Clothes Washer Smells Terribly of Mold/Mildew

[Anonymous]

My clothes washer has a strong smell of mold/mildew. I have run the self-clean cycle on it and left the door open overnight and it smelled ok, but then washed something in it (which did smell ok) and once it was wet it smelled again. I ran the self clean cycle again with about a cup of bleach poured into the drum, and when I opened it, it still smelled like mold. Running it now with about two cups of vinegar, but given that the bleach didn't work, I'm concerned.

Is there something else I can do? I've googled it, but the internet is really just telling me to run it with bleach or vinegar. FWIW, what I washed in there was sheets, and they smell fine. But I don't want to put anything else in there with it smelling like this.

We just moved into this house and this was my first time trying to use it. Do I just need a new washer? I don't want to deal with that hassle if I don't have to. The folks who sold the house to us were getting up there in age, and I think they were a bit overwhelmed and couldn't keep up with home maintenance.

[Anonymous]

Buy some washing machine cleaner powder and run that. You need to do that once a week or so until the smell is better.
If it's a front loader, you need to wipe out the gasket after each use.

However, I don't think the musty smell is particularly harmful or anything to worry about. If your clothes look clean and smell clean, then they are clean.

[Anonymous]

Run a hot chlorine bleach wash once a week. I have white towels I use specifically for this. At first, you may need to do several consecutive loads to get rid of the smell then once a week for maintenance.

[Anonymous]

Are you leaving the door open? I have a front loader, and I make sure the door is *always* open, particularly after its been used. Same for the detergent compartment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Run a hot chlorine bleach wash once a week. I have white towels I use specifically for this. At first, you may need to do several consecutive loads to get rid of the smell then once a week for maintenance.

This is what I do. It really helps. Much better and cheaper than affresh. I only use about a 1/4 cup though. Make sure it's real bleach not spashless or whatever the fake bleach is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you leaving the door open? I have a front loader, and I make sure the door is *always* open, particularly after its been used. Same for the detergent compartment.

Like I said in my OP, we just moved in. I think the people who lived here before did not leave the door open, and it is a front loader. I know to leave the door open, but I'm trying to fix a problem that occurred before I got here.

[Anonymous]

Try this in the gasket around the opening of the washer. I got frustrated with our front-loader for this reason, but didn’t know about this product.

https://a.co/d/eusJ54N

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try this in the gasket around the opening of the washer. I got frustrated with our front-loader for this reason, but didn’t know about this product.

https://a.co/d/eusJ54N

Thank you! I know for sure that the gasket is smelling and has mold on it!

[Anonymous]

If you have a front load machine this is a problem. It’s
The gaskets that get moldy and smell. We finally got rid of the one in a house we bought (no wonder they left it for us) and replaced it with a top load. Say what you will about a top load I couldn’t take the smell of the other

[Anonymous]

After you clean the gasket, leave the door and the detergent drawer open whenever not in use. Do this, and you'll have no problem with your front loader

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you leaving the door open? I have a front loader, and I make sure the door is *always* open, particularly after its been used. Same for the detergent compartment.

Like I said in my OP, we just moved in. I think the people who lived here before did not leave the door open, and it is a front loader. I know to leave the door open, but I'm trying to fix a problem that occurred before I got here.

There's the problem.

Those are mold factories, especially since they don't use enough water to rinse well and also require liquid detergents, which are notorious about developing mold in them while sitting on the store shelves. Once a detergent is made liquid, it starts to decompose and grow bacteria and molds.

If you want to keep the front load washer, you must clean with diluted bleach water ALL AROUND the front door gasket. You will find tons of mold hiding in the folds. Scrub it, bleach it, rinse it.

Once it's clean, keep the door open always when not in use, and wipe off around behind the rubber gasket after each use.

[Anonymous]

We moved into a rental and had a similar issue. It took me some Google searching and poking around before I realized there was a filter that hadn’t been cleaned in age. I found several dollars worth of change in there and other crap that was stinky and gross.

[Anonymous]

You know you need to drain your front loader, right? There's a little tube behind the small front lower panel to drain the excess water. Watch a YouTube video

[Anonymous]

There are companies who will come and clean the whole machine for you so it’s good as new - I did this for a tenant who said the washer smelled like the previous tenants’ dogs. Cost about $150 when I did it. https://www.searshomeservices.com/

[Anonymous]

Washing machine powder is just oxiclean mixed with washing soda.

The problem is probably between the drum and the sides of the washer. I went through this and it was so annoying. But many (like 8) cycles with washing soda eventually “scrubbed” well enough in that space that I didn’t have to take it all the way apart. Do disassemble anything relatively easy (in my top loader it was the base plate).