Bad smell of clothing!

[Jollygoodfellow]

1 hour ago, Viking said:

Are you saying that real conditioner is a good thing for for keeping your clothing fresh, or is it bad? I am a bit confused about this, because I have seen both opinions of it.

All I'm saying is that conditioner seems to produce clothes that dont smell bad at anytime like when stored. Its probably the conditions of your home as you say. I live 22 floors up with an automatic washing machine and no drier which is not needed. Most clothes come out almost dry and then hung on a rack indoors as we have no balcony. Probably in your case the humidity is making the clothes wet again as not enough airflow. Our clothes rack is by the window so gets sun and air as I removed a part in the window to allow it to open fully. Not knowing the set up of your home you might look at more ventilation. 

[Gator]

14 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

All I'm saying is that conditioner seems to produce clothes that dont smell bad at anytime like when stored. Its probably the conditions of your home as you say. I live 22 floors up with an automatic washing machine and no drier which is not needed. Most clothes come out almost dry and then hung on a rack indoors as we have no balcony. Probably in your case the humidity is making the clothes wet again as not enough airflow. Our clothes rack is by the window so gets sun and air as I removed a part in the window to allow it to open fully. Not knowing the set up of your home you might look at more ventilation. 

Due to allergies I can’t use laundry detergents or softeners with perfume in them. I mostly use hypoallergenic detergents or in a pinch make my own from baking soda and pure soap (Kirks Castile).  As a result any “musty” smell was more obvious. In Florida I lined 2-3 walls of my closets with cedar. It not only got rid of any unwanted smells, but kept out insects as well. I’m sure if cedar closet lining is available here as I have t looked for it yet or if there’s another natural alternative. For now I’ve been using small round blocks of cedar I brought with me that attach to the hangers. They seem to work well, but I might also look into a dehumidifier as well. Thanks for the info. 

[JJReyes]

A dehumidifier helps.  Likewise, keeping the closet doors open when the air conditioner is running.  Another suggestion is purchasing baking soda packages designed to absorb refrigerator odors.  The packaging design has flaps on both sides which you remove to expose fine mesh.  The aim is to keep relative humidity low.  The problem of odor is usually during the rainy months.  If there are summer breezes, the odor disappears.  Unfortunately, modern high rises here follow Western design and humidity immediately rises when you turn off the air conditioner.  

[Dave Hounddriver]

18 hours ago, Viking said:

Since we got here I noticed that our clothes doesn't smell very good after being in the wardrobe or chest drawer

Got any rats?

[Viking]

1 hour ago, JJReyes said:

A dehumidifier helps.  Likewise, keeping the closet doors open when the air conditioner is running.  Another suggestion is purchasing baking soda packages designed to absorb refrigerator odors.  The packaging design has flaps on both sides which you remove to expose fine mesh.  The aim is to keep relative humidity low.  The problem of odor is usually during the rainy months.  If there are summer breezes, the odor disappears.  Unfortunately, modern high rises here follow Western design and humidity immediately rises when you turn off the air conditioner.  

We actually just tried to leave the doors open when we are not in the room and I think it made a big difference (ac running) 👍

[Viking]

53 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Got any rats?

Not that we are aware of.

I now think it is about the ventilation and the humidity so it will probably get better soon, after we fixed it 👍

[hk blues]

In Hong Kong it was essential to have dehumidifiers and 24/7 for 9 months of the year.  If not, expect mould.  When we came here we bought the disposable ones for a few months then realised humidity wasn't such a problem so we tried without them with no issues.  After 8 years here we only notice slight mould on leather belts and shoes which never see the light of day but that would likely be the same back home.   Obviously it depends on local conditions but where we are it's fine and we do have doors and windows open all day so plenty of ventilation.

I wonder what the bad smell is?  Mould is pretty distinctive and if you can smell it you might also see it.  It could be a reaction between the humidity and the fabric conditioner or softener.  

[JJReyes]

On the topic of odors, if there are any from your kitchen or bathroom sinks, try an old-fashioned remedy.  Pour some baking soda on the drain followed by vinegar.  There is a chemical reaction, and you will see foaming.  Wait about 30 minutes.  Flush using lots of warm water.  Helps with the smell and cleans the pipe of gook.

[Kingpin]

On 12/11/2022 at 6:50 PM, Viking said:

 I will also get a dehumidifier, because it can't be wrong in this climate.

It could be wrong, because an air-conditioner does the same thing and is far more effective.

[BrettGC]

11 hours ago, Kingpin said:

It could be wrong, because an air-conditioner does the same thing and is far more effective.

No they don't.  Dehumidifiers are purpose built for their job with specific components to do that job.  AC does dehumidify to a lesser extent, but as a side-effect of their operation.  Even "Dry Mode" on an AC is not as effecient as using a purpose built dehumidifier.  Additionally, depending on the size of the respective units, AC is 4-5 times more expensive to run.  

Some people just don't like humidity but are happy with the actual temperature where they live without the moisture in the air - dehumidifiers reduce the "real feel" temperature.