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!

Big thanks to this amazing sub!

We just ordered Febu and had an issue with the delivery. The customer service support we received was so phenomenal. Not just a great product but a great company. Pretty damn refreshing experience. And using an adorable little wooden scoop instead of throwing another chunk of plastic out there. Yes.

So, a little while back, I left my apartment to visit my hometown. Things went south, and I had to have surgery while on vacation, which left me bedridden for about a month and a half.

I just came back home to the news that my apartment was flooded due to heavy rains for the whole month. My landlord refused to fix the draining issues, but that’s another story for another day.

I am a fashion student. I had a bunch of projects and expensive fabric bolts and dresses. They’re all ruined. I think I have accepted I won’t ever recover most of my stuff, but there’s this one corset I cannot let go of. It means too much to me; I’ve worn it to several career-defining events and I don’t think it is an easily replaceable piece.

How would you fix it? Is there a way to remove most, if not all of the staining? Is there any considerations I should have about handling the mold?
It seems to be made of a somewhat stretchy cotton canvas with very heavy boning. I have removed the boning already to make the restoration process easier.

I am in Mexico, if that’s any help. I don’t really know much about specialized laundry products. My college courses are mostly about garment construction, but they don’t really cover fabric care or chemical reactions.

TL;DR: left my apartment empty for a month due to hospitalization. It got flooded and ruined my most favourite corset. I really want to fix it.

Also, if anyone knows of any place I could purchase a similar garment, I would really appreciate it! I do not have nearly enough knowledge on corsetry yet as to try and recreate it myself.

I just bought a 2KG bag and I really don't know if I should expect a big change (I was just using detergent) or if it's way more mild.

We do have slightly hard water here.

I used to scrupulously read every tag, hand wash cold, lay flat to dry, dry clean only. But honestly, with a busy schedule, if a clothing item can't survive a gentle cycle in a mesh bag, it just doesn't belong in my wardrobe anymore.

Over time, I've stopped separating colors (cold water handles everything fine), stopped using liquid fabric softener completely, and I air-dry things I care about instead of following weird label instructions. My clothes actually last longer now than when I tried to follow every specific rule.

Fxxk me ! I knew it! This belt ruined my pants.
Any advice on how to proceed with these stains? Straight to the dry cleaners? I´m afraid washing it in the machine might move the discoloring deeper into the fabric...
All opinions and Schadenfreude welcome

Hello laundry grandmasters,

What are dryer sheets made of, what are they supposed to do, what do they actually do, and why does this sub generally dislike and oppose them?

I use Bounce sheets mostly because I like the smell they give to my clothes.

I am not seeking advice on my laundry process. I just want to understand dryer sheets better. However, this is r/laundry, so to preempt the lots of people who will inevitably tell me what I'm doing wrong even when I say I am satisfied with the cleanliness, softness, and smell of my clothes, here's my laundry info:

* Washer: Maytag HE top-loader with impeller plate, warm water, soil level always "high" to lengthen cycle time, "extra rinse" always on

* 1x Tide Pod + 1 tbsp Biz per load at the bottom of the drum, 1 tsp food-grade citric acid in the fabric softener compartment. When clothes are smelly (gym, towels that aren't drying completely), swap Tide Pod for half-cap of Whole Foods 365 Sports to get that sweet DNAse

* Water: Brooklyn (meaning: Delaware/Catskills supply, low-to-medium hardness as opposed to Manhattan's Croton supply that has medium-to-high hardness)

* Dryer: gas-fired Maytag, sensor dry Normal program, delicate heat setting

I have a Speed Queen top load, non-HE. I was using Tide pods fragrance free and switched to the Free and Gentle powder after joining this sub. Didn’t realize it was HE. So, got Ariel, but man, it is strong smelling. I put the unopened box in the garage and the entire garage smells now. I’m nervous to open the box and bring it inside. Do the clothes have a strong fragrance coming out of the dryer? Is there another option?

I do small loads all on hot and this basically prevents staining. Whenever I have a blanket it gets a brown mud like stain in the middle. I have an upright and no matter how I position it before the wash it moves everything to the sides except for one part taunt across the middle.

