Mouldy Smell in washer

[AndyL]

G'day all,

Wondering if someone can point me in a direction...

Clothes washer (kenmore stacked high efficiency) has this mouldy smell we can't seem to get rid of, results in mouldy smelling clothes and is really starting to bug me (driving the darling wife up the wall).

Tried running empty cycles with 2-3 cups of CLR then again with the same of bleach, Then again with a cup of TSP... Smell remains...

Kinda stumped, how the heck do we eliminate the smell of mould???

[GQBalla]

there is some HE cleaner tabs you can buy.

what i find the resolves the solution is leaving the washer door open when not in use.

if its that bad, you may have to service it

[maz3]

I had the same issue with my washer and dryer. As GQBalla mentioned, leaving the door open seems to help but also what I do is clean the rubber lining where the door closes with some water and vinegar and that seems to rid the smell. Also, make sure you get rid of the lint that builds up in the fold of the rubber, I'm thinking that's the case since it's wet lint that just sits down there.

[Cos]

I bought some tide cleaner seemed to work great.

[lint]

1) make sure you're using HE detergent and not using too much
2) leave the door open after a wash
3) mop up any sitting water in the door seal
4) get some of this http://www.smellywasher.com/ It works

[Dilmah]

This seem funny to me, you need to wash the washing wachine? What's next, drying the dryer before you use it! This is one of the reasons to stay away from the front loading washers, sure they look nice but...

[kaput]

.

[Cos]

actually using too much detergent is exactly why we had to wash it. Now I use about 2/3 of what is suggested on the bottle and no more problems.

[codetrap]

Originally posted by Dilmah
This seem funny to me, you need to wash the washing wachine? What's next, drying the dryer before you use it! This is one of the reasons to stay away from the front loading washers, sure they look nice but...

Yeah. Funny. Same as cleaning the foam brush at the wash bay before you use it. Or cleaning a shower stall, or bathtub. Dork.

Anyways, it's a known issue with the front loads that water sits in the seal folds, and eventually it grows some sort of blackish moldy type stuff in it. Cleaning it out with Fantastic with bleach takes about 30 seconds, and solves the problem. Then just run the machine rinse once empty to make sure you get all the bleach out, and leave the door open to dry after each load. I found that I only have to clean it once every 6 months.

You also want to look into taking out the soap tray and scrubbing it clean too, since I found that the liquid soaps seem to build up over time, and black stuff starts to grow on that too.

Like I said, this is normal, and falls under standard care for your HE front load washer.

http://housewares.about.com/od/laundryappliances/qt/preventingmold.htm

[sputnik]

Just leave the washer door open when you aren't using it.

[nickyh]

Leave door open when done to air dry and keep open.
Pull back rubber boot and clean out

To get rid of the smell: i use a tablespoon of Arm & Hammer baking soda with the hot wash items.
Smell gone.

No need to buy additional "Refresh" tabs or use bleach.

[masoncgy]

I've been through this a couple of times...

First, give the inner washer lid, rubber linings, top of the tub, basically every little crevace around the top of the inside of the washer with hot water and vinegar...

... then fill the washer with HOT water, dump in 2 cups of white vinegar and let it go through an entire cycle on HOT.

It will clean it all up and get rid of the smell... then just make sure you leave the lid open when you are not using it.