This is why you should never leave your wet clothes in the washing machine

In this viral video, cleaning expert Mary shares how soon mould begins to grow on wet clothes. BRB - off to start hanging!

If you’ve ever forgotten about the washing and left it sitting in the machine, you’re not alone.

We’ve all put a load on and gone out for the day, or started the machine before bed and in the morning forgotten that it was full of wet clothes.

You might think to yourself, do I have to rewash?

Should I risk hanging the clothes to dry even though they might end up smelling awful?

Twelve hours was the magic number, but not everyone agreed. Photo: TikTok

Cleaning expert Mary Futher, AKA Madame Sweat has weighed in on the matter, revealing there’s a magic number of hours that wet washing can sit in the machine before mould and bacteria start growing.

“How many hours is too many hours?” she asked in a TikTok.

“The rule of thumb is if you left your laundry sitting wet more than 12 hours, that’s the cut-off point.”

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Cleaning expert reveals how long wet clothes can sit in washing machine

But the 12-hour method isn’t foolproof.

It’s best to rely on a few factors, namely past experience with previously forgotten wet loads, and the good old smell test.

Did you forget washing in the machine for six hours once and everything smelled so awful it needed to be rewashed? Then five hours is your magic number.

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The real rule of thumb is, if the washing smells, it needs to be rewashed. Photo: TikTok

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Does current the load smell funny when you take it out? It probably needs to be rewashed.

Mary admitted that if a smell develops before 12 hours have passed, rewashing is the only remedy.

“You need to rewash and use half a cup of baking soda with your detergent to get rid of that mould and build-up,” she said.

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Followers weren’t convinced by Mary’s rule of thumb.

“Two hours is my max, otherwise I rewash the clothes,” one person said. “I can smell the mildew if it’s too long.”

“I don’t know the amount, but my nose does,” said another. “The slightest whiff of mildew and I rewash.”

“If I forget my clothes in the washer I automatically rewash them,” said a third. “I don’t care how many hours it’s been!”

But not everyone was so careful.

“I leave clothes in the machine for 24 hours regularly,” one person said. “I usually put a load in when I put my toddler to bed and switch it the next night to start another one.”

“Nah, my washer has a fresh hold,” said another. “It runs a fan and tumbles them for up to 16 hours.”

Originally published as This is why you should never leave your wet clothes in the washing machine