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.
I see some people stating to use bleach or vinegar. Personally I have been using Borax for about a decade and it works incredibly well. I purchased it to make ant traps which also worked well, but decided to use it as a washing machine cleaner as well. 1 box has lasted me like 5 years and is pretty cheap as it is. Whenever i start smelling something ill do a clean cycle or if you dont have that option quick wash works as well and just pour like a cup of it in. It always smells like nothing after so it definitely works well.
Vinegar is great But it is an acid and will react with a lot of detergents. So i use it in the softner side with rosemary oil (antibacterial) which thr machine adds after the wash. For heavy things that still need drying after i spray it with a mix of vinegar, alcohal, and rosemary oil. Kills most eveything on it but by the time i use it its safe to the touch.
For that rosemary oil, vinegar, alcohol combination you spray on can you pleaae get into the specifics of how you make that mixture please? What litres or millilitres ofr each of those things do you use to make it? Also where in the hell can I find rosemary oil please? (Ill add that I dont use amazon) I have never seen such thing as rosemary oil in real life …or maybe I havent searched hard eniugh 🤷🏿♂️
They sell rosemary oil at the health food store where i live along with some local people sell essential oils.
For IN THE WASHER just use vinegar. It’ll help soften the fabric and kill some mildew/mold. Oils will stick in the wash and since it’s shared might not be ok with everyone. Alcohol can break down plastics.
I do probally 2/3rds vinegar (5% acidity is fine) and a 1/3rd everclear (190 proof). Just a few drops og rosemary is enough for a good smell tbh. You can also mix peppermint for things you want bugs to avoid but rosemary has the lasting antibacterial effect.
You can isopropal too, though i dont like how it dries as well but you can use less making it like 1/4 instead of 1/3 of the mix.
On the essential oils though they are 100% extra. Vinegar is good enough, alcohol helps more, the oils are mostly just smell goods with some evidence showing that they’ll help
Also I feel that when we are dealing with vinwgar-anything the essential oils are …wel… essential. The smell of vinegar so strong and bad .
So yoouve never had someone tell you you smell like vinegar after sprayimg your clothing with a mixture that tdiidnt have rosemary oil in it?
Can you recommend for me a non-alcoholic beverage alternative I can use for the alcohol please?
Sure sorry I could have been more clear that is what isopropyl is. It’s a non drinking alcohol
Had trouble with my machine. Ended up buying a new one. The clothes kept smelling, so I washed them without softener and sprayed them down with cleaning alcohol when I hanged them to dry. Smell is gone now
Why does it take so long to dry your clothing that mildew can grow? Take it out of the machine as soon as its done, don’t dry it in a sauna?
I would guess that citric acid will cause damage, but realistically there shouldn’t be any detergent or chemicals left over after a washing cycle anyway. The final rinse should clear it completely.
I always immediately hang dry as soon as I am done washing.
And when I rinse I use a TOON of water. I rinse each article of clothing individually inside and out 3 differemt times just to be extra extra sure.
I also rinse with hot water twice , then cold water once. Doesnt help as much as I thought it would.
It also doesnt help that the hot water for the apartment Im in has varrying heat . Like some days the hot water is HELLFIRRRE hot but then other days the hot water is just as ‘warm’ as even the cold water …
As others have alluded to, you probably need to get the drying time down, and mechanically removing the water is your best bet (mangle or separate spin dry). Your additional rinse might make it worse if the dry time increases.
One way to get the water out, if spin cycle or mangle isn’t an option is to layer your clothes in dry towels, roll them up and wring out the towel. You still need a way to dry the towel, but it will get a lot of water out of the clothes.
Back before I had a washer of my own and I was too lazy to go do a full load elsewhere, I’d hand wash, and then roll up whatever needed drying in a huge towel and walk back and forth on the roll to press out the water. Worked a treat and no wringing wrinkles.
Also the citric acid is only for the mildew cause Im guessing they hate conditions that are too acidic right?
I always rinse thoroughly thrice when rinsing the clothing so I doubt that there’s any leftover detergent inside rhem when Im done with them.
Can you dry them in an electric dryer? It’s humid here and air drying can be problematic. I haven’t noticed any stretching of the clothes as long as the washer spins adequately.
If you are washing at a Laundromat do they have an extractor? One of those centrifuge machines? Those leave the clothes more dry.
