to undissolved detergent are usually caused by overloading your machine, and can be removed with an additional rinse cycle.
Washing much smaller loads on non-cotton cycles to give more freedom of movement in the drum and result in better cleaning.
Using too little detergent can cause whites to become dingy as there are insufficient ingredients to hold soils in the water so they don’t redeposit on the garments.
Overdosing in a soft-water area can lead to “oversudsing” which, in extreme cases, can mean suds come out of the machine.
Always check the fabric care label for the manufacturer’s washing recommendations.
Some dyes will bleed even in very cold water, so always sort your washing into light colors, dark colors, whites, and delicates.
To compensate for washing at lower temperatures, try using a Cotton (most agitation) or Synthetic cycle, if the garment care label allows. There are also detergents specially designed to work in cold water.
Whenever possible, dry your clothes outside on a line; you could see significant energy savings.
Make sure to close all zippers, fasteners, and hooks to prevent and reduce abrasion of fabric and consider placing delicate items into mesh laundry bags.
To pre-treat stains, apply undiluted laundry detergent directly onto stained areas. For best results, allow product to sit on stain for a few minutes, scrub product into stain, then wash.
When adding chlorine bleach, always use the bleach dispenser on your washer to ensure that it is added at the right time in the wash cycle. If your machine does not have a dispenser, add chlorine bleach at the end of the wash cycle.
Check garment care labels for recommended wash temperature.
For all HE washers, make sure to use a low-sudsing HE detergent.
Use the right amount of detergent. Follow package directions carefully. For heavily soiled and/or large loads, use more detergent.
If you do not have a detergent dispenser on your machine, add the detergent while the washer fills with water, ensure the detergent has dissolved, then add the clothes.
Keep your washing machine free of residues by running a monthly wash cycle with Tide Washing Machine Cleaner.
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