How to sanitize laundry - mold problem

15 years ago

How do I get the smell of mold out of laundry? I accidentally left a load in the washer when I went away for a week and now I can't get the smell out. They are colors so I cannot use bleach. Can anyone suggest a product that will get the smell out and sanitize the clothes?

Thanks.

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Comments (5)

mara_2008
15 years ago
Have you tried vinegar? I think I'd wash them again, use about half the detergent you used the first time, and also pour vinegar into the wash - 1 c. for TL and 1/2 c. for FL. You could also put vinegar in the final rinse - same amounts.

You could soak the wash for at least an hour too; overnight would be even better. Then just finish out the cycle and see if there's any odor.

If you're concerned about residual odor possibly being dried into the clothes, you could air-dry them -- if you do that outside in the fresh air, that would be a big help. Then, if you are satisifed all the odor is gone, you could let them tumble on LO heat for about 10 minutes (perhaps with a damp cloth) if there were any wrinkles. When I hang wet clothes on the plastic Tide hangers, there are virtually no wrinkles in them. HTH
mara_2008
15 years ago
Baking soda in the wash water has often enabled me to get tough odors out of clothes. I put it right into the drum before I put the clothes in - 1 c. for TL and 1/2 c. for FL. It would dissolve best in warm water. I would soak the clothes as I mentioned earlier.

Baking soda and vinegar would be a double punch against odor. Again, HTH.
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chipshot
15 years ago
Baking soda mixed with vinegar can also be quite entertaining.
phillygrl
15 years ago
Buy some borax. Many stores (including Walmart in my area) carry 20 Mule Team Borax. It's in a green box in the laundry section. A load of laundry got left in the machine over a long hot summer weekend. Talk about stinky stuff! A rewash in hot water with detergent and a double dose of borax got the smell out. Borax is wonderful as a deodorant, works better than baking soda in my experience.
sshrivastava
15 years ago
If you want to sanitize your laundry, just add a tablespoon of liquid bleach to the wash. This should be enough to kill any organisms in the laundry and won't cause your clothes to become bleached. The 1 TBS dose is based on my Asko, which is a 2.0 cuft machine. A larger machine may require more.

I had a mold/mildew smell in my machine, and began adding 1 TBS of liquid bleach to my loads for a couple of weeks. The smell disappeared.