Yeah. Did you know your washer stinks? In fact, the worst offender is that super-pricey uber-amazing HE machine on which you spent thousands of dollars! Yes, it is particularly susceptible to the Stinks! Oh my! What to do? Fear not, Bad Housekeeper, we have chemicals for that.
I could not find exactly WHAT chemicals are in here from my casual search. I do know there were bad reviews for it on their page and they did try to answer away or deflect them. I do know they say that everything must be removed from the machine and this product shouldn't actually TOUCH any clothing. Some sort of "powerful oxygenated bleaching system"... hmm, sounds fancy. I know it leaves a fake fresh clean scent behind to reassure you that all is well and the Stinks are gone.
What I suspect is that this is another case of creating a product for filling a niche that 1) they kinda sorta made up and 2) could be fixed, if it DOES exist, by much more natural means. Cheaper mean. Say, like, white vinegar. Or baking soda. (Not at the same time, of course) But here, they suggest you 1) waste water and 2) use chemicals. I'm not surprised. Well, I was. But only for a bit, then I moved quickly to dejected resignation. Yes, this product will sell. It will sell very well.
Ya got us again, P&G. You clever dogs, you. I tip my hat. And I'll be waiting for my smelly-dryer product next. Oh yay!
Well... last summer my 1968 Kenmore finally died, so I bit the bullet and bought a new machine. I did a pile of research before I plunked down my cash though, and from what I read the stinky washer problem is quite real. One of my green blogging buddies was nearly ready to trash hers over it: http://marebarenecessities.blogspot.com/2010/10/washing-machine-rage.html
ReplyDeleteApparently the problem with the stinky washers isn't that they use less water it's that they're front loading, so they have to have a water tight seal on the door. Then small amounts of water gets trapped in the rubber gasket around the door, so if you close the door between washes, you get mildew... especially if you don't wash that often.
Since I do very little laundry, and leaving the door open in a household with 4 cats seemed like an invitation for trouble, I decided against a front loader. The reviews on the top loading HE machines were mixed at best, but I finally ended up with a fancy schmancy machine made by LG.
I wanted something big enough to handle the bedding and I was not disappointed! The thing is HUGE! Seriously, it takes me nearly a month to dirty enough stuff to fill it up. I'm happy with the washer, and very happy that I don't have the mildew problem to deal with.
It still doesn't get things nearly as clean as hand washing (which I was seriously considering instead of replacing the Kenmore) but it's worth it to not have to haul all of the bedding to the laundr-o-mat (and spend $40 bucks) to clean it.
But one does have to question how "green" those front loaders really are if one needs this level of toxic chemicals just to keep them usable!
Hmm... lots to think about... I still think running white vinegar through gets rid of hard-water buildup, and that or baking soda can combat the mildew.
ReplyDeleteBad all around.
I honestly have zero experience with mildew since it rarely gets wet enough here in Denver for it to be a problem... and since I decided against the front loader, I'm hoping to keep it that way!
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