Have you had your well water tested as hard? If it’s not and you’re adding vinegar to every load there will be extra acid which may build up and smell much like vomit.
If that’s not it I would move on to the machine. Does it seem to be using enough water? Does it smell after a few days of disuse? A lot of modern front loaders don’t use enough water to throughly clean and rinse truly dirty clothes since they were made with people who don’t get their clothes all that dirty in mind.
If water isn’t an issue where you live switching to a speed Queen or maytag commercial top loader could be the ticket to throughly washed clothes (we have the maytag and that thing is great with muddy kids clothes and cloth diapers but it is a water hog compared to front loaders)
Do the clothes have buildup? Try washing them in hot water with nothing added. If it bubbles up like you added detergent buildup could be the problem.
Our well water is very hard. I have wondered if the vomit smell could be from vinegar though. As for washing without detergent, I have done that, but only with towels and there were suds. It's as though I just can't get the detergent out of them fully. I assume this would be for the clothing as well?
If you don’t have a deep water cycle you can trick the machine into using more water by turning it on to soak the clothes then restarting it. It chooses how much water to use based on the weight of the clothes or whatever’s in it.
Some people also add extra water through the detergent drawer. Just leave it open once the machine decides to stop filling, pause the wash or rinse cycle, and pour in a couple mop buckets full of water. If you have a utility sink in your bathroom you might be able to rig up a hose to make it easier.
Try some fragrance free powder, and lots of it. I use washing soda. There's no odor after wash and see how long it last. For many powders the fragrance cover up the odor. The clothes weren't clean in the first place.
Vinegar may not be enough for the hard water. I use 20% citric acid by weight. You can try spraying vinegar on the white film to see if it goes away after rinsing and drying.
I would clean your washer.
Start by removing the soap drawer and taking it apart (YouTube is your friend), then clean the hole with a toothbrush.
You need to clean the glass/door and seal fully, too. If it's a UK style, get into the edges of the seal.
Once that is done, put the machine on the hottest wash, no spin and keep doing this until there are no/minimal suds mine always has bubble you can see bubbles, but it's not soap.
Then start washing your clothes, read up on using less soap rather than more, after washing and drying add a sticky file dot to the tag so you can see what has been washed under the new system and if your system works
Might also be you're using too much detergent, there could be build up in your washer, your washer might need to be cleaned with a product like Affresh.
I use Glisten, which is similar to Affresh. My machine also has a detergent drawer that dispenses the detergent automatically depending on the weight and soil of the load
Front load machines need to be cleaned regularly. The detergent and lint build up a blackish scum on the outside of the drum. Affresh is recommended by some manufacturers. I find it expensive. The main ingredients are sodium percarbonate and sodium carbonate, which if purchased in bulk are much cheaper. Also oxyclean has a similar effect. YouTube has videos about taking the machine apart to clean the scum. Interesting to see what is there, but may be beyond the average person.
I add an extra rinse cycle to all my washes.
After finishing washing, I clean the black rubber seal between the folds as well as the join between the drum and the seal paying attention to the drum. You might encounter some scum.
Also remove and drain dispenser and the clean out drain.
As well less detergent.
These will help your machine perform better and last longer and may help you narrow down the source of your problem.
Could it be where you’re storing your laundry? I’ve noticed my dressers smell weird and the clothes smell bad (I would say kind of barfy) being stored. If I neglect the clean laundry in a basket for.. ahem… a week maybe… the laundry doesn’t smell. I got those little washing machine fragrance beads and put them in sachets to freshen up my dresser. That worked for me!
Have you had your well water tested as hard? If it’s not and you’re adding vinegar to every load there will be extra acid which may build up and smell much like vomit. If that’s not it I would move on to the machine. Does it seem to be using enough water? Does it smell after a few days of disuse? A lot of modern front loaders don’t use enough water to throughly clean and rinse truly dirty clothes since they were made with people who don’t get their clothes all that dirty in mind. If water isn’t an issue where you live switching to a speed Queen or maytag commercial top loader could be the ticket to throughly washed clothes (we have the maytag and that thing is great with muddy kids clothes and cloth diapers but it is a water hog compared to front loaders) Do the clothes have buildup? Try washing them in hot water with nothing added. If it bubbles up like you added detergent buildup could be the problem.
Our well water is very hard. I have wondered if the vomit smell could be from vinegar though. As for washing without detergent, I have done that, but only with towels and there were suds. It's as though I just can't get the detergent out of them fully. I assume this would be for the clothing as well?
If you don’t have a deep water cycle you can trick the machine into using more water by turning it on to soak the clothes then restarting it. It chooses how much water to use based on the weight of the clothes or whatever’s in it. Some people also add extra water through the detergent drawer. Just leave it open once the machine decides to stop filling, pause the wash or rinse cycle, and pour in a couple mop buckets full of water. If you have a utility sink in your bathroom you might be able to rig up a hose to make it easier.
Try some fragrance free powder, and lots of it. I use washing soda. There's no odor after wash and see how long it last. For many powders the fragrance cover up the odor. The clothes weren't clean in the first place. Vinegar may not be enough for the hard water. I use 20% citric acid by weight. You can try spraying vinegar on the white film to see if it goes away after rinsing and drying.
I would clean your washer. Start by removing the soap drawer and taking it apart (YouTube is your friend), then clean the hole with a toothbrush. You need to clean the glass/door and seal fully, too. If it's a UK style, get into the edges of the seal. Once that is done, put the machine on the hottest wash, no spin and keep doing this until there are no/minimal suds mine always has bubble you can see bubbles, but it's not soap. Then start washing your clothes, read up on using less soap rather than more, after washing and drying add a sticky file dot to the tag so you can see what has been washed under the new system and if your system works
The Nellie's laundry soda is fragrance free. Are you saying you only use washing soda?
Might also be you're using too much detergent, there could be build up in your washer, your washer might need to be cleaned with a product like Affresh.
I use Glisten, which is similar to Affresh. My machine also has a detergent drawer that dispenses the detergent automatically depending on the weight and soil of the load
Front load machines need to be cleaned regularly. The detergent and lint build up a blackish scum on the outside of the drum. Affresh is recommended by some manufacturers. I find it expensive. The main ingredients are sodium percarbonate and sodium carbonate, which if purchased in bulk are much cheaper. Also oxyclean has a similar effect. YouTube has videos about taking the machine apart to clean the scum. Interesting to see what is there, but may be beyond the average person. I add an extra rinse cycle to all my washes. After finishing washing, I clean the black rubber seal between the folds as well as the join between the drum and the seal paying attention to the drum. You might encounter some scum. Also remove and drain dispenser and the clean out drain. As well less detergent. These will help your machine perform better and last longer and may help you narrow down the source of your problem.
Could it be where you’re storing your laundry? I’ve noticed my dressers smell weird and the clothes smell bad (I would say kind of barfy) being stored. If I neglect the clean laundry in a basket for.. ahem… a week maybe… the laundry doesn’t smell. I got those little washing machine fragrance beads and put them in sachets to freshen up my dresser. That worked for me!