WHY do all of our swimsuits smell so BAD?? They smell like mildew or seaweed or something....the awful smell that laundry smells like when it's been left in the washer for days and days. They've only been in chlorinated pools and rinsed in clear water and washed in Woolite and hung to dry. Out of desperation I threw one of them in the real laundry and it smells just as bad as when it went in. I'm at a loss!! These are normal nylon suits. TIA!

By Annie2 on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 08:56 pm:

I have never had this problem. We go to the beach at least once a week and the kids swim in pools throughout the week.

I do hang dry our suits and towels outside before washing them. Just because we come home in later afternoon and do not want to do laundry.

Maybe your water is soft?

By Trina~moderator on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 09:13 pm:

We've never had this problem either. Like Annie, we also hang dry swimsuits and towels before washing them. Do the kids throw them in the hamper damp??

By Yjja123 on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 09:46 pm:

Do you not normally wash them in the washing machine? We wear a ton of swimsuits here. They are hung to dry in the bath tub. About once a week, I will grab the pile of them in the tub and wash them on the gentle cycle. We have never had them smell.

By Kate on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 09:49 pm:

We either hang dry them first and then hand wash, or take them off wet and immediately wash. And no, I've never washed them in the washing machine before I got desperate this week. They smell a bit rubbery, too, from the elastic.

By Yjja123 on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 09:59 pm:

I do not know. Maybe they were not getting clean enough with the woolite? I have always washed our swimsuits in the washing machine. Are your swimsuits getting old? We end up buying new yearly---but again we use them a lot in florida.

By Dawnk777 on Friday, July 21, 2006 - 10:39 pm:

I wash my suits in the washing machine, with regular detergent and then hang them to dry. I've never noticed that they smell.

By Imamommyx4 on Saturday, July 22, 2006 - 12:30 am:

When we come in from swimmming--pool or lake or ocean--the suits and towels get hung in the tub or rail in the garage or rail on the deck to dry. They don't get put into the laundry basket until dry. We swim so much that I haven't even thought about washing gently or on delicate cycles. I just throw them in the wash with the color or load that they happen to be and wash normal with my regular detergent. I do hang girls suits and bikinis to dry but the boy trunks go in the dryer. I have never noticed a smell. As a matter of fact I noticed yesterday how nice mine smelled as I was going to the pool.

By Reds9298 on Saturday, July 22, 2006 - 08:07 am:

Ditto Yvonne. I hang to dry and wash them about every other time we wear them. Never had a problem.

By Karen~admin on Saturday, July 22, 2006 - 10:17 am:

And just a thought - you might try letting them sit in a soak of vinegar and water overnight in the washer. That might help remove the odor. I've never had that with ours. But I always wash them in the regular wash and hang to dry.