Ewww my washing machine STINKS :(

Ladyhawk

have you taken out the little drawer and given it a good scrub?

basmic

By cleaning it with vinegar, you've probably just moved away some of the newer crud off the older - hence the bad smell!

You need to buy a bag of soda crystals (less than a pound from supermarkets, even cheaper from Wilkos, Boyes, etc) and pour half of the bag into your drawer, along with a small squirt of bleach. Put the washer on the hottest wash you've got - usually Cottons 90c - and use wash plus, intensive wash along with extra rinse, or aqua plus.

Don't forget a decent glug of vinegar in the fabric conditioner drawer!

The above will get rid of the worst crud in your washer. Aqua plus/extra rinse will help to make sure it is all washed away, while wash plus/intensive wash will make sure we can get rid of as much possible in one cycle.

When the machine has completed the cycle, remove the drawer and filter (if you have a removable filter it is nearly always on the bottom right at the front of the machine - just unscrew with a few towels at hand) and clean with hot water and vinegar. Before putting the drawer back in, scrub the inside of the drawer with hot water and a little bleach.

Put the machine on one quick rinse, and hopefully you'll have a fresh machine!

Kildare

basmic wrote: »

By cleaning it with vinegar, you've probably just moved away some of the newer crud off the older - hence the bad smell!

You need to buy a bag of soda crystals (less than a pound from supermarkets, even cheaper from Wilkos, Boyes, etc) and pour half of the bag into your drawer, along with a small squirt of bleach. Put the washer on the hottest wash you've got - usually Cottons 90c - and use wash plus, intensive wash along with extra rinse, or aqua plus.

Don't forget a decent glug of vinegar in the fabric conditioner drawer!

The above will get rid of the worst crud in your washer. Aqua plus/extra rinse will help to make sure it is all washed away, while wash plus/intensive wash will make sure we can get rid of as much possible in one cycle.

When the machine has completed the cycle, remove the drawer and filter (if you have a removable filter it is nearly always on the bottom right at the front of the machine - just unscrew with a few towels at hand) and clean with hot water and vinegar. Before putting the drawer back in, scrub the inside of the drawer with hot water and a little bleach.

Put the machine on one quick rinse, and hopefully you'll have a fresh machine!

Thanks Basmic - I have a similar problem with my machine so I'm going to give this a go. Do you know if this will also help to get black mould out of the tube which runs from the drawer to drum? I can see mould in there but I have no idea how to get it out and sometimes I find a few black flecks on the washing.

I also have mould in the top of the drawer compartment that I can't get out no matter how hard I scrub with a toothbrush!

Thanks!!!! (sorry if I'm hi-jacking the thread!! )

Pink.

Hi Lillibet,

Welcome to MSE This earlier thread has more ideas which may help:

Smelly Washing Machine!!!

I'll add your thread to that one later to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

Lillibet_Bucks

Thanks guys! The machine is on now with soda crystals and vinegar on 95 deg wash so we'll see what happens. Thanks for your advice.

Ben84

basmic wrote: »

Don't forget a decent glug of vinegar in the fabric conditioner drawer!

If you're using chlorine bleach I would not use the vinegar. There's a very good reason why most bottles of bleach remind you not to mix them with anything acidic.

The large quantities of soda crystals probably stopped the pH falling enough to let the chlorine out of solution as toxic gas, but otherwise the combination of bleach, high temperatures and acid sounds very bad. I wouldn't let undergrads make this stuff, let alone recommend it for home use. Aside from corroding you, chlorine gas will corrode your washing machine too.

carlsberggal

The washer man who came out to mend mine earlier this year said it's because we tend to use liquid washing stuff nowadays. He said to once a month or so put normal bio powder in on a hot wash for things such as towels and it will stop. I have to say I didn't believe him - but it worked! No more smelly washer

basmic

Kildare wrote: »

Thanks Basmic - I have a similar problem with my machine so I'm going to give this a go. Do you know if this will also help to get black mould out of the tube which runs from the drawer to drum? I can see mould in there but I have no idea how to get it out and sometimes I find a few black flecks on the washing.

I also have mould in the top of the drawer compartment that I can't get out no matter how hard I scrub with a toothbrush!

Thanks!!!! (sorry if I'm hi-jacking the thread!! )

All I can suggest is good old bleach - scrub with bleach and soda crystals diluted in fairly hot water.

Lillibet_Bucks wrote: »

Thanks guys! The machine is on now with soda crystals and vinegar on 95 deg wash so we'll see what happens. Thanks for your advice.

Let us know how it goes. I wouldn't be too surprised if you need a final run with the remaining soda crystals and some vinegar.

Ben84 wrote: »

If you're using chlorine bleach I would not use the vinegar. There's a very good reason why most bottles of bleach remind you not to mix them with anything acidic.

The large quantities of soda crystals probably stopped the pH falling enough to let the chlorine out of solution as toxic gas, but otherwise the combination of bleach, high temperatures and acid sounds very bad. I wouldn't let undergrads make this stuff, let alone recommend it for home use. Aside from corroding you, chlorine gas will corrode your washing machine too.

By the time the machine has rinsed out the water from the main wash, and uses the vinegar from the conditioner drawer (always the last rinse before the final spin), that won't make any difference. My own machine has about 3 total rinses on a cottons wash, the third and final using the contents of the conditioner section.

Selecting extra rinse/aqua plus will ensure a more than thorough rinsing out of the bleach/soda crystals mixture.

carlsberggal wrote: »

The washer man who came out to mend mine earlier this year said it's because we tend to use liquid washing stuff nowadays. He said to once a month or so put normal bio powder in on a hot wash for things such as towels and it will stop. I have to say I didn't believe him - but it worked! No more smelly washer

That's a good maintainance wash, with a little soda crystals mixed in.

I personally, on a monthly basis, use an Ariel tablet with a small scoop of soda crystals, and put the machine on a normal Cottons 90c wash with no load.

harvestmoon

Hi all,
Got a musty smelling machine and know it's not the pipework.
Musty smell in machine.
Have cleaned the liquid/fab con tray and underneath.
Do you keep the door open or shut when the machine is not in use in order to prevent a musty smell?
Many thanks.

redruby

I leave the door and drawer open for an hour or so after each wash has finished, also occasionaly take the drawer out and soak it for an hour, then run it through the dishwasher. Also every now and then, I put the empty wm on a hot wash with a dash of bleach.

hth