I would not store sweaters in plastic bins in a basement. I store wool blankets, down bedding and anything else that's bulky in space bags that are vacuumed sealed with a vacuum cleaner. They are air tight, dust and bug free. Then I think you can put them in the basement if you wish. I have finally pared down our wardrobe requirements and reorganized our closets so that I can store seasonal sweaters and pants in plastic bins on shelves in our closet, and rotate summer clothes into the same bins during the winter. My husband's blazers and dress pants I store in hanging space bags in the closet year round because he uses them so rarely, but they're clean and handy when needed. It's amazing, but the space bags don't wrinkle or crush and when opened, everything comes back to it's original state. Please don't store anything in plastic bins in the basement or attic unless you vacuum seal them (taking the air out).

If you've put the shirt into the dryer, you may not be able to get it out now. If you haven't put it into the dryer, I can think of two things which kill mold and mildew: liquid chlorine bleach and Lysol concentrate (not household cleaner) which comes in a small brown bottle. If the fabric cannot be bleached, I would recommend using the Lysol concentrate. I'm posting a link which shows what it looks like. Hope this helps. Here is a link that might be useful: Lysol concentrate

Thank you for this post! I couldn't figure out why my clothes smellled like butane . I wasn't sure if my dryer was going bad, if the dryer ventilation was clogged (even though my ventilation dryer pipes were recently installed) or if I had a gas leak. We can't live without a dryer and yet, I was mostly concerned with safety. After reading this post, I realized that my floors were sanded and stained the day (and day after) I ran my dryer. I would have never attributed that terrible smell to the floor chemicals seeping into my dryer without these posts! Its been a few days now and clothes are drying and smelling great. Hope the butane smell washes out of those 2 chemical loads.

Have you tried hand washing any of the items just to see if it comes out easily? As Donna said it could be blue detergent poured on clothes and not enough water used on cycle...did you check inside washer for a crayon, pen or anything left in there? Are you washing anything consistantly that could be bleeding? How about fabric softener. ..is it being dispensed directly onto clothes?