A true story
From a Navy submarine tender to your laundry room
Smelly Washer wasn't cooked up in a marketing meeting. It was invented by Paul Flynn — a Navy veteran turned appliance repairman — who recognized that a trick from his days at sea could solve a problem millions of washing machines were about to have.
How it happened
The whole saga
US Navy
It started on a submarine tender
Aboard the USS Holland (AS-32), a submarine repair ship, founder Paul Flynn watched technicians use a simple citrus-based cleaner to keep metal equipment spotless during Field Day maintenance. That trick stuck with him.
Sept 2001
A layoff becomes a new trade
After being laid off in September 2001, Paul retrained as an appliance repair technician, servicing washers for A&E Factory Service — the national repair arm for Whirlpool and Sears.
Early 2000s
The HE washer smell epidemic
New EPA-mandated high-efficiency washers used less water — and started growing mold and odor that no cleaning cycle could fix. Customers were tearing machines apart. Paul adapted the Navy citrus formula, and it dissolved the hidden residue better than disassembly did.
smellywasher.com
Repair-truck bottles go online
Paul handed bottles to repair customers, and word spread fast. Smelly Washer Inc. was born, and smellywasher.com brought the fix to stinky laundry rooms everywhere.
2009
Ace Hardware comes calling
Ace Hardware added Smelly Washer to its stores nationwide — where it became the best profit-making product in the Ace laundry division for the next two years.
2016
Award-winning freshness
The line grew to include Smelly Towel Cleaner and dishwasher cleaning, racking up thousands of five-star reviews on Amazon. Smelly Towel Cleaner won the 2016 NCW Eco-Excellence Award for sports clothes cleaning.
Today
Still family, still fresh
Smelly Washer is still a small American family business. Call or text and you'll get a real person who knows washers inside and out — and genuinely wants your laundry room to smell like nothing at all.
Award-winning, planet-friendly
Smelly Towel Cleaner took home the 2016 NCW Eco-Excellence Award for sports clothes cleaning — recognition that an all-natural formula can out-clean the harsh stuff.
Twenty years later, it's still a family business
Text or call and you'll reach a real person who knows washers inside and out. That's been the Smelly Washer way since the first bottle left the repair truck.