Cindy (Illinois, USA) on 11/14/2020

I just want to post something that may be relevant to a lot of people.

I suspect that some reinfection and spreading of the virus is being caused by HE (High Efficiency) washing machines. I've known they were garbage for several years but the danger of their profound shortcomings never occurred to me until now.

First of all, the HE front loaders of today don't even come close to matching the efficiency of the old front loaders - I.e. the ones with the "submarine" doors that you had to push and lock so they wouldn't leak. Those old washers cleaned extremely effectively in even less water than the new HE washers use and the reason is that they used enough water to get the job done and didn't require multiple rinse cycles, as the new ones do.

First, if you have an HE machine that you have to CLEAN, due to ODOR, you MUST understand that the odor is filth and it's not just in your washing machine. It's also on your clothes. The new machines don't even use enough water to clean themSELVES - meaning there is NO way they are cleaning your clothes.

I washed a pair of yoga pants by hand. They didn't stink but other stuff was beginning to and, since they're workout pants, I assumed they were also dirty from not getting washed properly and didn't stink due to Nike's antimicrobial fabric.

To make a long story short, with soaking and washing with a plunger/"breather" style agitator, MANY times, it took nearly 4 hours to get to a point the rinse water was clear and I SUSPECT the only reason it only took 4 full on, sweating agitating washes was because I got so frustrated that I finally used non-toxic enzyme powder - as one would use to clear one's drains - and let them soak for an hour. It took 5 rinses with another castile soap wash in the middle to get it all out but I finally had clear water and a fresh laundry aroma, after. They were synthetic fabric so I wasn't concerned about the enzymes eating the fibers but the filth that was embedded in the fabric was horrific after something like 10 washes in the washer and two "washer cleaner" applications.

I don't know what to say about what one can do about the problem. I don't have tons of clothes but, even so, it would take me a a couple of 40 hour weeks to get them all clean. Even if you were to disinfect your clothes, as with ozone, UV light or even ClO2, you'd just be disinfecting the filth that's still in your clothes. The exact same filth that makes your washer stink.