Laundry disinfection

I would wash them again then leave them to line dry\air for as long as it takes. If it’s rain or sun both will help alleviate the smell.

disinfectant does not usually cover or create a smell on washing.
have you tried various juicy tropical themed smelly additives for laundry.
i don't use them, but they claim to leave washing soft and smelling wonderful, or guavas or something.

of guavas, even. maybe.
have you a drying line. put them out as they are, preferably in wind and storm. leave overnight.
then try gentle short wash with lots of guava-type conditioner. and hang out again. on hangers of course.

failing all else, relegate to gardening clothes.
good luck.

I use bicarb to soak smelly clothes, including cycling clothes, then rinse with vinegar. Both break down smells.

I assume it is bacteria causing the smell. Does anyone know?

Smells are bacteria.

Dettol do a laundry cleanser that disinfects (they say it kills 99 per cent of bacteria and is effective on viruses, too). You put it in the fabric softener drawer.

I've used it on FiL's clothing when it was unpleasant and I soak face masks in it. The resulting smell is quite pleasant.

I'm sure that other comapnies will do something similar.

As alreasdy said, re-wash and then line dry.

I use Tesco’s version of antibacterial laundry cleaner. You pop 3 capfuls in the softener drawer and I’ve found it kills all smells (husband works on a building site and always removes that horrid musty building dust smell)

Thank you everyone. Will try out all your advice tomorrow.

My daughter had the same problem with a cardigan of hers. She washed it twice with laundry cleaner, but the smell still remained. She gave it to me to try. I soaked it for about 15 mins in water to which about a cupful of white vinegar had been added. Thankfully it did the trick. She later tried it on a pair of shorts that had been left damp in the boot of her car and forgotten about. It worked on those as well.

I had this problem with towels left in the machine. Rewash and air dry as recommended. It does work .

It depends on what causes the smell. If they are musty, and pastel colours, then I'd put some bleach into the machine and wash at 40, at least.

If they are navy blue, red, or black, bleach will not serve.

Success!
I went shopping with the intention of buying any of the solutions mentioned and the first I found was Dettol active. It is meant for a final rinse but I put it in the wash cycle and stopped the machine five times allowing a 15 min soak each time.
The result is perfect.
Thanks everyone. My OH now has his shirts back and will think twice before allowing them to remain damp in future.

Yes, well done and you probably know this already, don't forget to clean inside washing machine door and when empty leave the door open for air circulation.

Immerse them completely in lukewarm water that you have dissolved two tablespoons of sodium bicabornate in and leave them overnight.

Then wash as usual and hang them out to dry.

Repeat if necessary.

The Dettol laundry aid smells wonderful! I washed some soft toys and used it in the conditioner part. Recommend.

I believe detox laundry cleaner and others are actually a fungicide. That’s nasty stuff isn’t it.