thank you all … I’ve learned a lot
plan to to change to warm water / add vinegar
next try try would be adding borax
thanks again ! I needed :eek: this thread :lol: !
Wait, don’t your clothes smell vinegary after that?
And you’re using white vinegar right? The type made from petroleum or the type made from apples/ grapes?
How much vinegar do you use?
I never had this problem with my old top load Whirlpool, but now we have an HE front load and I notice my riding clothes still come out of the wash stinky sometimes. I wonder if it has something to do with the machine itself.
I’ll definitely try the vinegar, but for now those Downy Unstoppables with Febreeze odor eliminators seem to make a big difference.
I also have a front load Whirlpool. For most usual things, I buy whatever is reasonable at Costco, in a liquid. When things get bad, I’ll throw them in and add some Oxiclean, also from Costco. Of course, everything will be the he type.
But I love some of the ideas I’m seeing here!
The only thing that works for our stinky clothing is old school clear ammonia. Smells horrible going in but removes stains, grease & funk buildup. I also wash most of my breeches with it, except for the ones with leather seats.
Wow, vinegar is made from petroleum? :eek:
Huh, some interesting stuff here! voices.washingtonpost.com/checkup/2009/08/is_that_right_vinegar_can_come.html
Learn something new every day!
I use persil with lysol laundry disinfectant and i wash mainly on cold
One thing is for sure - I will NEVER have another front-loader. High Efficiency, saving water and electricity - HA! My front loader - three hours to wash and double rinse a full load of clothes. Never, ever had that issue with my old Maytag oversized top loader. Actually, can’t wait for my GE frontloader to die. It was a recommended model in Consumers Report years ago… so I’ll probably be waiting a while longer. Isn’t that awful? lol
@4LeafCloverFarm ME NEITHER. They suck.
Also, ditto the Borax, even with cold water. Lots of people in the South don’t hook hot to the washer and use Borax, clean clothes and smelling nice 
And I think the powder stuff does better than the liquid (I use the liquid).
I, for 3 years until it croaked, had a GE top loader with the weenie agitator. NOISY, and the loads took forever! Did not get clothes clean. My husband and I dubbed it “the Starship Enterprise” for the bizarre sounds it made. When it crashed and burned, we never had a repairman out to look at it-- just scrapped it, drove to Lowe’s and picked up a good old top loader with traditional agitator. Going to try the Borax powder–tried vinegar, and while it did cut the detergent to make for a more thorough rinse cycle it also caused my machine to squeal when on the spin cycle; stopped using it, and my washer stopped squealing.
Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid. As long as the acetic acid used to make the solution is a pure substance, it doesn’t matter what it is derived from. It will be the same substance. Law of Constant Composition.
Many, many things are derived from petrochemicals. Pharmaceuticals, paints, plastics, clothing, food additives, detergents, and many more. I realize this link is from a trade organization, but here you go - https://www.afpm.org/industries/products/petrochemicals
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The new wash machines don’t work as well as the old ones.
My problem is the clothes smell okay until the second it gets wet. Say it sprinkles on you or you spill some water as you are filling buckets. Then it reeks. Awful!
I put my clothes through the washing machine twice. I use white vinegar as well. It’s still not enough.
Cottons seem to hold smell worse than the polyesters. I almost wish I could blame the cats for having accidents but they are not and I’m reasonably certain it is my washing machine that is the culprit. It’s supposed to save water and it does that by barely getting everything wet.
You can’t save water if you have to wash everything twice. If I could find a decent old style washing machine, I would probably junk this one.
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Nellies is one my favourite detergents, it should definitely do the job. As suggested, try warm water and put the soap directly into the machine with the clothes, not the dispenser.
Do use vinegar or borax if you need a bit more ooomph. But I usually find just nellies (not too much!) is perfect.
Many years ago, my husband had hogs. You can imagine the odor from that clothing! What I found effective: Run clothing through the pre wash cycle, followed by hot water wash with regular laundry detergent (did not find brand mattered) and borax.
Borax and washing soda are often overlooked. Very low cost laundry boosters, and highly effective.
Sorry, been offline. I literally use a cup (8 ounces).
For whomever asked about the clothes smelling of vinegar, I’ve never noticed a smell but my machine is decent. The rinse cycle seems to get rid of it.
Borax+ Gain powder. Maybe vinegar in the rinse cycle. I will never own a front loader, I have an old school speed queen that i might take to my grave 
Nathan Sport Wash is the best for synthetics. It was the only thing that I found did the trick with the combo of my gnarly sunshirts and HE front loader.
Thanks for the responses. I’ll stick to Hex detergent right now and continue to use Borax. I did switch to the heavy duty or towel cycle to maybe get more rinsing happening. I’ll let you all know how it goes. The machine doesn’t have a prewash cycle only a presoak.
