4 ms·

I’m assuming it’s for people who do not own a dryer or are slow to move clothing from washer to dryer.

by RC_ITR 4y ago

hinkley 4y ago
Bingo. Get distracted between wash-dry cycles and vinegar is your best friend. I actually learned that trick in college, while commiserating about having to rewash clothes 2x to get the funk out.
- Arrath 4y ago
  Gotcha. Thanks!
- AlecSchueler 4y ago
  And how do you get the vinegar smell out?
  - akiselev 4y ago
    Add an extra rinse cycle.
  - hinkley 4y ago
    It doesn’t take that much. Quarter cup will often suffice. It comes out in the normal rinse cycle.
  - ska 4y ago
    There isn't any, typically.
  - Phrenzy 4y ago
    A little bit of mold will take care of it.
- olyjohn 4y ago
  What are you doing with the vinegar exactly? Running the wash cycle again with vinegar instead of the soap? Or does the vinegar let you run just a quick rinse cycle instead of a full wash? I usually just wash them again with the same soap and they come out fine. Also front loaders are like 100x worse for mildew. My front loader, which was a super modern, brand new machine, everything would stink if you forget your clothes for a few hours. My 30 year old top loader... I gotta leave the clothes in there for about 2 days before it stinks. Forgetting them for a day is never a problem. At least not to my nose...
  - hinkley 4y ago
    I just pour a little vinegar into the tub, wash as usual. I haven't had any particular issues with vinegar smells pouring it onto clothing, but I still try to miss. If for instance someone pulled the clothes out and piled them up, put the vinegar in before the clothes. I've heard advice to put it into the bleach dispenser, but bleach and vinegar have a similar problem to bleach and ammonia. Mixing them produces chlorine gas. If you have shared equipment (say, roommates), you're living dangerously if you do that. One theory is that the acid just cancels out hard water and makes the detergent more effective, but I don't buy that. Seattle water is so soft that home brewers have to add minerals to the water or the yeast won't multiply properly. In fact most of us are using way too much detergent in our laundry and our dishwashers because of it. I've also run out of vinegar enough times and have known this trick for enough years that I know for certain that washing 1x with vinegar always gets the mildew smell out, but 1x without it only works less than half the time.
    - SoftTalker 4y ago
      As long as you're not putting bleach and vinegar in the dispenser together, I'd think it should be OK. The dispenser will be rinsed pretty thoroughly during the cycle of the machine running a load of laundry.

I’m assuming it’s for people who do not own a dryer or are slow to move clothing from washer to dryer.

by RC_ITR 4y ago

I’m assuming it’s for people who do not own a dryer or are slow to move clothing from washer to dryer.

Bingo. Get distracted between wash-dry cycles and vinegar is your best friend. I actually learned that trick in college, while commiserating about having to rewash clothes 2x to get the funk out.

Arrath 4y ago
Gotcha. Thanks!
AlecSchueler 4y ago
And how do you get the vinegar smell out?
- akiselev 4y ago
  Add an extra rinse cycle.
- hinkley 4y ago
  It doesn’t take that much. Quarter cup will often suffice. It comes out in the normal rinse cycle.
- ska 4y ago
  There isn't any, typically.
- Phrenzy 4y ago
  A little bit of mold will take care of it.
olyjohn 4y ago
What are you doing with the vinegar exactly? Running the wash cycle again with vinegar instead of the soap? Or does the vinegar let you run just a quick rinse cycle instead of a full wash? I usually just wash them again with the same soap and they come out fine. Also front loaders are like 100x worse for mildew. My front loader, which was a super modern, brand new machine, everything would stink if you forget your clothes for a few hours. My 30 year old top loader... I gotta leave the clothes in there for about 2 days before it stinks. Forgetting them for a day is never a problem. At least not to my nose...
- hinkley 4y ago
  I just pour a little vinegar into the tub, wash as usual. I haven't had any particular issues with vinegar smells pouring it onto clothing, but I still try to miss. If for instance someone pulled the clothes out and piled them up, put the vinegar in before the clothes. I've heard advice to put it into the bleach dispenser, but bleach and vinegar have a similar problem to bleach and ammonia. Mixing them produces chlorine gas. If you have shared equipment (say, roommates), you're living dangerously if you do that. One theory is that the acid just cancels out hard water and makes the detergent more effective, but I don't buy that. Seattle water is so soft that home brewers have to add minerals to the water or the yeast won't multiply properly. In fact most of us are using way too much detergent in our laundry and our dishwashers because of it. I've also run out of vinegar enough times and have known this trick for enough years that I know for certain that washing 1x with vinegar always gets the mildew smell out, but 1x without it only works less than half the time.
  - SoftTalker 4y ago
    As long as you're not putting bleach and vinegar in the dispenser together, I'd think it should be OK. The dispenser will be rinsed pretty thoroughly during the cycle of the machine running a load of laundry.