Smelly washing machine...
Discussion
Evening all.
I have a 3yo Hotpoint washing machine. It does the job, more-or-less, of 40 degree washes, but of late has started to smell a bit mouldy. It's not the door rubber or anything obvious I can see.
It doesn't appear to have a removable filter (Yep, odd I know).
Any ideas? I was thinking along the lines of shedloads of bleach and a 90degree wash?!
I have a 3yo Hotpoint washing machine. It does the job, more-or-less, of 40 degree washes, but of late has started to smell a bit mouldy. It's not the door rubber or anything obvious I can see.
It doesn't appear to have a removable filter (Yep, odd I know).
Any ideas? I was thinking along the lines of shedloads of bleach and a 90degree wash?!
Echo the aboves; had the same problem a while back in our flat. Towels came out smelling worse than they went in.
After doing a boil-wash run through try and not close the door as soon as you empty the machine after every wash. I found I was auomatically shutting the door once I had emptied the machine, and thinking about it, you are just closing in condensation /moisture.
After doing a boil-wash run through try and not close the door as soon as you empty the machine after every wash. I found I was auomatically shutting the door once I had emptied the machine, and thinking about it, you are just closing in condensation /moisture.
Yes, 40C is too low. Having discovered my new washing machine had an eco setting, I spent months stinking of damp and wondering why the hell the sudden stench (it was mainly the collars of my shirts). Then it twigged. 60C and no problems. f
k the environment, I am not going around stinking like a flooded cellar.
k the environment, I am not going around stinking like a flooded cellar.Don't bleach it (seals maybe) just do the vinegar (sarsons pickling 6%)trick and a boil wash.
Letting them air ain't in any of the "books" (don't look good in the shiney brochures) but as the machine ages and soils you are into fighting bacteria. I once did the mielle "awareness" course for these vlow temp detergents and the safety gear they recommended, gloves, respiratory protection masks, eye protection etc was a wee bit alarming!
Letting them air ain't in any of the "books" (don't look good in the shiney brochures) but as the machine ages and soils you are into fighting bacteria. I once did the mielle "awareness" course for these vlow temp detergents and the safety gear they recommended, gloves, respiratory protection masks, eye protection etc was a wee bit alarming!
Mojocvh said:
Don't bleach it (seals maybe) just do the vinegar (sarsons pickling 6%)trick and a boil wash.
Letting them air ain't in any of the "books" (don't look good in the shiney brochures) but as the machine ages and soils you are into fighting bacteria. I once did the mielle "awareness" course for these vlow temp detergents and the safety gear they recommended, gloves, respiratory protection masks, eye protection etc was a wee bit alarming!
Exactly.Letting them air ain't in any of the "books" (don't look good in the shiney brochures) but as the machine ages and soils you are into fighting bacteria. I once did the mielle "awareness" course for these vlow temp detergents and the safety gear they recommended, gloves, respiratory protection masks, eye protection etc was a wee bit alarming!
Nice hot washes, no problem.
used to use eco-liquid, 30C most of the time, everything gets piled in the machine
now I use soap nuts, seem better
after the wash, i stuff some paper towel in the bottom of the seal to soak up the water and leave the door open to let any water evaporate, guess the peeps with smelly machines have closed and locked the door to make it look all neat and pretty ?
now I use soap nuts, seem better
after the wash, i stuff some paper towel in the bottom of the seal to soak up the water and leave the door open to let any water evaporate, guess the peeps with smelly machines have closed and locked the door to make it look all neat and pretty ?
Yes, Liquid detergent + low temp washes = smells, poor rinses and black mould on the door seal. This is partly due to the fact that liquid detergent does not include any bleach, for reasons beyond me! Best results are from using powder or the hard type tablets (And ditch all those "eco" detergents-those chemicals are in the other detergents for a reason!) and you need 2 boxes. one for whites, one for colours (as the "colours" one does not contain bleach either.) then, the trick is, assuming you dont regularly do a 95 degree wash, is to make sure you do a maintenence wash monthly, if you have any white towels then throw em in and wind the stat up to 95 degrees, if not do it empty with just powder, yes a waste of energy but it may keep you machine out of landfill for a bit longer.
Now for the bad news.......OP, you will not get rid of that smell, believe me, once there it will never go..... The above advice is for new machines, do as above from new and you will not get a problem.
Now for the bad news.......OP, you will not get rid of that smell, believe me, once there it will never go..... The above advice is for new machines, do as above from new and you will not get a problem.
I wash bedding and towels on a 60 degree wash but everything else on a 40 (nothing lower on our very old machine) and it's fine. I do clean around the seal on odd occasions and I use powder.
I'd run soda crystals and WHITE vinegar through the machine on a 60 degree wash - you don't need a machine that smells of chip shops!
I'd run soda crystals and WHITE vinegar through the machine on a 60 degree wash - you don't need a machine that smells of chip shops!
Finding resolve to this issue was a problem of mine as I was walking around for weeks smelling like a damp sports sock. Turned out my wife decided to always use a 30c wash and exacerbated the issue by doing less frequent loads by filling the machine to the brim at the point where there was no 'washing' effect by the turning of the drum as the clothes just revolved around like a solid mass. To make matters worse she decided to use these 'eco balls' that required no cleaning products, these can probably clean your clothes with a light load and a fresh machine but with all the other issues actually left me smelling more like a wet dog bed which at least was a change from the sports sock!
I found most of the damp smell is probably being transfered from the machine rather than the process of washing your clothes at a low temperature as if you were to do this in a sink the smell would not occur. I believe there is nothing wrong with doing the odd 30 or 40 deg wash for clothes but this must be interspersed with higher temp washes every so often / fairly regularly to keep the washing machine free from bacteria and smells - but they don't tell you this in the adverts! How long your clothes take to dry is also a contributory factor, any more than 24hrs and that can make them start to smell like mildew.
I found most of the damp smell is probably being transfered from the machine rather than the process of washing your clothes at a low temperature as if you were to do this in a sink the smell would not occur. I believe there is nothing wrong with doing the odd 30 or 40 deg wash for clothes but this must be interspersed with higher temp washes every so often / fairly regularly to keep the washing machine free from bacteria and smells - but they don't tell you this in the adverts! How long your clothes take to dry is also a contributory factor, any more than 24hrs and that can make them start to smell like mildew.
Just don't do what I did a couple of months ago.
Drawer was a bit manky, washing it in the dishwasher didn't help, the fabric softner wasn't going out of the drawer, poured lots of boiling water down it, etc. etc.
Still had a problem so I thought I'd add a little bit of washing up liquid to the drawer and do an empty wash. That should clean it out!
It did the trick but it also flood the kitchen with bubbles and I mean a lot of bubbles and water and more bubbles and water.
Wife and kids were in stiches!
Some great advice in this thread - thanks people.
Drawer was a bit manky, washing it in the dishwasher didn't help, the fabric softner wasn't going out of the drawer, poured lots of boiling water down it, etc. etc.
Still had a problem so I thought I'd add a little bit of washing up liquid to the drawer and do an empty wash. That should clean it out!
It did the trick but it also flood the kitchen with bubbles and I mean a lot of bubbles and water and more bubbles and water.
Wife and kids were in stiches!
Some great advice in this thread - thanks people.
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