My basement flooded and all of our son's clothes got soaked and started to smell musty within that day. We washed them but they still smelled. Before I had a chance to rewash them, my roommate put them into the dryer. The smell came out, but my question is it safe for my son to still wear them? I was told that the musty smell was mold forming.
Amanda from Illinois
The quickest, easiest, and best is 1 cup of ammonia per load. (10/18/2008)
Please use baking soda OR vinegar. Using them together neutralizes them, and so you are getting little or no effect. I suppose one cup of each would leave about half of the baking soda left over from the chemical reaction, and so you would get the use of that. For those of you who swear by the combination, I challenge you to use only baking soda, I expect you will get far superior results.
Be careful with using ammonia. It is very good for removing musty smells, but it can discolor fabrics. I used to use it regularly on my lovely green towels, until I noticed that the emerald green had faded to olive. Baking soda is not as strong, and is recommended on the box as a laundry additive. (10/19/2008)
By Louise B.
Wash clothes in machine with 1 cup of white vinegar, then line dry in the sun. The combination will remove the smell, and the vinegar will not harm most fabrics. Also if your machine has a moldy smell, run it on large load with a cup of vinegar while the machine is empty. This will clean any soap residues and moldy smells from the machine. It is an effective cleaner for dish machines also, and safer than bleach. (01/17/2009)
By DeeDee
After washing many times I still couldn't get the smell out so here's what finally worked for me; Get some liquid fabric softener and add at least a cup into the warm wash water with the regular amount of detergent (only the best brands of softener work for some reason). Turn off the machine after it has agitated well and let sit over night. Re-start the next day and wash it through. The laundry smells great!
By Nancy K
For hats or clothing that have musty smells, wrap in newspaper and leave for a few days and the odor will soak into the paper. It really works! (02/01/2009)
By connie
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