Front Loader Washmachine Question

Hi K.,
I recently saw something on the news about this and they were saying to run your washer on the not or warm setting with no clothes and put in a quarter cup of vinager. If this does not work there are a couple of products you can buy on line. One is a tablet through a company called smellywasher.com the other is called nufresh.
Best of luck!

I have never had the smell but I leave my door all the way open and twice a month I use a washing machine cleaner. I got mine at Target in the same isle as the soap and I also cut my soap way down

Never heard of a sewage smell being an issue from water from front loader washing machines. I would have a plumber check for a clogged line. If that isn't the issue you might want to run a cycle now and then of vinegar & hot water to remove that smell. You didn't say if you have a septic tank or regular waste water removal. If you are getting the septic smell I would have your septic tank checked out or use rid-x to cut the raw sewage..

I really think it depends on the washer you have. We had a Kenmore HE2. It smelled horrible all the time. I ran bleach through it constantly. That did help the smell for a little while. I have also heard vinegar helps.
We luckily had so many problems with our washer and were able to exchange it. We now have a Samsung and have never had a problem with odor. Good Luck to you!

Hi K.
Look under requests and responses tab-- 4-6-09 Connie M- stincky washer.
And good luck-- we're getting a new washer this week

About me-- 48 yo perfusionist and wellness coach for a nationwide biggest loser challenge for $ and mom to 7 yo twin girls.

B. J

I have the same problem, as well. I used to buy a product from Maytag directly (they had a store close to my house) that would stop the smell, but now I use a product that Tide makes and sells at Walmart. It is in the laundry aisle and you can use it as often as you need to (I do it once a week). Maytag told me that "unfortunately, a small amount of water MAY get trapped in the back of the washer under the tub, which MAY cause an unpleasant odor." May? It most certainly DOES! Good luck :)

I use a product called smellywasher.com. I bought it at Frattalone's Ace hardware. After you get it clean you probably need to cut the amount of soap you are using, because that often causes the problem.

Try using vinegar in every load. I dump about 1 cup in the cup that holds the liquid fabric softener.

We have had the same problem. I have tried leaving the washer door wide open between washings to dry it out. That has helped as well as using a product called Washer Magic (I've bought it at Walmart in the laundry detergent aisle near the spot removers and have seen it in other stores also including Menards.) I use some around the inner seal in the door (I found a lot of foul smelling slime that had accumulated there!! and then run a blank load with the rest with hot water). Besides finding the slime in the inner rubber seal, I found that you can take the detergent drawer all the way out and that is where I found the most amount of foul smelling black slime since it never dried out. Once I got all that cleaned out using a toothbrush and scrubbing with the Washer Magic and the compartment where the drawer was, the smell disappeared. I also ran a load with bleach in the detergent drawer and also pouring some in the washer to really sanitize it. To keep it from occurring again, now after I finish the wash for the day, I leave the washer door completely open and take the detergent drawer out and apart so it can dry. I haven't had a problem since!! Hope that helps. K.

Hi K.!

I have the same issues, mine is only two years old and it has that musty odor once in awhile. I run a little bit of ammonia through it. Not sure if it will hurt the machine but just like a small cap full. Hope that helps.
Good luck!

Tracey

It may be from the slime under the rubber seal near the door, I didnt know that it was there and when i looked under it I found a sock as well!!

Hi K.-

Best Buy sells a product (I think it is called Afresh)that works well. It comes in a 3 pack and look like hockey-pucks...

Keep your washer door open when ever possible.

Frustrating huh?

I leave the door wide open and the soap drawer wide open as well between loads. I also run bleach/clean cycle once a month and I've never had a problem with smells. Other people always talk about musty/moldy smells, not sewage. Is it possible you're having a sewer problem instead?

