That mold smell

.. .'having washed'. Sorry.

I've never smelled "not washing your butt adequately" on anyone. Wouldn't have thought it was a trend.

This never was an issue when people were able to smoke everywhere. Now with the smoke free air people smell when someone uses too much cologne, didn' t shower, or wears moldy clothes.

Can clothes be moldy if you don't smell the mold? This is the first time I've heard of this.

OP is nothing but a bitch.

Can someone give advice on how to handle this? My clothes smell musty because my apartment doesn't get a lot of fresh air. I've tried putting an odor eater in the closet, but my clothes end up smelling like musty oranges. How do you handle musty closet?

Get damp rid

Fabreeze

R5, If you rode the NYC 4 train everyday, you'd appreciate the OP. UGH.

what i hate is the smell of real cheap laundry detergent (arm & hammer). my friend insists on using it and it really stinks.

I hate the cloyingly sweet scent of nearly all detergents and fabric softeners.

i use watkins powder laundry detergent (powder) and i love it's scent. it's clean and not overpowering.

90% of what you smell around someone else is their breath.

Fabreeze does work wonders.

I went to Europe a few years back but only took a few clothes. They smoke like chimneys there. Every night, after being out, I'd return to the hotel reeking of smoke. one good dousing with Fabreeze and everything smelled like new again.

Damp Rid

Get it

It's a musty-moldy, very un-fresh smell. Like clothes have been tightly packed in a closet and possibly hung up without being washed beforehand. It smells like body grease, sweat, cooking fumes and sometimes *burnt rubber*. It seems to be everywhere these days. I wonder if weather-proofing and excessive insulation just trap all the moisture and fumes inside. Yes, when people smoked in public, all you could smell was smoke. I almost prefer it to this drear, depressing I-live-in-a-dank-cave smell people carry around.

Another vote for Febreze

Damp-Rid is great. But to deal with the clothes that are already musty, get a steamer and give them a once-over. Kills bacteria and funk and freshens them right up. You can get a good steamer on Amazon for $30.

I wonder if the mold is partly because of too many things being crowded into closets and drawers.

Today's episode of "That Mold Smell" was hosted by fussy Queens EVERY WHERE!!!!

*P.S. We (us po' folk) use Arm & Hammer because it's cheap and it works. We can't afford to buy $15 bottles of Mrs. Meyers at WholeFoods.

Also: tell your friend to buy unscented A&H.

The whole place I ever encounter "wash yo' dirty ass" smell is at seedier gay bars.

A catless friend keeps a shoebox of Arm and Hammer cat litter in a back corner of her closet. She says it works better than anything else. A&H makes some super scent-killing litters.

Washing and getting your clothes laundered is solving half the problem. Get a real dehumidifier and use it. If your closet door is in the same room as your bathroom door, the closet should be closed until the moist air can dissipate after your shower.

If you had lined your closets in cedar, you wouldn't have this problem.

Or, make your staff wear your clothing for a few hours per day in the off-season while they break in your shoes.

IDK if it's mold, but yeah, I think a lot of people in NY don't have access to washers/$$for dry cleaning, and yes, they STINK...It's a peppery, not-washed smell... I THINK it's their clothes! (Hope so!)

whats that awful stink? oh. it's you.

Fill your washer just full enough to cover the clothes then pour in 1to 2 gallons of vinegar and run the washer a minute to get the vinegar well into the clothes. Let them soak at least a hour. Then fill the washer and run the whole wash/rinse cycle through with only the vinegar. Wash the clothes a second time with your regular laundry soap and use some fabric softener in the rinse cycle. I have also used pine-sol in the vinegar wash's rinse cycle when the clothes were really smelly. It there are moldy spots on the clothes try pouring in a couple of cups of kosher or coarse salt when you run the vinegar wash through.

OP, you must hang out with some stanky people.

The front butt?

Scientific studies indicate early signs of stroke may include smelling grease, sweat, cooking fumes and sometimes *burnt rubber*.

New season, new clothes.

You can't do that in an apartment house laundry room or a laundromat washing machine, R26. Nobody can soak their clothes for an hour before washing them. You'd be killed by everyone else waiting to use the machine.

BTW, I use Borax along with detergent when I wash my teenage son's stanky clothes. Works.

[quote] i love it's scent

Oh, DEAR.

Half cup of ammonia works wonders in laundry.

It also helps to let laundry soap dissolve before loading clothes.

You can always soak them in a sink before you take them to the laundromat R31. I have used a 5 gallon bucket too. The good thing about using vinegar is that it does not harm clothes and really targets mold.

It's not me, I swear!

[quote]Right up there with that telltale smell of not having washing your butt adequately.

People can tell that?