Why is it that when I wash clothes in my washing machine, I smell SULPHUR?

I’d say there’s a good chance your washing machine is sitting on a Hellmouth.

What’s a Hellmouth?

Do you live in Florida?

A Hellmouth is a convergence of mystical energy filled with uber-vampires that are very hard to kill as their hearts are encased in bone. There are only two known locations of Hellmouths: Sunnydale, California and Cleveland, Ohio.

(I don’t know why your washing machine smells like sulfur)

How’s your water? My great-grandmother’s water just kind of smells sulfur-y. I want to say it indicates hard water (might be soft though). Anyway, if it is the water, it’s not an issue.

I live in Massachusetts. It’s a fairly new Energy Efficient HE washer, in a room with new plumbing by a master plumber. Started recently, wasn’t always, but clothes do NOT smell. Just the air when in use.

I live in Florida and mine smells like that. Why? The clothes don’t stink but the laundry room reeks.

My mouth tastes like I lit a match, blew it out, and quickly sucked in the smoke. But the clothes are fine…. Strange indeed.

When I lived in Florida (St Augustine), that was common. Especially when the water table dropped during the dry years, and the surface water, which has lots of sulfur in it, seemed to get into the city water. It didn’t appear to be harmful, and plants love it, but surely smells bad! (rotten egg smell). The hydrogen sufide evaporates into the air fairly fast and the scent doesn’t stay on clothing.
http://www.mrwa.com/watersmellrotteneggs.htm

If it is your water, the smell should be noticeable at all water sources. Since this doesn’t appear to be the case, it could be a problem with the drainage from the washing machine:
Did the plumber install a proper trap (that prevents sewer gases from coming into the house?

It does not appear to be the water. I don’t smell it anywhere or anytime else. The plumbing was done professionally. The laundry is in a room in a new addition, and everything is fairly new.
So perhaps I should call the plumber and make certain the traps are set up properly.

The fact that a professional did the plumbing isn’t a guarantee. I would call the plumber back and ask him why the smell occurs.

I’m going with the trap as well, as it drains into the sewer (an excellent source of hydrgen sulfide and methane). A quick fix would be self-installing a waste-trap, if you feel handy.
Tutorial link: http://www.plumbingpages.com/featurepages/helwashtrap.cfm

The link also discusses the odor problem.

Yep, trap.