8 Reasons Your Laundry Room Smells Musty + How to Fix Them

Cleaning · Laundry Room

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That damp laundry-room smell usually has a reason, and here's how to figure out what the heck is causing yours.

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Updated September 2026 · 9 Min Read

Key Points

• Most musty laundry-room smells come back to excess moisture somewhere in the room.
• Most laundry rooms won't have all eight of these problems going on at once, so you may only need to fix two or three things before that smell finally goes away.
• No candles or sprays will permanently fix the smell until the source of the moisture is dealt with.

You go into the laundry room for a jacket and, ugh, there is that damp smell again, in the ONE room that is supposed to have all your clean clothes in it.

So, naturally, you check the washer. Then the dryer. You might even blame the dog for a little while before realizing that, nope, something in your laundry room is definitely causing it.

And more often than not, a musty laundry room doesn't have just one problem. It can be two or three little moisture issues adding up until the whole room starts smelling like a gym bag.

But, each of those causes has a legitimate fix. There will be no candles; no spray needed.

Here is what is happening and how to specifically fix it:

In This Article
The Basics The List Good to Know FAQs What to Remember

The Basics

Follow The Water That Is Creating A Musty Odor

Almost everything on this list comes back to the same thing:

An area with excess water for an extended period.

According to the EPA, the way to deal with mold and musty smells is to fix the moisture problem that allowed them to develop in the first place.

So, no amount of spraying a room freshener over a wet washer gasket or lighting a candle beside a clogged dryer vent is going to solve the actual problem.

It might smell better tonight.

Tomorrow? That mildew smell is probably coming right back.

The Causes

8 Places to Check When Your Laundry Room Smells Musty

Work your way through these one at a time because chances are, you won't have eight different things wrong. It's usually just two or three little issues creating one BIG annoying smell.

1Check Your Washer Seal

First, the seal on your washer (if it opens to the front) is likely where the problem lies.

There is a rubber ring on the washer that acts as a seal when closing the washer. That rubber ring traps water in and around it after each wash cycle.

Mold doesn't need much to start, moisture is enough. According to the EPA, mold grows in moist environments.

According to Mr. Appliance's cleaning guide, you can clean the gasket with a mildew cleaner or a bleach solution, and an old toothbrush works well for getting into all those little folds.

If yours has a lot of buildup, bleach-soaked paper towels can be placed along the gasket for about ten minutes before running an empty rinse cycle.

Here’s What to Do:

• Clean the gasket using a mildew cleaner or bleach solution.
• Use an old toothbrush to get into the crevices of the rubber seal.
• Wipe the gasket dry after your loads.
• Leave the washer door cracked open when you're not using it.

Best move: This takes less than ten seconds to do and will prevent most of the buildup before it begins.

This becomes even more important when your washer and dryer are stacked in a closet, which is a common occurrence in small apartments because that door receives minimal fresh air.

2Clean Your Dryer Vent

A clogged dryer vent can make your laundry room smell pretty gross, but it can also become a fire hazard, so this is one you definitely don't want to ignore.

According to UL Solutions, about 33 percent of clothes dryer fires happen because the dryer wasn't properly cleaned.

UL Solutions also reports around 15,600 home structure fires involving clothes dryers each year in the U.S., resulting in about 15 deaths, 400 injuries, and more than $100 million in property damage.

As far as creating odors, a single load of wet laundry holds more than 0.5 gallons of water. All the water in those wet clothes has to go somewhere as they dry, and a lot of it ends up as damp air that your vent is meant to move outside.

And if that vent is plugged, the damp air isn't leaving the way it should, so some of it can end up staying right there in the laundry room. Which, yeah, is pretty gross.

Here’s What to Do:

• Pull the lint out of the trap after every load. This one is easy.
• If your clothes suddenly need a second dryer cycle, pay attention to that.
• After the dryer runs, notice if the room suddenly feels damp or muggy.
• And about once a year, have somebody properly inspect and clean the dryer vent.

Best move: If you're doing five or more loads every week, you may want to have it checked more often.

33%
Approximately 33 percent of clothes dryer fires occur because the dryer wasn't properly cleaned, according to UL Solutions.

3Don't Leave Wet Clothes Sitting Too Long

This seems like an obvious one, but it happens ALL the time.

You put a load in, go do something else, and then hours later remember that your wet clothes are still sitting in the washer.

Or you forget about it completely and it sits there overnight.

Wet clothing allows mold growth in exactly the environment mold prefers: warm and humid.

The EPA recommends drying wet materials within twenty-four to forty-eight hours to help prevent mold growth. But when it comes to laundry, you really don't want wet clothes sitting around that long anyway because, um, nobody wants to open the washer the next morning and get hit with THAT smell.

