Smelly Top?

Fluxfan

So this is a bit trivial, but a weird one: I'm sitting here wearing a top that's just out of the wash, but I can't seem to get a horrid, stale smell out of it! It's only about 6 months old.

Last week when I wore it I could smell it all day, and at one stage figured it was a colleague who has a tendency towards smelly sometimes. Horror of horrors when the smell followed me home it was definitely my top!! So I put it into a really hot wash and let it dry, smelt it, all good.

I've put it on me again today for the first time since I washed and I can definitely still smell it. I'm morto. (Apologies smelly colleague). It's the exact same stale horrible smell that you get if you don't wash clothes often enough, or if you leave washed wet clothes in the basket and they start to dry.

I've just checked the label and its 100% polyester. Any ideas on how I can get rid of this smell? I really like the top and its not that old, but jaysus I can't be going around smelling like this!!

What temperature are you washing it at

Fluxfan

Normally I do my washing at 30 but I ramped this one up to 50 to make sure the smell would go!

corsica

That happened to me with a cardigan from Penneys, in the end I put it down to cheap synthetic fabric and threw it out.

HelgaWard

To be sung to the tune of Phoebe's smelly cat song...

"Smelly Top, smelly top what are they washing you with?"

Ah no, seriously I find this stuff great for really cleaning running gear which can tend to get a bit whiffy, just add www. before the below (I can't post links)

dettol.co.uk/products-for-your-home-laundry-antibacterial-laundry-cleanser

Hope this helps.

cat_dog

Put 1-2 cups of white distilled vinegar in the fabric softener section & use scented biological detergent

Ms.RBrite

Does the top have any beading on it by any chance?

I had two tops that both had metal effect beading on them and after washing them they began to smell. The first time, like you, I was sitting at my desk and noticed a horrible smell and only figured out it was the top when I actually sniffed it. Washing it again only seemed to make it worse, and in the end I binned them. They were only from Penny's or Dunnes anyway so it wasn't too bad.

convert

Did you, by any chance, leave it in either the washing machine or dryer for a few hours after you washed/dried it? This can sometimes cause that 'funny' smell.

Fluxfan

Thanks for the advice! This isn't it but its definitley the same material http://www.newlook.com/shop/womens/tops/red-long-sleeve-chiffon-shirt_314293865 so it's chiffon (but 100% polyester?)

I'll try the vinegar - will that make my clothes smell of vinegar? if not I'll but some of the big guns

Fluxfan

HelgaWard wrote: »

To be sung to the tune of Phoebe's smelly cat song...

"Smelly Top, smelly top what are they washing you with?"

Ah no, seriously I find this stuff great for really cleaning running gear which can tend to get a bit whiffy, just add www. before the below (I can't post links)

dettol.co.uk/products-for-your-home-laundry-antibacterial-laundry-cleanser

Hope this helps.

I'm going to DOUSE my boyfriends gym gear in this stuff!!

Pippy1976

This is happening with a pair of River Island jeans I've had for about 2 years. They were fine up until about 6 months ago and now they constantly smell damp.

It drives me mad as I love them and don't want to part with them.

Suggestions welcome (sorry for hijacking this thread)

Fluxfan

Pippy1976 wrote: »

This is happening with a pair of River Island jeans I've had for about 2 years. They were fine up until about 6 months ago and now they constantly smell damp.

It drives me mad as I love them and don't want to part with them.

Suggestions welcome (sorry for hijacking this thread)

We can set up a smelly support group. Not that many people may come near us though :pac: Hate throwing out good, loved clothes!

greengirl31

My clothes get like that sometimes and i read somewhere that it had something to do with the amount of time it took to dry them. So if you're line drying on a windy day they will be fine but if you're hanging it on a clothes horse of the hall in your apartment (what I do) you're clothes will take longer to dry so the fabric starts to smell before it's fully dry.
Another issue i found was with my condenser dryer ... I wasn't cleaning out the lint/filter bit at the bottom of the dryer often enough. There was a definite improvement when i did that but it still be a bit hit and miss with some things
Must try the dettol though

Fluxfan

greengirl31 wrote: »

My clothes get like that sometimes and i read somewhere that it had something to do with the amount of time it took to dry them. So if you're line drying on a windy day they will be fine but if you're hanging it on a clothese horse of the hall in your apartment (what I do) you're clothes will take longer to dry so the fabric starts to smell before it's fully dry.
Another issue i found was with my condenser dryer ... I wasn't cleaning out the lint/filter bit at the bottom of the dryer often enough. There was a definite improvement when i did that but it still be a bit hit and miss with some things
Must try the dettol though

Ya thats a potential actually. I live in a 4th floor apartment with no tumble dryer, so always drying indoors, hanging up.

cat_dog

Fluxfan wrote: »

I'll try the vinegar - will that make my clothes smell of vinegar? if not I'll but some of the big guns

No, your clothes should not smell like vinegar but if theres a slight smell, airing them outside (preferably in the sun) will make the smell go away faster. Vinegar is a great natural deodoriser. Good luck.

greengirl31

Fluxfan wrote: »

Ya thats a potential actually. I live in a 4th floor apartment with no tumble dryer, so always drying indoors, hanging up.

