Soak a few sturdy towels with white vinegar until they're damp but not dripping. Place these in the dryer and run a full cycle. White vinegar's acidity acts as an organic dryer odor remover, neutralizing and banishing those foul smells.
Wipe down the dryer drum regularly: Spray the dryer drum with vinegar and wipe it down on a regular basis to deodorize before smells get out of hand. Follow with plain water and leave the door open to allow for air drying.
Spray or dip a cloth into a non-abrasive cleaning product or a solution of white vinegar and water. Wipe over the whole of the drum and the inside of the door. Leave the door open to let it dry. Use the same solution to wipe down the front, sides and back of the machine to keep everything looking tip-top.
If you haven't used the appliance for a while, certain unpleasant smells can start to crawl their way through the appliance drum. Cleaning the tumble dryer with a care product will keep odours away and ensure your load comes out perfectly dry every time.
There are a few different ways to make your own scented dryer sheets. The easiest method is to simply put a few drops of safe fragrance oil onto a cloth and let it dry completely (see section above for choosing a safe fragrance). The cloth can then be tossed in the dryer with your clothing.
Enter dryer balls infused with your favorite scented oils. These nifty little balls not only cut down on drying time and reduce wrinkles, but they also leave your clothes smelling divine. Simply add a few drops of your preferred oil, toss them into the dryer, and voila!
The Air Fluff Cycle. This cycle draws air into the dryer from the surrounding area to freshen up items. This cycle is unique because no heat is used and fabrics that are placed in wet will not dry.
If your dryer is electric, rub the drum with a soft cloth dipped in warm water and dish soap. For a gas dryer, wipe down the inside with a liquid, nonflammable household cleaner. Then, for gas or electric, wipe out the drum with a wet sponge or towel and tumble a load of clean clothes or towels to dry the drum.
Deodorize the dryer with baking soda
To use baking soda to deodorize your dryer, wet a towel and sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda over the material's surface. Then place the cloth in the dryer and dry it on the lowest drying cycle until completely dry.
If your tumble dryer smells like something's burning, don't be tempted to keep using it as normal. Built-up lint could be clogging the filter or vent hose. While rare, this can lead to the lint catching fire inside the machine.
Baking soda is used to remove many odors throughout your home and it works just the same for washing machines. Start by mixing ¼ cup baking soda with equal parts water. Pour the mixture into where you'd normally put your laundry detergent and run a normal cycle (without laundry in it, of course!)
Whether you want to clean your washer, fabric softener, dishwasher, microwave, or dryer, vinegar is a great option. If you want to clean your laundry more frequently, try cleaning your washer with vinegar once a month.
Tumble dryers can often suffer from musty smells and can quickly ruin, a fresh smelling clean load of laundry. Foul dryer odors are usually the result of blocked/obstructed airflow. Most dryers work by blowing hot air over the clothes, and then exhausting this hot, humid air outside.
Take a clean cloth and dip it in some distilled white vinegar. Clean the inside of your dryer with this damp cloth and make sure that you wipe every inch. This includes the door, and the area under the rubber gasket in the door seal.
Other suggestions for keeping clothes smelling fresh in the tumble dryer included using scent boosters, washing pods, dryer sheets, laundry conditioner soaked into a cloth and emptying the tumble dryer regularly. Sandra Armstrong suggested: “Scent boosters that you put in the washer are brilliant, especially Lenor.”
1. Items that use spandex (bras, gym clothes, swimwear etc.) Spandex and other elastic materials are great for wearing comfort, but they often don't do that well in a dryer. The high temperatures can damage the material, breaking it down and ruining the shape of your clothes.
Vinegar, particularly distilled white vinegar, is an excellent natural fabric softener and deodorizer. Add a cup of vinegar to your machine during the rinse cycle instead of fabric softener to remove odors and leave your laundry smelling fresh.
Do dryer balls work? In short, not really. There are marginal differences, but in most cases dryer balls actually increase your costs by a very small amount. We tested with a conventional electric vented dryer and an upmarket condenser dryer both with and without the balls and compared the two.
Essential oils can be flammable, which means they should never be added directly to your dryer, just in case.
Scent boosters go in the washer drum before inserting your garments or linens. Do not put laundry scent boosters in the dryer as you risk starting a dryer fire. Scent boosters dissolve by liquid, not hot air.
The answer lies in three main culprits: trapped moisture, poor ventilation, and mould growth. Trapped moisture occurs when clothes are not dried properly, leaving excess moisture that gives rise to that damp smell.