Washing Machine that doesn’t make clothes smell recs!

[macaroni234]

Washing machine is broken and needs replacing and we need to buy a new one. We’ve always had a problem with this one - Bosch making clothes musty. Previous Bosch was fine. We’ve tried everything. Washing hotter, hot cleaning cycles, citric acid, vinegar, different cleaning detergent etc

If you have a machine that gives you nice fresh clothes please recommend. Even if it’s on the pricey side. In an ideal world it would be around £500 though which a replacement for ours would be.

You could try the Samsung Ecobubble? Has a steam clean cycle. Had mine five years now which is remarkable considering they’re not built to last anymore.

Honestly I always bought cheaper end machines, indesit or hoover but decided to splurge on a Bosch which we had nothing but problems with then a Samsung which was stinky. Back to cheaper machines as spending more didn’t reduce the need to replace after less time than expected. The cheaper machines didn’t smell and did the job, yes they broke and were replaced but the more mid range ones were no better anyway so it’s cheaper all the way for me from now on

Thanks I will check those recs out. Probably time to try something other than Bosch. They tend to last us 10 years plus. But that’s 10 years of smelly clothes that’s doing my head in!

I run a cleaning tablet through every few weeks and leave the washer door slightly open

We have a Bosch series 6 and have had no problems with it. Tbh the only times I had problems with machines is when I was using liquid detergent instead of powder.

I think they all will stink if you always wash at low temperatures. It won’t kill the bacteria. That’s why loads of people go around with minging clothes. I regularly wash towels and whites at 60 so never have a problem.

Does the filter need cleaning? We had a problem with musty clothes recently and cleaning the filter fixed it

@PedallleurThe door is open wide most of the time

We've had a Samsung Ecobubble for 4 years, it gives you reminders when to run its Drum Clean cycle and when to clean the drain filter. We've followed the reminders and it's not been stinky.

need to do a 90 watch every month or so

I've had various machines, currently a beko. None have made my clothes smell. It's not the machine it's how you use it, I was told years ago by a washing machine engineer.
Only use powder, never gel or liquid.
Put the powder in the drum, never the drawer.
Never use fabric conditioner use white vinegar instead.
Yes to cleaning cycle but that's not enough without the above.

Miele. Won’t be £500 though as that’s pretty budget priced. If it smells, it’s probably not draining properly.

My Miele (cheapest one available bought to replace a 20 year old one) doesn't smell. I find that using bio powder (just supermarket own brand) works best even at lower temperatures but the machine still asks for a cleaning wash (empty drum 90° cycle with bio powder) every 6 weeks. Powder doesn't stick to the machine like liquid does and laundry capsules are worst as the plastic capsule doesn't always dissolve properly and can clog the drum and filter.

My Bosch stank but it turns out that the machine had eaten a bra insert and it was stuck downstream of the filter, it never dried out and only got the waste water running over it. Once we removed that (which took fairly extensive surgery) it smelt much better.

I’ve got an LG direct drive washing machine. It’s never smelled bad but then nor did my Bosch before it. I only use bio powder and do a drum clean once a month.

I've had a variety of machines over the years, not one of them stank.

Clogged filters can smell too and they don’t allow proper drainage. I’ve never had this and I’ve owned washing machines for 50 years!

No filter is always clean when we take it out for a clean.

I will try switching again. I have tried everything else. Do have to be careful as DD is allergic to most washing detergent. But it was the same in previous machine which never smelt. It’s weird

Thanks everyone. We can’t use Bio anything as DD has eczema. It was the same with previous machine though which only stank if you forgot the clothes for a day. This one it can be straight away. Don’t think it’s not draining properly because there is no water to empty when cleaning the filter.

im going to try switching to powder again as a last ditch attempt. We’ve bought a new door so that’s sorted for now. But Samsung eco bubble looks good. Not prepared to pay for a Miele when it might end up with same problem.

I see a lot recommending the Samsung ecobubble- we have this at the moment with Samsung ecobubble but is five years old so just think it must be at the end of its life (didn’t have the problem until this year, have had two people in to fix and regularly do all the things you say, filter always clean too).

We use persil non bio powder op, was told liquid and capsules clog easier

@macaroni234
Do you ever run a 90° degree cycle with washing machine cleaner in it?

I do mine regularly, clean the drawer, run a cloth soaked in washing machine cleaner all around the plastics inside the door (all the crevices) then tip the rest of the bottle in the drawer and run the hottest cycle.

If you've never done it before I'd advise doing it twice.

Worth a try, it'll be cheaper than buying a new machine

Not sure if you've tried this yet but I use an anti fungal/ anti bac rinse in each wash instead of fabric conditioner
Has completely solved the problem of mould building up in the door seal, and keeps everything fresh.

@macaroni234 I have an LG which is now nearly ten years old. The difference between cheap and expensive machines is mostly the extra buttons and programs the expensive ones have, the internals are pretty much the same. Thus, an expensive machine won't necessarily last longer.

I use predominantly liquid as it dissolves more readily in warm water washes however I do regularly run a clean cycle (boil wash). I also use vinegar instead of fabric softener.

Once every now and then I run bleach through on the cleaning cycle and pause the machine when it's full to allow the bleach to sit in the pipes and do its thing. I also remove the door seal and clean it thoroughly as it gets gunge build up that you can only get properly clean by removing the seal. It's not difficult to do. Also leave the door ajar.

No smells.

No smells on my 10 year old Miele. But I agree with poster above, if you're washing at 30c then you'll get this problem. Water this cold won't kill the bacteria and so the smell will just linger on clothes, however many times you wash them.