# AAARGH, I forgot to put my clothes in the dryer! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 22, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658 "2011-08-22T15:19:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658/1 "2011-08-22T15:19:05Z")
So my mom came home from vacation yesterday, and, naturally, needed to do a lot of laundry. I knew I had a pair of jeans in the dryer from doing my own laundry on Tuesday, so while I was helping her put away groceries, I made a mental note to remove those so that she could use the dryer. I was standing at the refrigerator, putting away some fruit, when she said “oh, I put your jeans in the dryer.” …Waitaminute. The dryer? They should already be in there. Surely she misspoke. Nope. She said it again. The dryer. She’d put them in the dryer. That could only mean one thing: that my jeans had been sitting in the washer for nearly a week. :eek: I excused myself for a moment, rushed to the dryer, pulled out the jeans (which were still damp) and…yup, mildew. ☹ My one saving grace is that she hadn’t actually run the dryer–it’s possible she smelled the mildew herself and decided to hold off–so I should be able to wash them again. I’ll need to wait until she’s done another load (the one she has in now has bleach in it, so she wants to wash another lighter colored load to get rid of any that’s remaining), but it’ll get done soon. And really, the smell isn’t THAT bad. I had to actually put the clothes straight to my nose in order to smell it, though it’s bad enough that I obviously can’t wear them like that. I’m mostly just really annoyed. Some of the jeans in that load were my favorites, dammit! I don’t necessarily need advice on what to do, because I’ve got a plan (though if you know of something that works miracles, by all means do mention it), I mostly just wanted to share my frustration. I HATE it when I do shit like this. (Also, feel free to share your own household stupidities so that I don’t feel like such a dweeb. It’s cathartic!) ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658/2 "2011-08-22T15:22:13Z")
I recommend you wash them in hot water, on the longest cycle, twice. Put in a titch of bleach on the first cycle, like, less than a quarter of a cup. Then hang them in the bright sunshine to dry. Good luck. I’ve ruined things this exact way, and feel your pain. Why, oh why, is it always your favorite garment? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658/3 "2011-08-22T15:23:29Z")
Wait, you thought your jeans were in the dryer because you did laundry Tuesday? Wouldn’t you have removed them from the dryer after the end of the cycle? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658/4 "2011-08-22T15:27:22Z")
> [@Maiira](#): > > (Also, feel free to share your own household stupidities so that I don’t feel like such a dweeb. It’s cathartic!) [Might I direct your attention to the fact that I squirted mouthwash directly into my eyes yesterday.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=621323) ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658/5 "2011-08-22T15:37:33Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Wait, you thought your jeans were in the dryer because you did laundry Tuesday? Wouldn’t you have removed them from the dryer after the end of the cycle? Sometimes I forget about them in the dryer, too :D. This usually happens with the very last load I do–with my other loads I’m usually taking them out the moment I realize they’re done, but the last one…not so much. It’s usually jeans, so I don’t have to worry about wrinkles or anything. It also doesn’t help that I don’t use the dryer timer. I should change this. **Happy** , I just saw your thread. Priceless!😃 ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658/6 "2011-08-22T15:42:29Z")
Ah, OK. For me it’s a little different since I have a communal laundry room in my building. If I don’t take the stuff out relatively soon after it finishes, it’ll get taken out by someone else at some point! ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658/7 "2011-08-22T15:42:38Z")
> [@Maiira](#): > > (Also, feel free to share your own household stupidities so that I don’t feel like such a dweeb. It’s cathartic!) I have a real doozy! A while back, my wife and I had fried some french fries, fish and hushpuppies. Everything turned out great, and when we were done, I drained the oil into a 2 liter bottle to throw away (it was at the end of it’s useful life). Unfortunately, I left the bottle on the counter all evening, and went to bed with it still sitting on the counter. the following morning, when I was about to go to work, I walked through the kitchen, and since it was dark in the kitchen and the oil was darker than usual, I didn’t realize it was oil. I though “I’ll just sneak a swig of that soda straight from the bottle.” Boy was I surprised, when I took a gulp of used frying oil! I didn’t puke, but I didn’t feel very great for quite a while that day. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658/8 "2011-08-22T16:18:09Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Ah, OK. For me it’s a little different since I have a communal laundry room in my building. If I don’t take the stuff out relatively soon after it finishes, it’ll get taken out by someone else at some point! Oh yeah, when I was living in the dorms I was usually more attentive. Sometimes I’d find my (dry) load on top of the dryer because someone had yanked it out for me, but usually I took it out as soon as I was able. It wasn’t just courtesy for other residents, though–there’d been clothing thefts in the past. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658/9 "2011-08-22T16:19:34Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I have a real doozy! > > A while back, my wife and I had fried some french fries, fish and hushpuppies. Everything turned out great, and when we were done, I drained the oil into a 2 liter bottle to throw away (it was at the end of it’s useful life). > > Unfortunately, I left the bottle on the counter all evening, and went to bed with it still sitting on the counter. > > the following morning, when I was about to go to work, I walked through the kitchen, and since it was dark in the kitchen and the oil was darker than usual, I didn’t realize it was oil. > > I though “I’ll just sneak a swig of that soda straight from the bottle.” > > Boy was I surprised, when I took a gulp of used frying oil! I didn’t puke, but I didn’t feel very great for quite a while that day. Sorry for the double post, but eeeewwwww! I’ve done that before with wine, because my dad had put it in a juice bottle for some reason, so I took a swig and quickly found out it wasn’t juice. Wine’s a lot better than fry oil, though. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658/10 "2011-08-22T16:24:00Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I recommend you wash them in hot water, on the longest cycle, twice. Put in a titch of bleach on the first cycle, like, less than a quarter of a cup. > > Then hang them in the bright sunshine to dry. > > Good luck. I’ve ruined things this exact way, and feel your pain. Why, oh why, is it always your favorite garment? Use 1/2 cup of borax instead of bleach. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658/11 "2011-08-22T16:33:35Z")
I hear vinegar will work as well. ---
**Author:** ![randomface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@randomface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randomface)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658/12 "2011-08-22T17:24:34Z")
White distilled vinegar works wonders. I just splash some in, wash on whatever settings I usually use, and it takes care of itself. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658/13 "2011-08-22T17:50:29Z")
I’ll put in my vote for white vinegar, too. I worked in an office once where one of our coworkers apparently let all of his clothes sit in the washer frequently (or maybe he lived in a bog). We knew the minute he stepped into the department because of the miasma of mildew that wafted over our cubicles. He wasn’t there long enough for any of us to have a gentle talk with him about it, but I still think of him and wonder whether he knew he smelled like that and didn’t care or had some sort of olfactory disability and was simply oblivious to it. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658/14 "2011-08-22T18:48:13Z")
> [@Maiira](#): > > I hear vinegar will work as well. Vinegar is used in nursing homes and daycares to get rid of urine and other nasty smells. Wash in hot water with at least a cup of vinegar for a large load, run with an extra rinse or wash twice. Works great. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658/15 "2011-08-22T19:01:35Z")
The 2nd worse thing is finding clothes in your closet that were put up damp. My mom was always bad about this. She’d set the dryer for thirty minutes. If the clothes were a bit damp she’d fold them anyway. The mildew smell is terrible. Especially towels folded and put away damp. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658/16 "2011-08-22T19:07:18Z")
That so reminds me of myself. When I do laundry, I have a terrible habit of starting the washer and filling it with clothes and forgetting to close the lid. This usually happens when I have a ton of laundry to do (8 or more loads) so I notice it when I go to put the next load in. It only sets me back an hour (sigh) in doing laundry but I do it so often that it is refered to as ‘pulling a Dee.’ As for the mildew problem, don’t panic too much. A good wash with some vinegar should take care of it. My kids’ towels often get shoved in their hampers wet (cause they didn’t feel like hanging them up) and can stay there for days making everything else mildewy, too. Washing normally seems to have taken care of the problem. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658/17 "2011-08-22T19:15:07Z")
All laundry smell issues can be fixed with Pine-sol, vinegar probably works just as good but you don’t get the added benefit of smelling like a Christmas tree for the first wearing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Doughnut\_Thief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Doughnut\_Thief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Doughnut_Thief)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658/18 "2011-08-22T19:28:15Z")
[quote=“Maiira, post:1, topic:593658”] though if you know of something that works miracles, by all means do mention it [QUOTE] I have done this a few times. Although not over the time frame you said but I presume oxyclean will work in your situation as well. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658/19 "2011-08-23T02:45:24Z")
speaking as a dirty, dirty bachelor: One week is longer than I’ve ever gone leaving clothes wet in the washer. But I’ve gone a few days. At least try just a hot washing cycle with regular detergent first. That has always fixed it for me. If that doesn’t work, or the clothes won’t stand it, then try the borax/bleach/vinegar/whatever. Or even dry-cleaning, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658/20 "2011-08-23T03:48:21Z")
Update: the offending clothes have been washed again (with, I guess, extra fabric softener?) and they smell clean and fresh again. Yay! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aaargh-i-forgot-to-put-my-clothes-in-the-dryer/593658.md?page=2)