If you are washing at a Laundromat do they have an extractor? One of those centrifuge machines? Those leave the clothes more dry.
They dont have an extractor at this laundro mat . Only the dryers ans the washer. Also th e dryers dont have a ‘Fast, No Heat’ setting(Im guessing that could be used as a substitute for an centrifuge right?) The dryers They all have the same ‘Low Heat, Medium Heat, High Heat’ settings
Can you dry them in an electric dryer? It’s humid here and air drying can be problematic. I haven’t noticed any stretching of the clothes as long as the washer spins adequately.
My clothing ALWAYS stretches when I put them immediately in the dryer after they have been rinsed . I only notices that rhey stopped stretching if I put them in the dryer after theyre dry to the touch… but they take like 2 or 3 days or sometimes more to be dry to the touch.
Yeah 2 or 3 days damp is long enough to mildew.
I am going to recommend wool. I wear merino wool t shirts & underwear and those don’t need to be washed often, can’t go in the dryer but dry so fast even here in the subtropics. Are not too warm either, a thin knit fabric. It’s naturally resistant to the mildew.
I remember my mom being amazed when she went to Egypt - she came back and told me " I could wash my underthings in the evening, hang them under the bed, and in the morning they were dry! " So in the literal desert I guess it’s possible to air dry quickly enough to avoid problems but not here and I guess not where you are. Once they are mildewed I think only a bleach soak will work, and that’s gonna, well, bleach them.
But then the question becomes how in the fuck do you buy cheap things to clean wool with often? You cant wash wool in shit that has enzukes in. it …but like 99% of detergents globally have enzymes in them as far as my search is concerned. I had asked this same question before and all the answers that people gave me to this question were either super expensive detergents I couodnt regilarly afford or super bust detergenrs that had so little cleaning agents in them that you could not practically use it to clean anything.
ALSO I live in canada …so do you know of any brands that sell cheaply here please? ALSO they must be fragranceless wool wash detergents please. Fragrances irritate my skin.
I wash mine in regular detergent, Tide, on cold in the washing machine. Not much detergent and not often, it has survived years this way. Like I don’t even hand wash them. But if you are worried, just use hair shampoo, you don’t need special detergent. I hand wash silk in diluted shampoo, the same one I use on my hair - Malibu C hard water wellness shampoo. Whatever you have is probably fine.
Unbound Merino is expensive here but is a Canadian company, maybe it’s better priced up there? That’s where my best ones came from.
Quince has men’s merino T shirts, that is likely the cheapest not discounted price but if you are really skinny you can likely find small sizes on sale sometimes on Icebreaker too.
Or do I just need to hang dry the clothign for like a century after washing it and that will destroy the mildew?
Aye , any solutions are welcomed so have a swing at it if you like.
If you’re drying indoors a fan moving air helps.
I leave the window open with a fan on when drying indoors. Doesnt help :/
Ill also note that the apartment Im in has some of the worst ventilation in the world Ive found over the years. If you burned something in thje oven 10 minutes ago the smoke alarm will re go off sometimes cause some of the smoke is still trapped and ittlll go there to the smoke alarm again
I went through all this with my home washing machine a while back. The culprit in my case was trying to DIY laundry detergent and not knowing what the fuck I was doing.
I would skip the citric acid. I don’t see that moving the needle.
If your clothes stink, it’s probably biofilm left on them because the washer didn’t properly rinse off all the detergent. That comes from 2 places: too much detergent you added to your wash, and excess detergent stuck all over the washer internals from other people.
You’ll know that’s the problem if your clothes smell “ok” but if they get slightly damp it suddenly smells like wet dog.
One-time symptom treatment: make a strong mix of oxyclean and hot water in a bucket. Soak all your smelly clothes in it for at least 4 hours. Then drain and wash them normally.
If it’s in the machine, you’re in kind of a shitty position because the machine ultimately needs to be cleaned. If you have the time and are willing, run the washer empty with a cup of bleach. You might need to pause the washer and add it after the cycle starts - my machine drains when it turns on and pumps out the bleach, but if I add it a minute later it stays inside. Run the load with hot water.
Another thing you can do is run the machine with a cup of washing soda. That’s apparently better at removing biofilm, but imo bleach does a pretty great job on its own.
Moving forward, make sure you use the recommended amount of detergent. Too much and you’re back in the same place. Too little and there’s not enough detergent to actually clean your clothes (but the biofilm will still cover everything).