Here’s What to Do:

• Set a timer when the final cycle completes.
• Move your clothing to the dryer as soon as possible.
• If your clothing has already been sitting wet for too long, run a quick rinse and spin again before drying it.

Best move: Then you don't have to rely on remembering that you have a load sitting downstairs while you're doing fifteen other things.

It's one of those tiny laundry habits that keeps both your clothes AND your laundry room smelling better.

4Refill Your Floor Drain

If your laundry room has a floor drain and the smell is leaning more toward sewer than mildew, take a look at the drain.

It could be that you haven't refilled your floor drain recently.

Every floor drain contains a P-trap (curved pipe section) that retains water to inhibit sewer gases from entering the space above.

But if you rarely use that drain, the water inside the trap can eventually dry out.

According to Roto-Rooter, once that happens, sewer gases can start coming back up through the drain and into your laundry room.

Here’s What to Do:

• Pour approximately ½ gallon of water down into the drain.
• Add a cup of white vinegar if you'd prefer to slow down evaporation and eliminate any pests at the same time.
• Add water to the drain every few weeks even if you don't use it.

Best move: A couple of times a year, flush a few gallons of water through it too.

This is such a random house thing too, because who is walking around thinking about the water sitting in their floor drain? Pretty much no one, until it smells.

5Get Some Air Moving In There

Laundry rooms get humid REALLY fast, and if yours is basically a little closet with no window, well, there isn't much chance for that damp air to get out.

Your washer and dryer both add moisture while they're running, and in a tiny laundry room there really isn't a lot of space for that damp air to go.

And when hardly any fresh air gets in there, that moisture can sit around a LOT longer than you think. So everything you can see might look totally fine, but meanwhile it can still be damp behind the washer or along the wall.

You want the humidity in the room to stay around 30 to 50 percent, because once it stays damp for too long, that is when problems can start.

And if you've got no window or decent fan in there, a small dehumidifier can help pull some of that moisture out.

Here’s What to Do:

• Leave the laundry room door open for a while after finishing your loads.
• Use a small portable dehumidifier if you have no windows or functional fans.
• Put the dehumidifier on a timer if you don't want to remember to turn it on and off.

Best move: This way you don't have to remember it.

30–50%
The goal is to maintain indoor relative humidity levels between thirty and fifty percent.

6Look for a Hidden Leak

This one can be a little sneaky because sometimes there is no obvious mold.

There isn't a puddle.

Nothing looks wet.

But the room still has THAT damp smell, and you're like... where the heck is it coming from?

The EPA says that if you're smelling mustiness but can't see mold, there still could be some hiding somewhere out of sight.

And sometimes it's literally one stupid little leak hiding somewhere you can't see.

Maybe the washer hose is dripping, or a pipe is, or there is something going on under the floor that you just haven't found yet.

And this is the annoying part, a leak can be SO small that maybe it's only dripping a little at a time, so you never even get that obvious puddle.

Here’s What to Do:

• Pull the washer out a bit and actually look behind it.
• Check the hoses, connections, floor, baseboards and wall while you're back there.
• If the water heater is nearby, give the area around and underneath it a look too.

Best move: If you've tried the easy stuff and that smell is STILL there, pull the washer out and start checking the weird hidden spots because, yep, something back there may actually be wet.

And while you're at it, maybe just make this part of your normal deep-cleaning day too.

7Clean Out All That Soap Buildup

Every time you do a load, a little detergent and fabric softener can get left behind in the washer AND on the clothes.

Over time the remaining residues build up in the dispenser (where you put in soap and fabric softener) and around the drum of the washer.

Here’s What to Do:

• Pull the dispenser far enough out so that it can be washed with hot soapy water.
• Use an old tooth brush to get into the corners.
• Switch to HE detergent, which produces fewer suds and can leave less residue behind.
• If liquid fabric softener is adding to the buildup, dryer sheets are another option.

Best move: Try cleaning the dispenser every couple of weeks.

This takes about five minutes. It is one of those habits of people who have clean houses that nobody talks about.

But you will absolutely notice when it starts smelling.

8Run an Empty Cleaning Cycle

Sometimes the washer itself is just kinda gross inside and needs a proper clean.

You can scrub the gasket AND wash out the dispenser and still have some gross stuff deeper in the machine where you just can't reach.

Once a month, run an empty cleaning cycle.

Depending on your machine and its manufacturer's directions, you may be able to use bleach, white vinegar, baking soda, or a washing machine cleaning product.

