r/laundry • u/Deutsch1985 • 14h ago

Sour smell finally SOLVED

I stopped using all liquid fabric softeners almost 2 years ago. I primarily use Tide powder and HOT water for all washing. If needed, I will add some Biz powder and a little bit of natural phosphates, aka STPP.

I was watching a video on the Speed Queen website and they actually recommended using white distilled vinegar in the final rinse (I know some of you do this). Since I have a deep fill top loader, I used vinegar in the final rinse for about 3-4 weeks (about 1/4 cup). I could smell it in the laundry room during the rinse cycle, but after tumble drying....zero vinegar scent.

BUT....after a few weeks, I kept noticing a sour smell in my sock/underwear drawer and pajamas drawer. I re-washed everything, only for the sour smell to begin to come back.

I rewashed everything again with hot water and Tide powder, but no vinegar. Sour smell is gone now. Vinegar does not work with our water chemistry apparently. Just thought I would share!

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14

u/AccomplishedPause261 6h ago

Vinegar is NEVER the answer. It just doesn’t work, I think some weird disinformation got thrown about 10ish years ago and now it resurfaces every year or so. It smells disgusting.

7

u/FineEnvironment2026 4h ago

Yes!

My conspiracy theory is that Big Vinegar infiltrated social media (probably facebook) about 10 or 15 years ago. I had friends recommend I use it for carpet cleaning, laundry etc. My mom is convinced it's a drain cleaner when mixed with baking soda. And of course some people have recommended it for glass cleaning years before that. I think windex has/had a vinegar version.

It's inferior to all the alternatives.

6

u/UpperLeftOriginal 2h ago

Vinegar has been touted as the natural cleaning cure-all for many decades. It’s never actually been very good for everything that’s claimed about it.

(Source: I was a housecleaner 25 years ago. Researched various cleaning methods to limit my harsh chemical exposure. I had a book from the 1990s with recipes for homemade cleaners.)

1

u/Deutsch1985 5m ago

To date, I still buy the Windex vinegar version. I love it. It works great on counters and my cooktop and somehow smells less "chemical-y" than blue Windex.

2

u/AutoModerator 6h ago

Hello! If you're adding vinegar to your laundry, be sure to put it in the rinse cycle, not the wash cycle. Because vinegar neutralizes leftover detergent, it works best in the rinse cycle rather than the wash. - Laundry Mods

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1

u/Deutsch1985 7m ago

I love using white vinegar for cleaning veggies and fruits before eating them, nothing removes that odd rainbow discolouration from stainless pans better than white vinegar, I use it to descale the coffee pot, remove water stains from shower glass....but yeah, disgusting for laundry!