Ewww my washing machine STINKS :(

jintyb

I use A$da sp bio powder in the powder dispenser AND vinegar in the fabric conditioner section. I usually wash towels at the same time on a hot wash so the machine isnt running on empty. I store my vinegar in an old fabric conditioner bottle so I use a capful or two in my wash. WHITE vinegar only though! I do this every 4-6 weeks.

I agree with the other posters re the drying of the machine - that helps a lot!

Hope this helps!

soba

My washing's been terrible lately. If I don't take it out of the washer as soon as it's finished it smells horrible, but the washing machine doesn't smell at all. I sometimes wash towels on 90 degrees so I thought that would get rid of any bacteria in the machine and I always use vinegar in the rinse so thought that would help as well.

I mentioned it to my neighbour and she uses something called Service-it in her washer. Got a bottle of it from Asda last night, about £2 I think and its in the washer now. You have to put a bit on a cloth and wipe around the door seal, then put some in a bowl of water and soak the dispenser part of the washer in it for 30 minutes, then tip the rest in the washer and do a 60 degree wash. It's on now so I don't know what the results will be like. Can tell you that it's really strongly perfumed, and for someone who doesn't like strong smells (and uses unscented soaps and washing powder) it's a bit overpowering. But if it sorts out the problem it'll be worth it.

vodkachick68

I also have this problem. I use soda crystals on a 90 degree cotton wash. This seems to work for me,no smelly machine!! I do this once every couple of weeks. Also leaving the door wide open inbetween washes to air the drum,and wiping around the rubber door seal helps.

grimerking

I got a washing machine from Freecycle. It was old and very smelly.

I did quite a bit of research and the smell is caused by a sludgy build up of washing powder, fat, limescale and mould.

I found this to work:

1) Boil wash with 1/3 of a bag of soda crystals. The soda crstals soften the water and allow it to dissolve more washing powder. This will help break down the sludge

2) Boil wash with a full bottle of cheap vinegar (e.g. tesco value for 13p) emptied into the bottom of the drum before starting the wash. This will break down the limescale and reduce the sludge. The acid will also kill off the mould.

You will probably find that things get worse before they get better. As the large chunks of sludge fall apart, they will release a nasty mould smell. Don't be put off and keep repeating these washes until the smell is completely gone.

Mine took about 6 boil washes to fix completely (3 x soda and 3 x vinegar).

larmy16

I use a full bottle of the cheap vinegar (brown) on a hot wash once a month on both my washing machine and dishwasher. Neither of them smell so it must help?

Dustykitten

Just remembered that cleaning the filter can help with the smell (being a flylady I try to do this once a month along with washing out the drawer).

morganlefay

Thanks everyone - it seems from the replies on here that more people use vinegar than soda - and as I've always been a bit scared of soda (don't know why...perhaps it dates from the days when I used to strip pine furniture things with caustic soda, which I know is not the same at all) perhaps I'll stick with vinegar for now. And I haven't been wiping out the seal, so I bustled off and did it, and oh dear there was lots gungy grey stuff, so that's a lot better now. Many thanks.

soba

soba wrote: »

My washing's been terrible lately. If I don't take it out of the washer as soon as it's finished it smells horrible, but the washing machine doesn't smell at all. I sometimes wash towels on 90 degrees so I thought that would get rid of any bacteria in the machine and I always use vinegar in the rinse so thought that would help as well.

I mentioned it to my neighbour and she uses something called Service-it in her washer. Got a bottle of it from Asda last night, about £2 I think and its in the washer now. You have to put a bit on a cloth and wipe around the door seal, then put some in a bowl of water and soak the dispenser part of the washer in it for 30 minutes, then tip the rest in the washer and do a 60 degree wash. It's on now so I don't know what the results will be like. Can tell you that it's really strongly perfumed, and for someone who doesn't like strong smells (and uses unscented soaps and washing powder) it's a bit overpowering. But if it sorts out the problem it'll be worth it.

Well, so far, so good. Washing machine smells fine and I forgot I left a load in overnight that had finished washing and the clothes smell fine also. The overpowering perfume smell from the product has almost disappeared so that's good. Hopefully that's an end to the problem and I'll maintain my washer with vinegar and soda crystals and 90 degree washes as usual.

motherkitty

I really need to do this as my machine is quite smelly and there is quite a lot of black stuff that has built up around the seal. Have tried spraying with diluted Stardrops and wiping over but it really didn't make much difference. Will running the machine on a hot wash with vinegar or soda or bleach sort this out or is there anything else I should do? (Or do I just need to get a new seal ).
Also I'm a bit worried about using bleach in the machine - won't this rot the seal?

larmy16

A friend of mine had a repair man from Miele round to repair her washing machine. He advised washing soda on the boil wash. So that is probably the top advice you can get?

I get on fine with the vinegar but my washing machine is only a couple of years old.