Smelly washing machine

[Jasoncmor]

Hi all

The house we are renting came with a washing machine, it's quite old I'd say, and we are having a few smelly issues with it.

Firstly, sometimes there is a damp smell on the clothes when we take them out, I think it's due to the door seal as it's got black marks / mold around it, I've cleaned it the best I can but I think I'm gonna just buy a new door seal and fit it.

But main issue is sometimes there is some really strong odors coming from the machine like rotten eggs. I've tried doing blank washes, I've tried baking soda and vinegar but it doesn't seem to have done much. It doesn't happen every run, but every few runs it stinks.

Does anyone have any advice on what to look for, ways to clean it to prevent it from smelling?

Cheers

 

[Hedge]

You cleaned drain filters aswell? I know my Samsung machine has one

 

[Jasoncmor]

You cleaned drain filters aswell? I know my Samsung machine has one

I haven't no, is that the screw thing on the front of the machine?
If so I can't unscrew it for some reason

 

[Thekwango]

Do you leave the door open between washes? We had an old machine that I can only assume didn’t drain properly, if you closed the door and there was a couple of days or more between washes it absolutely stank and the clothes often had a damp smell of coming out. I assume the water was stagnating, though I always thought it took much longer that than for standing water to turn. Anyways leaving the door open between washes sorted it out.

 

[Semple]

Mould in washing machines is very hard to remove. Ours in rented accommodation is a nightmare.

Check your detergent drawer. Ours leaves a bit of water in the bottom, and over it's many years of use before us, it built up a lot of mould. Also with an old toothbrush scrub the roof and sides of the enclosure for the detergent drawer.

Sounds like you've already done the door seals, but scrub at those until there's no more dirt coming off it. And do the same with the filters.

Then either get some white vinegar or washing machine cleaner and stick it on a full 90C wash.

Between washes keep the drawer and door slightly open to allow it to dry.

 

[BigBoy]

I'm sure @OldCoals will agree with me on this one. Half a cup of bleach poured straight into the drum 95 degree wash once a month and it will be happy again.

 

[thenewoc]

I wonder if the waste pipe is installed properly so that water isn't flowing back and sitting at the lowest point. I've encountered this in the past with a dish washer and that eggy smell is enough to make anyone gag.

 

[azazl187]

First clean the filter.

Wipe the rubber seal on the inside of the machine in the opening. Get right in the gap with kitchen roll.

Then select the hottest wash it can do and select extra rinse options if you have them.
Pour bleach into the drum as well as the detergent tray, don't be afraid to use a lot and then set the wash going. You may have to repeat this another time to get rid if the smell.

Quite often people over fill washing machines with detergent/conditioner and it creates soap suds that build up in the filter, drum, pipes and tray. White vinegar is also a decent option to get rid of these.

In future leave the tray slightly open as well as the main door at all times. This will ensure water evaporates quickly and stops mould or smells building up. Good luck.

 

[Mark A]

Thats a great tip to leave the tray open, I never even gave that a thought. I have been leaving the door open on my new machine and will now start leaving the drawer open for a bit as well.

 

[jpaul]

I wonder if the waste pipe is installed properly so that water isn't flowing back and sitting at the lowest point.

agree, but I would like to see a picture of the ideal/correct install though, we have a double bowl sink and the washing machine connects into the horizontal waste tube between them, the washing machine exit tube then follows a path where it rises 4-5" before passing through cupboard and then descends to base of machine, looping back to machine exit about 2/3rds up the machine ..
so the possibility of back flow/syhphoning is difficult to avoid. ..i'll have to post a picture


Never use liquid detergnents either, these are renown for coating internal detergent pathways

 

[an0nym0us]

Thats a great tip to leave the tray open, I never even gave that a thought. I have been leaving the door open on my new machine and will now start leaving the drawer open for a bit as well.

The room my washing machine resides in is extremely humid. Not only do we have to leave the washing mashine door and tray open when not in use, we also wipe away the pooled water from areas such as the door seal.

 

[pinkpound]

We had a 11 year old Miele till recently and the last 2-3 years it started to smell even tho it was used least once a day and I cleaned filters and tray etc . I rang Miele as it was still in warranty at the time and was advised to use a biological powder for white clothing (not liquid but powder due to whitening compounds in the detergent ) a 60c + (95c if really bad)wash once a month. Due to most washing now done @ 30-40c temps it does not get high enough to clean the machine of detergent residues .

It worked at the time and now I keep a small box of powder , We now have a Miele which has a maintenance program I run once a month with powder in

 

[darael]

The smell will be caused by bacteria and will probably need a few boil washes before it starts to goes away. The only thing I'll say about bleach is that I used too much once and it came out the drawer. It honestly didn't seem like a lot when I was squirting the bleach in (not even half a cup), but it still gave the floor around the washer a little clean for me. So just use a small squirt on the hottest wash you can.

I used Persil gems last year and they didn't dissolve properly and stuck on the glass and rubber - so probably everywhere else in the drum too. But I noticed my washing machine started to smell after using them and it took about 4 boil washes before I was happy the smell was almost gone. Even a repairman for my washing machine remarked how well I kept the drawer and rubber, considering the age of my machine. So I think biological powder and the odd empty boilwash with citric acid or washing machine cleaner played a part in this.

 

[Jasoncmor]

Cheers for all your replies guys.
I will try the things suggested here

Also the door we sometimes close and sometimes it's just left a jar, I'll try make sure it's left open more often now.

Cheers all

 

[jpaul]

so that's the hook in I have for washing machine (left)
that, then dips down, before rising back to wash machines entry point.
this definitely causes some back flow of sink waste into washing machine tube, that gets pushed out(smells in sink) when machine is used. ...
need a one way 'valve' ???

 

[Jasoncmor]

I will take a look at how ours is plumbed in too.

 

[Jasoncmor]

I took a look tonight, I finally got the filter out, took brute force to get out, think it was because there was 20p behind it lol, but there was minimal crud behind it. gave it a wipe and rinse by pouring hot water into the drum, had a closer look at the mould, and apart from the mould on the door seal, the rim of the drum which you need to move the seal out the way to see, was also covered in a layer of sludge.
Checked out the plumbing, and I think ours is worse than whats pictured above, I don't think the drain hose is high enough and in a good enough position to prevent dirty water going back in from the sink, and dishwasher.

Cheers

 

[Ice Tea]

Are there any Washer Dryer Combos that completely dry out the machine?

 

[Geodude97AD]

Long boil wash with a load of bleach and empty, then another with nothing to rinse it out and fix the piping.

 

[jpaul]

so that's the hook in I have for washing machine (left)
that, then dips down, before rising back to wash machines entry point.
this definitely causes some back flow of sink waste into washing machine tube, that gets pushed out(smells in sink) when machine is used. ...
need a one way 'valve' ???

no comments by anyone else on whether they find this washing machine connection good ? to avoid sink feedback