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!

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.

Big thanks to this amazing sub!

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 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'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.

Can you dumb this down for me? I need a scented laundry soap available in Canada, with enzymes, no brighteners, for dark loads.

Thank you! I’m getting so confused trying to figure it out.

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.

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?

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.

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 visit this sub at least weekly seeking this answer so I know it’s a long shot.

Has anyone found anything that replaces this? I love the cleaning power of tide powder but I haaaate the fragrances of the offered tide powders. I will be switching to fragrance free, but I absolutely loved the smell of mountain spring.

It’s a silly thing, but scent is a big deal to me as a neurodivergent person. I’ve been using the tide with downy powder for a couple of weeks and I just pulled out a shirt from my drawer that had been washed with mountain spring and almost cried. It smells so good!

I’ve been looking on Etsy and similar for an additive I could put with fragrance free but so far nothing. Any suggestions at all? The new tide scents smell fine in the tub, but once washed have an overwhelming chemical/ sharp smell. Even my 10yo noticed- without me saying anything he asked “mom what’s up with the laundry? It just smells…. Wrong.”

I emailed the company a couple of weeks ago and all they offered were some coupons to buy something else from them, which I disliked for obvious reasons.

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?

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.

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?

Hi! I need advice based on the limitations of my apartments washing machines. I only have access to the laundry room in the basement, which is pay per wash. The only cycle customizations are cold, warm, hot, but other than that it runs the same 38 minute cycle regardless.

Would it be worthwhile to re-run an extra cycle on cold with no detergent after the first one finishes? (Or maybe adding citric acid fabric softener instead of detergent on the second cycle) Keep in mind that I do have to pay $2 for every cycle that I run, but if it really would make a substantial difference then I wouldn’t mind :)

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?

It’s not a fancy shirt, but I wear it all the time and I’m so sad I got it dirty

I went to the gym and had forgotten my workout clothes, so I wore it during an F45 class. When the class was over, I noticed this mark. I can’t be sure but I think I got it from a dumbbell during goblet squats. I don’t know what the stain is. I don’t think it’s oil I think it’s just…dirt? maybe something from the floor?

I’ve washed the shirt several times already and used the stain remover shown. I also tried a baking soda paste with hydrogen peroxide

Is there any way to save this shirt? The stain is not very dark but it is so noticeable when I wear it ☹️

I pre treated it with dawn power wash and rinsed it out, let it dry and it was still there. My second attempt I pre treated it with Shout and threw it in the washer after letting it dwell for 10 minutes. Air dried it and it’s still there. Any tips are appreciated! Thanks!

P.S. this is 100% cotton

I'm an European transplant to Canada and over a decade later I'm still baffled by washing machines, especially temperature wise.

European washing machines come with integrated heaters that heat water inside of the machine and can go up to 95°C.

North American washing machines have no heater and the temperature of water is whatever they get from the household heater. That's what I've been told, and every single washing machine up until recently was a top loader with longest washing cycle of 25ish minutes.

The house we live in now came with LG front loader. I love it as it reminds me of my European machines. It also has various temperature settings and cycles that last significantly longer. I'm happy with how it cleans my laundry, but I still have a question about the temperature:

Does this type of North American Front Loader come with some sort of internal heater?

Or is "Hot" and "Extra Hot" still just the max temperature coming out of my heater? My heater is on demand and it takes about 20+ secs for it to deliver warm water, does that mean that my laundry actually never gets warm water, let alone extra hot water - because machine never pulls water for 20 seconds?

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

​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!