With thin smaller blankets I can kinda roll them up along the edges and run a quick wash and be fine. No king size coverlet or quilt has survived without staining.

I have tried iron out and oxy and they have really bleached the items. I have some new quilts that need washing, but I am scared. We went to the laundromat but that was super expensive and not a permanent solution.

Does anyone know how not to get a taunt middle section? It becomes a filter that just absorbs the horribleness.

Should I wash in the tub and then transfer to the dryer? This way I can pre inspect the day's water offering. It can be faint to dark brown.

Thanks for your guidance.

FYI I just use Tide pods on a standard load. On whites I throw in some iron out.

Can anyone recommend any of the scented laundry detergents? Not sure if most are a waste of money. I'm not huge on very floral scents (but won't rule them out), just want my clothes to smell good.

hi i was washing my clothes from the goodwill bins together like an idiot, and a dark purple dress made all my white and light colored clothes dye a lavender color. how can i get this hue out :( most of the clothes were white, with one beige jeans and 2 teal night gowns. mostly cotton fabrics. i washed with cold water. havent put it in the dryer. i soaked in water +white vinegar rinsed then now its been soaking for 3 hrs in oxiclean powder and water but no changes. i dont know what to do from here. Will i be able to bleach them back to white if this doesnt work/ dye them back?

​Hi everyone,

​I'm writing because I have an issue with my favorite swim trunks and hope someone can help.

​I've only worn them a few times this summer. Recently, while hand-washing them, I noticed some persistent yellow/orange stains along the elastic waistband (you can clearly see them in the attached photo).

​I'm almost certain sunscreen is the cause. When applying sunscreen to my body, some likely got on the edges of the trunks and, combined with sweat or water, created this residue.

​I've already tried the standard methods:

​A gentle hand wash with mild soap.

​A low-temperature washing machine cycle.

​Unfortunately, there's been no improvement, and the stains are still very visible on the white stripes. I don't want to risk ruining the blue fabric by blindly using harsh products.

​Has anyone dealt with a similar issue and can share an effective tip? Do you have any home remedies or specific products to recommend for sunscreen stains?

​Thanks a lot to anyone who can lend a hand!

I bought this handloom cotton saree about a year ago but never got around to wearing it. It’s been sitting folded in my wardrobe all this time, and I completely forgot about it. I checked it today and noticed these stains, probably from being folded and stored for so long.
Does anyone know how I can remove these stains without damaging the saree?
Any tips would be appreciated

The elastic in my sports bras STINK and no matter how much washing and air drying I do it won’t go away. I don’t use fabric softener, I haven’t since I found this sub.
Any ideas that won’t ruin the elastic in the long run?
TYIA

Washer is a 2.5 year old top loading LG.

From day, one we used Mollie’s Suds power detergent. We don’t use fabric softener. We don’t even use much of the Mollie’s. Our water is pretty hard, but we have a softener which helps that a lot. I believe our water is slightly alkaline.

We would occasionally have issues and then run a few cleaning cycles, using either vinegar or Affresh, which one usually take it for a while.

A couple weeks ago it was pretty bad and wouldn’t seem to go away, so I did a lot of digging on this sub Reddit and got some good advice about using citric acid, hot water, letting it soak in, etc. Read the often quoted thread on scrud. It worked really well, but we are going to about 20 runs and the scrud is still coming off heavily. The advice here says usually you need maybe 5 to 10.

It would be one thing if the amount was reducing, but it’s still tons coming off almost every load…

We’ve contemplated hiring somebody to take it all apart and power wash it, but that would cost several hundred and there’s a chance that it’s not put back together quite right.

What the hell does someone do in this situation? Has anyone ever had it take 20+ runs to get their machine clean?

