smelly washing machine

This thread has made me think; DH complained about 'a smell' near the back door this morning, I wonder if it is the washing machine, I was leaving the door open between washes to give it an airing.

Must check, then carry out any of the recommendations. I did do a wash cycle with a recommended crystal pack recently, but it could be the detergent drawer.

Thanks Gnetters!

This is the curse of the 40 degree wash... it's too cool and encourages mould. (Per the washer repair guy we use).

Take out the detergent tray and clean it, lots of black mould accumulates under that, so get a baby bottle brush and go into that area too on the machine. Pour boiling kettle of water down the hatch as well.

I run a 90 degree wash with a good dose of bleach and wash my old towels (used for the dog or spills, etc). I don't do this in an empty machine. I let it run a full two hour cycles, and then give the cycle a double-rinse.

Leave the door open after doing your wash loads, especially if you have an under the counter machine with a cosmetic cabinet door attached. It needs to dry out. Takes at least 2 hours. Never leave wash in a machine more than a few hours. Not overnight for sure.

All other suggestions above are great for maintaining a fresh machine especially to be sure the gasket think does not collect dirt/lint. I use liquid to avoid crusty build up.

We have 4 flats in our building we let to tenants and this washer problem is as bad as bathroom tile/tub/shower tray mould. (They never wipe the edges down and leave bottles of shampoo, conditioner, etc and that make is mouldy.

People need to remember to leave bathroom doors OPEN after finishing showering or bathing. Without windows, extractors do not remove enough of the humidity, and the fan vents get clogged with dust and it sticks to the moisture. So the vents are doing a lousy job as well.

Many single young people today are not particularly household handy with busy working lives. They are tidy enough, but will run a wash and leave it in there for two days. They then complain to me the washer is making their clothes stink...or they complain of the black mould around the tub/shower which just needs a wipe down. It's hard work going up there and ripping out the old silicone and putting in new because the mould has creeped in at the edges. Ugh.

Good luck... unless you machine is really old, you should be able to sort it. Lots of good ideas here.

My washing machine engineer said the best thing is every couple of months to run the machine empty on the hottest wash with the cheapest BIOLOGICAL powder. Has to be biological as that kills the bacteria that causes the smell.

My machine only smelt when I used non bio for a couple of months. As soon as I reverted to my normal bio stuff the smell disappeared.

Yes there wasn't bio powders and liquids in my mother's day, but the water was far far hotter then. I remember my first washing machine the normal wash temp was 50°, then it came down to 40°, now we are encouraged to wash at 30°. I don't remember smelly machines back then.

I had the identical problem, have used all different detergents and through a process of elimination I found the problem. It was a well known liquid detergent that has a conditioner in with it. Tried it a few times and each time the smell came back. Changed brand and now no problem at all

I occasionally have this problem too and agree that it seems to be caused by build up of liquid detergents and conditioner. I put the dispenser in the dishwasher about once a month and also leave the door ajar when not in use.

Try draining the water from the bottom drain outlet and clean black slime from all plastic parts and filter. That plus cleaning detergent and fabric softener drawer.
The design of washing machines means there are dark warm places where water just sits growing mould etc.
If the people who design them actually operated them this wouldn't happen!

Have had my own washing machine for a number of years, with no problem. Am now in a rented property, and the smell of my washed clothes is driving me mad. I've tried the vinegar and bicarbonate with no success. I'm now at the stage of soaking some things in the sink in kettle fills of boiled water with detergent and Dettol. I then put items in machine to rinse and spin. This works, but is a pain. Interestingly, my brother's machine does the same. Although the make name is different, the machines look the same. They have one button for on/off and one for stop/start - you have to press a different side of button for each function. Hate that. Not sure if the fact that these two machines are the same and have the same problem is significant.

The man from British Gas told me to run it on a hot was with two DISHWASHER tablets. It worked!

Have had same problems.i now use the 'tub clean' programme on my machine regularly as well as draining it & cleaning the trap. Alternate bio & non bio detergents too. Biggest help was not closing door (difficult with dogs & grandchildren about) but I now put a plastic clothes peg on the door catch after a wash so the door can't close completely & that does the trick.

I had the same problem last year - a friend said she had too but had stopped using a certain well-known brand of fabric conditioner (not sure I am allowed to mention it). So I switched to Waitrose Essentials Conditioner and the problem hasn't come back. It would have been the last thing I thought of but there you are!

Throw a couple of cups of white vinegar and a cup of bicarbonate in the drum and put on a boil wash I do this every couple of months also leave the door slightly open when not in use.

I do a 90degree wash about once a month using Ariel powder. The smell seems to get worse for a day or two afterwards then disappears. I also leave the door open when not in use. I do think manufacturers should make them easier to clean - impossible to get in all the nooks & crannies.

My washing machine is in the garage so I am able to leave the door wide open when not in use. So far, no smells.

Yes, I think the occasional very hot wash is a good idea too. Must give the white vinegar treatment a go next time I give the washer a good clean.Thanks for the tip.

I run white vinegar through mine frequently and this stops all build up of the blank gunk a round the dispenser and holder. I also no longer use soft rinse stuff on a regular basis as this I found was the real culprit in the gunk build up. I also wash my bedding and towels on the hottest wash and this is also said to be good for the machine.

Mine was really whiffy a few months ago. Tried several remedies then checked the underside of the powder dispenser plus the door seal. Both were encrusted in black gunk (technical term!) I gave it all a good clean and swabbed the seal with neat Milton. Touch wood, no more problems since.

Half a cup of white vinegar in the dispenser, run through on a hot cycle. Then a thorough clean of the rubber seal, also with the vinegar, should do the trick.

This happened with my washer some years ago. The fixer suggested that I do a few washes on a very hot cycle. It worked. Also he said to move from the liquid washing stuff I was using. It worked.

No further suggestions, but I always leave ours open when not in use.

I had the door seal replaced not so long ago as it was really manky, it seems to have deteriorated again but much more quickly this time. I've recently switched to liquid rather than powder so I'm wondering if that's the problem. But if so why, does anyone know?

Suey have you looked around the rubber flange at the door it often gets rubbish stuck in between the folds

If you are using a liquid detergent try switching to Ariel or similar powder. It worked for me and I was gong to buy a new machine because of the smell.

Maybe the filter is blocked causing the pong. There are people on YouTube who will show you how to do it.