Mum's laundry smelt vile after three washes – then she found stomach-churning reason

Leah Pickard, 42, was left horrified after she discovered the reason why her laundry was still smelly after she had washed her clothes three times - and it's bound to make you feel a bit sick

There's nothing quite like the scent of freshly washed clothes.

However, one mum's recent laundry experience left social media users feeling nauseous. Leah Pickard, a stay-at-home mum who lives with her husband Scott and their three children - Caden, 10, Colette, seven and Sebastian, four - shocked people when she revealed the unsettling reason why her clothes still stank after being washed three times.

The 42-year-old, who manages the household and does several loads of washing daily to keep things tidy, noticed a few weeks ago that the clothes had an odd smell despite being washed multiple times.

She later posted a video on social media detailing her ordeal, which quickly went viral, racking up over 4.1 million views. The cause of the unpleasant odour was rather unexpected.

"It was a mouse," Leah revealed to What's The Jam. "Never in a million years did I think there would be a dead animal in my washing machine. We've never had a single mouse in our home since we moved here eight years ago.

"So I definitely wasn't expecting that to be the cause of the smell. When I got to the bottom of the load and saw the poor guy, I screamed.

"My four-year-old ran out of the room gagging and I was standing there wondering... how did that even get in there? I debated burning the laundry room down but opted for picking up the mouse with a plastic bag.

"Then I ran the machine on to sanitize several times, with all the bleach, said a prayer, and posted the video for my friends to appreciate the randomness of my life."

She is now afraid to look at her washing machine after the incident. The video shows the lifeless mouse in the corner of the washing machine, surrounded by freshly washed clothes.

Leah jokingly declares "hmm freshly washed mouse" at the end of the clip. In the caption, she added: "I washed this load three times and the smell just wouldn't come out. Please excuse me while I burn my laundry room to the ground and pray Bosch gives me a new washer."

The video has gained over 70,000 likes, and many people have commented on it. One said: "This happened to me, I even dried him, he was half-burnt."

Another person joked: "Pov: Stuart didn't make it in the washing machine." A third person replied: "Nah this would've made me cry for days." Meanwhile, a fourth person commented: "NOOOOOOO. I think I'd throw the entire washing machine away. And maybe all my laundry. Oh, and the house too."