I purchased an expensive, high tech, high efficiency
(HE) laundry washer and dryer set. I wanted to do what I could to help the environment. Water is going to get scarce.
After a few months I discovered the odor problem. The treatments that are usually recommended by the manufacturers
(vinegar, baking soda or chlorine bleach) did not work well in my situation.
I
started to investigate why a new, expensive washer had this kind of problem. I found that there seems to be an increase
in odor when a lot of detergent and/or fabric softener is used. That makes sense. These are organic based materials and
the film coating they provide is a good growth medium for the mold and mildew.
That's it!
The the
film on the wetted surfaces of the machine provide a giant "Petri Dish" to grow things! Odor can come from mold,
mildew, fungus or bacterial slime growth. Various kinds of "nasties' can be growing in the dead ends of the
plumbing system.
I have heard of a case where a machine was used for years without problems. Then, it was moved
to a new house with heated flooring and the odor bloomed. The "Petri dish" was put into an incubator!
There will always be organic food for the nasties.
There
will always be mold and mildew spores in the air.
The growth can not be kept out of the machine ...
So, it must be controlled in some way.
This is the same problem I had when I was the engineer
responsible for keeping a bunch of water cooling systems from fouling.
Washers are a much smaller size with
a different use pattern, but the general principles are still the same.
There are two means of controlling the growth.
1.
Periodically destroy the cells of the organisms by using harsh chemicals and flush them out of the machine. Since
the growth will always come back you need to time the period between shocks correctly.
2.
Kill existing growth and then continuously control smells by contaminating the detergent film to so it will be difficult
for the stuff to grow on it.
I felt that I could come up with a laundry additive
that would work with method #2 without damaging clothes, washers, plumbing or the environment.
It needed to be
safe enough to be used regularly, but, effective enough to control the odor. I tried a number of materials and found a combination that
worked well on my system.
Nu Fresh
is the result!
Try Nu Fresh, it works.
