Amsterdam, May 19, 2016 -- Dirty laundry smells bad because of certain chemicals called volatile organic compounds, which can't always be washed out on an eco-friendly 20?C cycle, according to a new study in the Journal of Chromatography A.
Consumers' awareness of the ecological impacts of washing - the temperature of the wash and the detergent they use - is increasing, so it is important to understand why dirty clothes smell, in order to find the best way to clean them. The researchers behind the new study, from Northumbria University, say the chemicals they identified could be used to test the effectiveness of washing at different temperatures.