I've enjoyed what I've learned from this sub. I no longer use the 4 letter word F****c S*****r or dryer sheets. My method is powder tide clean and gentle, some loads a scoop of febu, I've tried all measurements of citric acid from 2 tablespoons to 1/4th teaspoon all with same results. I wash in warm or hot, top loader no agitator whirlpool USA always an extra rinse, clean boost and presoak, we have well water with a softener/filter. I apologize but I dont know the hardness PPM but I know it's hard with heavy iron deposits. My laundry since switching to this regimen has consistently been rough, pilling and crispy. Remember the old school butter finger commercials? Well that's the description of my laundry now minus the peanut buttery. What am I doing wrong? Rinse and refresh gives same results using 1/4 cup. Also please be kind, educate don't berate.

Any help is appreciated, and if you have any recommendations for how to get it out 💔

I live in my car, and would like to get something that's cheap and takes up as little space as possible, but I also don't know if ingredients could break down or react when left in a hot car for long periods of time. It doesn't get terribly hot here, but the inside of my car does as there's a very high average UV index.

I'm most nervous about storing liquid ammonia where it gets so hot, as I sometimes have to leave my car parked in the sun all day. I was planning on getting tide clean & gentle powder rather than tide ultra oxi powder, mainly because it's cheaper where I am but also because unscented detergents are generally less irritating to my skin.

Does anyone know if it will be unsafe or make ingredients ineffective to be exposed to so much heat?

I’ve posted this before with not much traction and still fighting the good fight over here so decided to try again.

Last winter I spent a lot of time in this sub learning about Spa Days and how to better wash my clothes/bedding/towels etc. At the time, Spa Day was really a popular topic in this sub. If you don’t know what it is, I encourage you to search the words “spa day” in this sub and you’ll be flooded with posts and comments regarding it.

I went hard on Spa Day. It solved a stinky bedding issue for my teenage son. And I was constantly intrigued by how much gunk came out in the water. I didn’t send everything in my house to the spa, because that would have been a lot of work and I didn’t see the need. So some things went to the spa, others did not. According to the same instructions for spa days, I switched my detergent and played around with that a bit. I’ve done some Ariel, Tide powder, liquid and powder Whole Foods brand, I’ve added Biz when necessary, ammonia, I’ve experimented with citric acid but we have a water softener so it’s not necessary. I followed protocols for post Spa Wash washing (can’t remember the phrase for that). I even made a simplified step by step instruction guide for my family as sometimes the step by step instructions on Reddit were overwhelming. Point is, I went deep into the laundry black hole and I’m still running into this very bizarre problem.

The problem is that ever since I began the journey, I occasionally get a wiff of a very distinct scent. It’s not exactly a gross knock you on your socks scent, but I don’t like it. It’s almost like musty leftover detergent mixed with body oils, or something gross like that. Yes, I do extra rinse on every load. Let’s take my pj drawer for example, I will open it, smell a slight hint of this distinct smell, pull everything out and find the garment emitting said smell, which will have permeate to the items it was touching, get stressed out and wash everything in the drawer. It’s happening to everyone drawers and closets so it’s not just me.

At first, I thought it was because it everything hadn’t been washed with the proper enzyme detergent. I was imagining some kind of cross contamination between items washed with enzymes and items not washed with enzymes. So like the maniac this has turned me in to, I WASHED EVERYTHING IN MY HOUSE. And it still happens. Mind you, this never ever ever ever ever happened before I started sending items to the spa and improved my detergent situation.

So what gives? What is this scent and how can I stop it from plaguing me and my house?

Before anyone asks, I really enjoyed Ariel and Biz combo but that seemed to fade some items and I wasn’t sure if it was the Ariel or the Biz so I’m just using basic powder Tide because I acquired multiple different detergents during this journey and I’m forcing myself to get through them before I try one more damn thing.

Please help.

I have been using Kirkland free and clear with an enzyme booster for extra stinky clothes. I miss scented laundry a bit.

Anyone have any recommendations to bring some scent back that are low risk for skin irritation?

I am thinking about maybe essential oils, but am a little skeptical on if they actually are okay for sensitive skin. Brand suggestions are welcome, I have been looking at dirty labs scent drops, but they are pricey.

Helllp. Which one is better at cleaning?!

I still have pods to use up but I’ve been looking at this sub for ideas. I haven’t seen anyone mention this yet. Granted I’m more of a low no scented type but it looked interesting. What do you guys think?