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Except it also doesn't do anything good for COLORS.
I used baking soda in my laundry today...wasn't mildewy smell, just musty. Came out just fine.
Figured out when I was really looking that my front loader has a bleach only wash to clean it. So I ran that after I did my laundry to clean the inside. Liz
Since you have a front loader where did you put the baking soda? Did you dilute it which the detergent or put it inside with the towels? My front loader's instructions doesn't recommend using powdered detergent so I have been leary to try it?
I have had great luck removing and preventing mildew by using a product called Enviromagic's Mildew Stain Away (amazonpp.com). If you use a cup of it with one load of laundry, it should do the trick. It is environmentally safe too.
It took a while but we found out that somehow our washmachine leaked inside and some moisture was trapped between drum and drum housing. Nice and cosy:>( My husband took it apart, bleached it .... I bought a new one:>)
That used to happen in my house growing up, where standing water was the culprit. Off balance spin cycles were doing it mostly. Also the econo plan of infrequent use regularly kept standing water in the pipes as well.
gent- mildew can't live with salt either FYI. Peeps with chem sensitivity trying to keep grout clean spray salt water onto grout after shower for prevention. Works if you work it, but complaints about powder residue on tiles do happen. Trade off of lesser evils.
The word that everyone's been using is "mildew" (fungus), but I'm pretty sure that what we're all smelling is bacteria. What happens is that bacteria starts to grow on the organic matter that's trapped in the clothing (or towels, etc.). Washing doesn't remove all organic matter; and if bacteria has previously grown in the clothing, some of the bacteria will remain after washing. So measures that work against bacteria should help get rid of the smell.
First of all, the faster the laundry dries after washing, the less time the bacteria has to grow (bacteria needs moisture to grow) -- so you should always dry clothes in a hot dryer immediately after washing (hanging clothes up to dry, especially indoors where the humidity can't escape, would exacerbate the problem). All the things that people have suggested putting in their laundry -- vinegar (acid), lemon juice (acid), Borax (salt and boron), and bleach (disinfectant) -- kill bacteria. Now, if you wash and dry some items and the smell remains, then wash and dry them again immediately. The water in the second wash will be cleaner than the water in the first wash, and less organic matter and bacteria will be redeposited on the clothes during the wash. If the item is small, microwaving it while wet will also kill the bacteria (although you run the risk of burning the cloth) (I microwave sponges and wash cloths, and that's all).
In my case, I'm having a "mildew" problem because I have a washer but not a dryer, so I have to hang everything up to dry. But when I take my damp clothes to the laundromat and use their dryers, the clothes always smell fresh (but there is still bacteria in the clothes and the smell returns quickly). I have some Borax and vinegar, so I'll try those.
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