Laundry HELP

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Ahhhh......you're cheekily wearing your dark stuff for longer. Doesn't show the dirt, does it, Suzz?

Got the measure of you!

Could a mouse or any other small vermin crept into the machine, not the washing drum and died? Each wash would dispose of part of the remains.

I'd give up on rewashing and try hanging everything out to dry outside as fresh air and sunshine is a great bacteria killer and will also freshen the wash. Do an empty wash on 60 with detergent and leave the door open afterwards. If the clothes still smell when they are dry, sort them by fabric synthetic/natural as well as colour and rewash in small loads.

I used to get the same problem. Tried everything I could think of.

My machine drains into the sink waste and there is a bit of a backflow issue leading to the potential build-up of stagnant water. When I was doing 10 wash loads a week, it wasn't ever a problem, but now that I am down to 3 washes a week I have started to be a bit more diligent about bleaching the sink with the shared waste.

I couldn't understand why I'd have a problem with a dark wash and not an everything wash problem.

Then I noticed that if the dark wash had been accumulating in the washing bin for a while it was really stinky after washing even if it hadn't smelt before. Something was happening inside the machine! I weighed the amount of powder that I was using - which was enough to get everything looking clean and I discovered that I was using a lot less than the recommended amount. My theory is that washing everything gently in lightly soapy water at 40 provides the perfect conditions for bacteria to grow, even as the dirt is being removed.

But why would this be a problem on dark stuff and not light? I realised that my dark wash is usually dirtier than the light wash. So if there was bacteria in the washload before you start, it will multiply dramatically during the wash. My dark load includes clothes that had been waiting to be washed for a few days; synthetic fibres which hold bacteria more than natural fibres and clothes that had more bacteria before washing in in the first place: sports stuff, socks, dirty jeans, etc, whereas the light colours tended to be recently lightly soiled stuff and natural fibres

I tried making sure that nothing waited too long for a wash - which in my house often meant washing a half load of darks and that helped.

and I made sure that I weighed the powder and used the recommended amount. The problem has now gone away and hasn't reoccurred.

The first thing I thought of was using machine cleaner but if this has not sorted out the problem then I would also think it was a material problem,I use the cleaner every 6 mths on my machine to stop any build up and only use liquid detergent put inside the machine not in the detergent drawer of the machine I don't think it would be detergent/conditioner causing the smell ? very strange one this

I can't put my finger on it but it is an odd item of clothing, if I wash t-shirts for instance 1/2 may smell but others don't, same for jog pants, maybe it is a certain fabric?

Some fabrics can smell a bit off when wet (cf wet dog!!) linen and viscose I think principally - and also of course wool. Could be the fabric content?

Dye and dressing in some fabrics often smell like stale urine when wet. I would imagine this would only be relevant if the garments were being washed for the first time though.

That does sound weird, especially as you have run washing machine cleaner through the machine. That should have got rid of problems like the smell. All that I can think of is to get in touch with a washing machine engineer. Do you know anybody locally? He may be able to give you advice over the phone without you having to fork out.

Is there some item which has been in the wash each time you found this? Maybe it is something about the fabric/dye which causes the smell?