Here’s What to Do:

• Run an empty cleaning cycle about once a month.
• Follow your washing machine manufacturer's directions.
• Pick ONE cleaning method and use that.

Best move: Pick ONE cleaner and stick with it. Seriously, don't mix cleaning products.

That empty cycle is really for the parts you can't easily get to yourself, especially around the drum, gasket and dispenser.

So do that monthly clean, dry the gasket, move your wet stuff over and leave the room open for a while, because the whole point is to NOT be dealing with this smell again next week.

Good to Know

A Few Things Worth Knowing About Musty Laundry Rooms

If you walk in and think, okay, this smells more like sewer than mildew, check that floor drain first.

If the dryer is running and suddenly the whole room feels weirdly hot and muggy, I'd check the vent and airflow next.

And if you've cleaned EVERYTHING in sight and it still smells, I'd be thinking okay... what the heck is wet that I can't see?

So if you're standing there thinking, where do I even start, go with the smell first and see where it seems strongest.

FAQs

Questions You Probably Have About That Weird Musty Laundry Room Smell

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Okay, so how do you actually get rid of that musty laundry room smell?

First, figure out where the moisture came from (a wet gasket, clogged vent, etc.) and deal with that issue.

Fix that first.

Once the moisture problem is gone, give the room some fresh air and time to dry out. In many cases, the smell should start improving within a day or two.

Does a musty smell always mean mold?

Not always. But, I wouldn't totally ignore the smell either.

The EPA says that you can sometimes smell mold before you can actually see where it is, because it may be somewhere hidden, like behind a wall.

So start with the obvious spots first.

What neutralizes a musty smell?

Nothing will completely neutralize the smell of mold unless the moisture that allowed the mold to grow is addressed.

Baking soda and some fresh air might help for a day or two while you're figuring it out, but that is really just a "pause button." If something is still damp, the smell is probably coming back.

So yeah, you have to find the damp spot and deal with THAT first.

Will a musty smell eventually go away on its own?

Usually, no.

If the thing creating the smell is still damp, the conditions that caused the smell haven't really changed.

That's why opening the door and spraying something nice into the room may help for a few hours, but the smell keeps coming back.

Find the moisture first.

Is mildew worse than mold?

Mildew is actually a type of mold.

The EPA explains that mildew is generally a term used for certain kinds of mold growth that stay flatter on a surface.

Either way, you want to clean the affected area AND deal with whatever moisture allowed it to grow.

What kills mold and mildew?

On solid surfaces such as a gasket or drum, bleach, vinegar or mildew remover kill what you can visually see.

But if that same spot keeps getting wet, well, you may clean it today and then be dealing with the exact same thing again.

Is black mold really the one you need to worry about most?

The EPA points out that people use names like “black mold” and “toxic mold” a lot, but you can't tell how risky mold is just by looking at its color.

So really, if mold is growing inside your home, deal with it, and don't get too caught up in what color it is.

Find the moisture source, fix it, and then clean up the mold.

What are some signs that mold might be bothering you?

For some people, mold exposure can cause allergy-like symptoms such as sneezing, a runny nose, red eyes, or skin irritation.

And the EPA says mold can also trigger an asthma attack in people who already have asthma and are allergic to mold.

And if somebody isn't feeling well and you think the mold could have something to do with it, I'd talk to a doctor rather than trying to figure that part out yourself.

What to Remember

Follow the Water

Work your way down this list and check the places that make the most sense for your laundry room.

And chances are, you won't have eight different things wrong either. It's usually just two or three little issues creating one BIG annoying smell.

Once the actual moisture has been resolved, the odor should not have anything left to cling to.

Once THAT smell is dealt with, then you can do the fun stuff and make your home smell good because you want to, and not because you're desperately trying to cover up some weird funk.

And if this is your first place, you might want to peek at some of these first-apartment ideas too because, seriously, there is SO much random stuff to think about.

And some of the old-school cleaning stuff? Yeah, it still works, so don't totally write it off.

Written by Rebecca Lauren for Everything AbodeRebecca is the writer behind Everything Abode, and she shares the cozy, budget-friendly stuff she uses to make a rented place feel more like home.

PS: So what did the smell in your laundry room end up being?

Sources

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture and Your Home
• Mr. Appliance — How To Clean Front-Load Washer Mold
• UL Solutions — Mitigating Clothes Dryer Fires
• Roto-Rooter — How to Remove and Prevent Floor Drain Odors

This post may contain affiliate links. If you buy something through one of them, Everything Abode may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

This article is for general home-cleaning information only and isn't medical advice. If you think mold exposure is affecting your health, talk to a doctor.