[_JamesA_]

> 2) do not use liquid fabric softeners. see #1. I use a fabric sheet on drying.

Have you tried vinegar in the wash and wool dryer balls? I pre-wash with vinegar and add an extra rinse cycle. It's way better than fabric sheets and the balls also speed up the drying process.

[kerblang]

Vinegar is also good for dissolving lime, which builds up in the washer when you have "hard" water and will make it stink - not a mold stink, though, more some kind of bacteria that loves to live in lime. In this case it has nothing to do with residual water.

And vinegar is a pretty good cleaning agent all by itself.

[sumtechguy]

I could but my wife has an intense hatred anything with vinegar in it. It makes her gag.

[_JamesA_]

Me too. Luckily the smell doesn't persist.