Unpleasant smell when washing machine starts and clears the drain pipe.

Soldato
Joined
24 Oct 2005
Posts
16,399
Location
North East
Anyone else ever get a strange whiff when u start a washing machine where its connected to sinks pipes for drainage, when the washer starts it gargles some water i presume through the drain pipe and it makes a very unpleasant smell come i think from the overflow hole in the sink. Tried putting some domestos through the overflow hole but dont think it helps. Any ideas?
 
have you cleaned the filter in the washer?

Mine has this blue flap you lift in the barrel , hand turn it until you see the filter (with the flap up). Pull that out and it'll be minging, give that a wash (then put it back) then run an empty hot (90c) wash with a cap of bleach in the washer barrel.
 
I had a similar problem In my downstairs toilet.
Funky smell, if I ran the water slow to medium flow, I could hear gurgling.
Fast flow the water used to back up in the sink.

I had to remove the waste pipe and clean it.
There was loads of limescale piled up in it, I even had to tap the pipe gently off a wall to dislodge all the scale.

Rinsed it out and I soaked it In a strong water /bleach solution in my bath for an hour.

No more smell or gurgling now.
 
As montymint says, I'd start by cleaning any easily accessible filters and run a hot, empty wash with some bleach in and see if that works.

Our washing machine started to smell a bit funny and the bleach wash did the trick. I also leave the trays and door open slightly when not in use so any leftover stagnant moisture can evaporate before it starts to smell.
 
Is it connected before the trap? E.g., when the washing machine turns on, is it sucking some of the water out the trap and releasing sewage smells into the room (which the water stops)?
 
We had this issue when we were renting a flat, although only if the washing machine hadn't been used in like a week - if we'd been on holiday for example.

I also leave the trays and door open slightly when not in use so any leftover stagnant moisture can evaporate before it starts to smell.

Yeah i find this good practice to do. It's surprising how quickly mould can build up in the drawer. Washing power is absolutely the worst thing ever, it just gets everywhere - the previous owners have even managed to get it underneath the drawer.
 
Chuck a couple of dishwasher tablets in the drum and then put it on a hot wash. Some washing machines like mine have a dedicated clean function so use that if you have it.
 
Is it connected before the trap? E.g., when the washing machine turns on, is it sucking some of the water out the trap and releasing sewage smells into the room (which the water stops)?

The gurgling is likely to be this.
 
If your using liquid soap or pods then they contain no bleaching agents so don't clean the washer when used, so you end up with buildup around the drum and at the bearings. You also end up with foul smelling stagnant water at the bottom of the drain pipe loop.

I run half a cup of bleach through the machine on its hottest wash with some whites once a month, you could also use spirit vinegar and bicarb mix as they do the same thing.
 
This is a good site, with a forum, for all things 'white goods'.

Get Rid of Washing Machine Smells | Whitegoodshelp

When the kids were younger we had lots of white cottons to wash and had a box of daz powder available to do fortnightly maintenance washes (empty machine, hottest setting).

Now we don't and use predominantly liquid detergents, I often pick up Dettol Anti Bacterial Washing Machine Cleaner from Costco, when it's on offer, and use that every 2-3 weeks. But there are probably cheaper ways to accomplish the same results, e.g. using bleaches and no-name products.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the tips ill give em a go, tho i read somewhere never to put bleach in washing machines tho didnt say why, so is that good thing to do or not as dont want to damage it.

The overflow pipe for washing machine is connected to this white pipe thing under the sink, it was like a side connector where i put the wm pipe on the right side of it, i think its part of the sinks waste disposal thing so they share passing waste water out the same pipe outside?

Yea its a very sewage smell. Think even putting taps on causes smell to release, tho not 100 sure, just think it might do. Im no handyman so might have to wait for bro to be able to pop by one day to help me take the pipe off and clean or replace.

Do you think the clothes get infected by the stuff that makes it smell at start of wash, as when done washing smell ok to me usually but dunno if its doing anything like sucking up bad smelling water into the drum/clothes at start of cycle.

Yes i use the liquid tabs btw, many years ago i did powder but for one reason or other didnt like doing it anymore. Tabs just easier to chuck in.

https://youtu.be/8CO3NH4CdKI?t=333
Bit like that?
 
Last edited:
How far away from the sink is the washing machine?

Out half a cup of bleach into the drum not the drawer and it will be fine. Washing powder contains a bleaching agent liquids don't.
 
[sink][washingmachine]

Like that.

So just pour in the drum not the drawer, gotcha. Is that the same way with vinegar (white one)?

Will basic blue domestos do as bleach for it?
 
Last edited:
[sink][washingmachine]

Like that.

So just pour in the drum not the drawer, gotcha. Is that the same way with vinegar (white one)?

Will basic blue domestos do as bleach for it?
Yes in the drum, any bleach will be fine, half a cup on the hottest wash you have, always good to add some weight to it of you can, an old bed sheet or some dish towels. With the vinegar make sure it's spirit and not malted.
 
I'm guessing you use liquids and not powder detergents, on that basis, you need to introduce bleach into the machine.

Don't waste money on propriety solutions, vinegar, soda crystals or anything like that, it's a waste of money.

Regular household bleach is the answer. Remember, bleach kills 99.99% of germs dead.

Because we wash at low temperatures, your washing machine is essentially a breeding ground for bacteria, couple this with using liquids, which don't contain beach and voila, stinking machine!!

Most machines now come with a cycle called a maintenance wash, or tub clean. It's a boil wash essentially, nothing more, nothing less.

So, depending on how bad the smell is, you need to perform a maintenance wash, once a month is enough for most people.

Put a cap full of bleach directly into the drum and choose the tub clean program or maintenance wash program. If your machine doesn't have one, just put it on a 90'c cycle.

If the smell is really bad, do this every day for a week, then once a week for a month then once a month onwards.

No more stinky machine.
 
So hopefully if i do the bleach it will clean the trap as thats where im guessing the smell comes from. As the actual washing machine doesnt smell just when it starts it gargles then the smell comes up from the sink.
 
post a picture ? - see earlier thread :

haven't yet got round to fixing ours ... and increasing loop height to see if less waste water gets pushed back into washer evac tube.(left)

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' ???

48060048147_8e2c63bd4d_o_d.jpg
 
Back
Top Bottom