Try using a faster spin (if possible) when washing to get more of the moisture out and hang in direct sunlight if possible - might speed up the drying process ....

Arbiter of Good Taste

Yeah, when I lived in an apartment and was drying my clothes on the horse, it took ages for my towels to dry. Then once you used them once, they stank. You could never get the damp out of them.

Teyla Emmagan

convert wrote: »

Did you, by any chance, leave it in either the washing machine or dryer for a few hours after you washed/dried it? This can sometimes cause that 'funny' smell.

Yeah, generally I find any smells are caused by the drying and not the washing process.

Realise how gross it is though, I came into work in a bra that must have been left in a damp pile a few months ago, I was ULTRA paranoid all day. Bleurgh.

miezekatze

That's happened to me before as well if stuff took too long to dry, esp if it was a heavy material. I try to dry everything outside now, but I guess that won't work during the winter.

Sometimes it really is the material though. I used to have a pair of trousers from H&M years ago and no matter how often they were washed and how quickly they dried, there was always a funny smell off them. I threw them out in the end.

jaykayphd

Arbiter of Good Taste wrote: »

Yeah, when I lived in an apartment and was drying my clothes on the horse, it took ages for my towels to dry. Then once you used them once, they stank. You could never get the damp out of them.

Yeah I had the same problem with some towels. One wash later with some vinegar as mentioned above, they were as good as new.

Semele

I've had some polyester tops before where they didn't smell when washed, but seemed to have some awful reaction to sweat! I would stink like I'd been sleeping in an alleyway behind a bin for weeks as soon as the underarm area heated up, yet I'm not a sweaty person normally. It wasn't even just a sweat smell...words can't describe it. Never found a solution and had to throw the tops out!

Just remembered the most recent one was a Lycra sports top...don't know if it's something to do with the Lycra..?

PinkLemonade

I use that detol stuff and it does work. Also as far as a know, natural sunlight is a disinfected and should kill the bacteria in your clothes!

juke

Happened to my gym gear sometimes - I mix bicarb. soda with white vinegar - into the usual detergent slot of the machine (I put the actual detergent directly into the drum) and wash as normal.

Rarely a problem since.

Moody_mona

After reading this, I put the dettol on my shopping list, and it's on offer in Tesco at the moment, think it was €4. Looking forward to using it on running gear!

fussyonion

Drying clothes indoors gives them that awful smell.

I know from experience; lived in apartments for ten years before I moved to a house with a garden and drying the clothes on an outside line means they always smell fresh.

I also swear by Comfort (the blue one). I washed, dried and folded some sheets the other month and put them away. Took them out this morning and they smell beautiful.

You could also try Lenor Unstoppables; little scented beads you put in the washing machine that leave your clothes fragranced for weeks.

DonFred

Hi, forget about vinegar etc. Its the hard water! All you have to do is place a limescale tablet in every wash and i mean every wash. You can get a box in Lidl called W5 Limescale Tablets - 50 per box and only cost under 5euros. I always got that smell when I moved in my house first thing and through trial n error even buying a new washing maching discovered it was the hard water.

AulBiddy

Where are you keeping your clothes?
Sometimes you can have damp wardrobes / cupboards and it can leave a smell on all your clothes .

juke

DonFred wrote: »

Hi, forget about vinegar etc. Its the hard water! All you have to do is place a limescale tablet in every wash and i mean every wash. You can get a box in Lidl called W5 Limescale Tablets - 50 per box and only cost under 5euros. I always got that smell when I moved in my house first thing and through trial n error even buying a new washing maching discovered it was the hard water.

Not hard water in my case - so vinegar/bicarb is the only solution I've found.

Morgase

This may or may not help - but do you do a maintenance wash on your washing machine every month or so? It's needed to clear out any bacterial buildup and gunky buildup when most of the washes are done at low temperatures. Doing a hot wash with a little bio powder and nothing in the drum helps to keep the washing machine clean. Might be worth a shot if nothing else is working!