The Real Reason Your Clothes Have White Residue After Washing—and How to Fix It

It can be hard enough to get ahead of your household laundry, but discovering white residue on your freshly washed clothes is downright discouraging. If you're more inclined to throw up your hands than attempt a second load, take a beat, read these pro insights, and then proceed. You'll rid the white residue from your clothes for good once you make these small changes in how you use and maintain your washer.

The Right Detergent Makes a Difference

If you use too much detergent—or the wrong kind of detergent—you'll want to reconsider your approach. Too much detergent can cause buildup, especially in HE (high efficiency) washing machines that use less water. That said, powder detergent is more likely to leave residue on your clothes than liquid detergent. The solution? Give your detergent a chance to dissolve in warm water before adding your clothes.

Mary Gagliardi, a scientist and cleaning expert at Clorox suggests dissolving powdered laundry detergent in hot water before adding it to the washer. “This is a great strategy for people who use powdered detergent and wash in cold water to save energy. Water temperatures must be at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit for detergents to start working. In some parts of the country, a cold cycle delivers water that’s too cold for cleaning, unless your washer adds hot water to reach a minimum temperature for cleaning. Even with this feature, you may still need to pre-dissolve your detergent,” she says.

If you have a HE washing machine, make sure you’re using HE detergent. Using non-HE detergent doesn't rinse out as well. Rewashing those items and running through the dryer can help remove them. HE detergents are low sudsing formulas that are specifically designed for front load and top load machines and if not used can affect machine performance, says Lindsay Jones, integrated brand manager at Maytag.

Choose the Right Water Temperature

Powder detergents might not fully dissolve, especially in cold water or short cycles, leaving behind a residue. Consider switching to liquid detergent or using warm water when possible.

“If you have a laundry sink near your clothes washer, run water out of the hot water line to get it up to temperature before starting the washer. This is especially important for people using high efficiency washers that use only a small amount of water—if your hot water heater is far away from your laundry room in a different part of the home, the washer could finish filling before enough hot water reaches the washer,” says Gagliardi.

Don't Overstuff the Washer

Even if laundry detergent doesn’t dissolve because of cold water, it should still be rinsed from the washer; an overloaded washer prevents this. In this case, there are two issues to address: increase the water temperature to make sure the detergent dissolves and reduce the load size to make sure detergent solution circulates properly and the load is rinsed thoroughly. 

Your Water Could Be to Blame

High mineral content in hard water can react with detergent and leave a residue on clothing. "High amounts of calcium and magnesium in the water supply can interfere with detergency, and form deposits on the laundry. This residue can be dissolved by soaking the affected item in vinegar,” says Gagliardi. If you have hard water, installing a water softener can prevent minerals from binding to detergent, says Jade Piper, operations manager at Better Cleans, a pro house cleaning service.

Keep Your Washing Machine Clean

Residue inside the drum or dispenser—whether it’s from fabric softener, detergent, or even mildew—can transfer to clothes. If you suspect your machine is the problem, run a cycle with washing machine cleaner or a hot cycle with white vinegar and baking soda to clean it. Additionally, the inner workings of the washer can trap soil, detergent, hard water ions, and lint in a damp environment that primarily hosts odor causing bacteria, and that will make your clean clothing smell.

If you’ve noticed a musty smell, you might also have a mold or mildew issue to address. This is prevalent in front-load washers, as build up in the gasket or detergent drawer can cause white flakes, says Alicia Sokolowski, president of AspenClean detergent. She says to wipe down the rubber gasket, clean the detergent drawer, and check for hidden build up when cleaning your washing machine. Additional machine issues might include a clogged or dirty filter. Make sure to clean your filter regularly as build up can prevent proper drainage and lead to white residue on clothes.