I have a front loader too and notice a similiar smell once in awhile. I too leave the door open to dry out. We just had our washer serviced and the technician (from Geek Squad) told us it can be from using too much soap. The smell can be from soap left in the drum. With high efficiency washers you only need 2 tb of he soap. He showed me all the suds that were in my washer after I did a load of laundry while he ran a diagnostic test. He told me I probably could have done 3 more loads without adding anything. Maybe that's what happening with you?

I had a sewage smell (or like something died in the laundry room?), and it was coming from the drain in the floor under the washer, not from the washer itself. The floor drain did not get used (thank goodness, if it did, it would mean something was overflowing where it wasn't supposed to be!) so the water in the p-trap evaporated & sewer gas was actually getting inbto my laundry room. The super easy fix was to pour water into that floor drain to fill up the p-trap again. However, this is not an issue that comes & goes - if the trap is dry, it will stink until you fill it up again. Good luck!

Hi K.,
We have the same problem and our washer is a top loader (old model). I was told to run some bleach in a wash cycle - med load (w/o clothes - of course) and that should help.

I had the mildew problem start with in 4 months of getting my new washer. I just leave my washer wide open all the time, company or no company! I never needed to clean it with harsh chemicals or bleach, the mildew went away on its own once I left the door open. Follow your nose, is it the floor drain or the washer? If its the floor drain I suggest you call a plumber or pour water in your p-trap. That black slimey stuff in our drains is soap that clings to everything and it is rotting and growing because of the phosphates. So to stop the slime build up in your drains and washer I would stop using regular detergents and start using phosphate free products. I use Planet, 7th Generation, and a great Minneapolis based company called Restore (they have a full line of green cleaning products -http://www.restoreproducts.com/index.html). Good luck! P.S. I even wash my babies poopy diapers in the washing machine with no smell or staining!

Hi K.,
We were told to wipe off the seal or rubber area in the front, including in the crevices occasionally. Also, to run a load with Oxyclean at least once a week to help clean it.

K.

I have a front loader as well. I was told to leave the door open to the washer to let it dry out. The only time I ever shut it is when company comes over as it seems to never really dry out since I'm constantly doing laundry! :) After having it shut I will get that smell you get when you leave the laundry in the wash for to long, but I wouldn't say it is a sewage smell. Hope you figure it out! Take Care

With my front loader, I have always left the door open after doing wash and also the detergent drawer wide open. Once, my daughter used it and closed the doors. I then had the odor problem! I did buy that product from Best Buy that looked like hockey pucks, but, honestly it didn't do much good. I did a load with bleach and from that point on no smell. But, leave the doors open for sure! Oh, and I cut back on the HE detergent too. I KNOW I used too much.

The odor I get from my washer--the one that they claim you get from it being a front loader--smells a lot more like mildewy, damp towels than sewage. Maybe call the manufacturer? Are you sure it's not coming from a drain in your basement? We definitely have a smelly front loader sometimes, but it's not sewage.

Hi K. -

This is a very common problem with front loaders. I just read an article on it - apparently 90 off all service calls are now because of it. It's because moisture settles into the detergent dispenser and /or the folds of the rubber seals around the washers opening where it can't easily evaporate. Some people have used 1 cup vinegar on a regular washi cycle (empty machine - no clothes) and that helped - it didn't work for us. We now wipe out the dispenser and leave the door open after every wash and that has helped a little, but I'm definately going to try Smelly Washer and see if that will work (it's suppose to break the adhesion between the fungus (mold) and the washer's plastic and rubber parts.

we have had no smell issues with our front loader but i think we do a lot of the things people recommended here. we leave the door slightly ajar, we only use HE soap and not very much, lately only Charlie's Soap - which leaves no residue, and we wipe out the rubber gasket periodically with an old rag. No problems!

Hi K.,

I have a front loader and about every 2 weeks I have to run the "clean" cycle using bleach. Since front loaders are relatively new; I would think your loader has the same feature. I also wipe out the loader about every month with a gentle antibacterial cleaner. Hope that helps!