Sour smelling washing machine

I use white vinegar instead of fabric conditioner and it leaves everything fresh no vinegar smell , can't abide the Lenor smell

I bought several bales of egyptian cotton towels from a TVshopping channel. The guy selling said to never use fabr5uc softener when washing them because in time they will go hard. Nine years later they are still soft and fluffy. I never use softener with tea towels either so they are also more absorbent.

Oh yes NAN, what a good tip.
I am definitely going to try the Shower Cleaner Spray.
We certainly live and learn on Gransnet.

I had the same problem for months . I swapped to powder instead of liquid and the smell disappeared in a couple of washes .

I do a hot wash with soda every couple of weeks, and after every washing session, I remove and clean the powder dispenser and spray inside the machine and water inlets with that daily shower spray. It works a treat - no black mould and no nasty niffs!

I live in a hard water area......
I add 1 tablespoon of fine soda crystals to the detergent, and white vinegar in place of conditioner.
Hence a sweet smelling washing machine.

If you carefully pull out the soap powder dispersing tray there is a little tab to push down so you can remove the whole draw. A lot of muck can build-up in there.

I always use fabric conditioner with towels because I hate hard, rough towels and it has never reduced the absorbency. I always leave the door of my washing machine open overnight, but not in the daytime as it would get in the way. I put the detergent drawer in my dishwasher to keep it clean as it gets all gungy and mildewy otherwise. I have had a lot of problems with my washing machine. It had a vile drainy, stagnant water smell. I undid the filter to check it, which is a total pain in the bum because I have to take the plinth off that runs along the bottom of the kitchen units. The filter is so low down that it's difficult to get anything more than about 2 inches in depth under it. When I checked the filter it had just a few small bits of fluff in it, but when I looked inside behind the filter there were two Colour Catcher sheets in there which smelled absolutely foul! Couldn't believe they had got through to the filter part of the machine. So now I always put the Colour Catcher sheets inside a small zip up laundry bag to stop this happening.

Thanks again everyone. My machine has had a second clean through, this time with the soda crystals in the drum nd vinegar in the dispenser - no pre-wash.

All is good and sweet smelling

I have just spent 8 months in a rental property. The washing smelled horribly sour, particularly dark clothing. It drove me mad. I tried most of the suggestions on last thread, to no avail. I'm so pleased to have my own machine again. Two relatives had the same problem. It was so bad, that they couldn't wear some of their clothes.

I also use soda crystals and have never had a problem with bad smells but I do leave my door ajar when not in use.

I use detergent pods, wash at 40c & never use conditioner (luckily our water is quite soft).

Towels should never be washed when you're adding conditioner, if you want fluffy towels a quick "blast" in the tumble dryer will make them soft & fluffy.

I always leave the door of my washing machine open & don't have any problems. I can see this would be a problem with a built in machine.

White vinegar and bi carb sorts everything.

I use liquid as I feel it's better for my excema. I've only had a smell when my last machine was dying. Some posters have mentioned using soda. Soda is a great cleaner but don't use it in your dishwasher. My son put it in mine by mistake instead of dishwasher salt. It was a nightmare to sort out.

WASH cycle - sorry!

The man from British Gas said don't put the machine cleaner into the empty washing machine (as per the instructions) as it just sinks straight through. Begin the was cycle and THEN add it. Worked for me!

If the machine has a 'drain' function, use it after each wash.

I agree Sparkyju, washing at 30 degrees will not kill germs and if you use this temperature all the time for only thirty minute washes it is not surprising that Coolgran has a problem. IMO 30 degrees is no better than giving clothes a quick rinse under the cold tap.

Washing all the time at 30 with liquid doesn't keep the washing machine clean or kill the germs/bacteria which multiply to cause the smell. I found when I started washing at 30 my washing machine started to smell. Now I wash towels at 60 without fabric conditioner and don't have any problems.

If you wash towels with fabric conditioner it reduces the absorbency over time.

This happened to me, i thought it was time to replace the washer, but I stopped using liquid detergents and went back to powder and the smell vanished.
Apparently, though liquid is more convenient and maybe smells nice, it is really bad for the machine.

What AuntieFlo said. There have been a number of previous posts about this problem with liquid detergents I would leave them well alone.

I also had the problem with the smell till I saw the last thread and changed from the liquid tabs back to powder I haven't had a problem since

Yes, soda crystals do the job and a multitude of other things. Instructions on the back of the pack or look at their website www.dri-pak.co.uk

I very rarely wash anything above 50c. It takes ages to do a full cycle otherwise.

Also, I always leave my washing machine door open to let it dry of inside.

It needs air to circulate around the drum. Never ever had a bad smell.

I have heard that fabric conditioner ruins the pipes. What else can we use to keep our clothes fresh and soft. Towels especially can be very stiff without conditioner,

Mawbroon I was wondering that too ?