I meant to also add Oxi-clean and Borax to my list of things I've tried and forgot when I posted (couldn't figure out if/how to edit it, if it matters).

I use either splash of vinegar or lemon juice in the final rinse.The lemon juice should help brighten up the laundry.Your stale smell could be result of not properly rinsed laundry. Try wash each of your next load twice ,once w/extra detergent,second without.Even add extra rinse to it.Use the hottest setting you can.
I only use hot and sanitary and always extra rinse and our laundry smells nice.I had problem in past w/smelly laundry and found out it was my bf laundry.He has dermatitis and uses medicated lotions and it didn't get washed out properly. Hot water and the extra rinse took care of it. I only use Persil now.

Have you cleaned your washing machine recently / at all? If not, I'd try Affresh, SmellyWasher (Google for it), Lemishine MC3 or, the least expensive alternative -- Cascade Complete All-In-One Action Pacs which contain both bleach and phosphates IIRC.

Try running one or more treatments with ONE of the above products - hottest water setting, no clothes, longest cycle and see if that makes the next load come out smelling any better.

Also, on that next load, try using 1/2 the amount of detergent you've been using and see if that helps too.

Good luck!

Maybe also try a scent free detergent after doing a clean washer cycle with bleach or affresh or one of the others suggested by mysteryclock. I'm liking the cascade all in one pacs. ...athough I got the Elecrasol variety cheaper.

When you guys use the d/w all-in-one pacs, where do you put them? In the detergent dispenser, or in the tub itself?

For the tabs, I toss 'em in the drum before I start the hottest cycle. They bang around for a minute or two until they dissolve. If you were using just box powder, I would think the dispenser would be fine as long as it does a full fill through it.

There were quite a few threads earlier that discussed both smelly front loaders and stale smelling laundry. I followed the advice of several posters and stopped using liquid detergent and also started leaving my washer door open. The problem disappeared completely. BTW, lemon juice, vinegar and smelly washer didn't do a thing to help my problem nor did cascade or bleach. I tried all of these running the machine on the sanitary cycle numerous times, even adding additional amounts of boiling water. Powdered detergent and leaving the door open are the only things that worked.