Why Does My Washing Still Smell?

Laundry is one of those day-to-day adult tasks that many of us find tiresome. But, the reward we get from this monotonous chore is fresh clothes that are left with beautifully enriched fragrances. So when we start to unload the washing machine only to discover an unpleasant, musty aroma, it can be both disappointing and concerning. Sometimes if your washing comes out with a smell despite being washed, it may be a sign that your machine needs some maintenance.

If this is the case, then the team at Pacifica is here to help with our fast and reliable washing machine repair services. However, there are a few things you can try yourself before having to call in the experts. In this article, we’ll explain the reasons why your washing might smell, and how you can prevent it from happening in future.

• The washing machine is not clean

The most obvious conclusion as to why your washing smells unpleasant is because the machine itself needs a clean. Unfortunately, washing machines hold stagnant water quite well which can result in limescale, bacteria and mould forming.

This means that when you wash your clothes in a machine that has these problems, they’re likely to come out smelling bad.

The good news is that it can be easily rectified, and you can usually clean it yourself with a bit of elbow grease.

• You’ve overloaded your machine

When doing a wash, you might be tempted to try and wash as many clothes as possible to make the most of the time. However, overloading your machine could actually be the cause of your washing smelling unpleasant.

This is because clothes require space to move during the washing process, and if they’re closely packed together your machine can’t do its job correctly.

So next time you’re preparing a wash, maybe try putting fewer items in the drum and see if it makes a difference.

• You’ve left your clothes sitting in the machine

Even if you’ve not filled your machine with too many clothes, leaving items in there for too long after the wash cycle is complete is another reason why your washing may smell.

It doesn’t matter how nice your detergent or washing powder is, leaving them sitting there for too long will make them smell musty or damp. It also gives bacteria the time to breed in the humid, moist environment so it’s always worth hanging the clothes up as soon as the cycle is complete.

Try setting alarms so you don’t forget about them or, if the wash is going to be complete at an inconvenient time, use the ‘delay start’ setting that most modern machines come with.

• You’ve used too much detergent

You may be surprised to know that using too much washing detergent can actually have the opposite effect and cause your washing to smell worse than when it went in.

This is because the suds that detergent produces during a wash can increase to a huge level if too much is used, meaning that they will build up and cling to the clothes trapping bacteria rather than removing it. This environment is also ideal for mould growth so you could be doing more harm than good when filling the detergent tray too much.

On the flip side, it’s important to put enough detergent in to kill the bacteria from your dirty clothes. If you’re struggling to get the balance right, you can buy measuring cups online or it might be better to use capsules rather than traditional detergent.