smelly washing machine?

[Bubbless]

we rent our flat and the washing machine hasent been kept in the best condition. there is some dark patches on the grey flabby? bit running around the inside which did have some mould-ish bits on when we first moved in. i gave it a really good clean out several times and ran it through on the hottest setting each time.
we do this maybe once a month and the clothes will smell fine for maybe 4 washes? then they go back to smelling disgusting?!?!
any help, because im spending more time cleaning my washing machine than anything else at the mo!

Have you cleaned the outlet hose? Mine had fluff and dirt in it that would flow back into the machine and make the clothes smell.

webwiz- where is the outlet hose?!?! a job for DP when he gets back from the pub!

emsie- will give that a go as well! thank you!

It was round the back of the machine - I'd pulled it out of its space in desperation to find what on earth the problem was!

try white vinager you acn include it in with the wash of clothes and will help clean them too.

However what temp do you do your normal washing at? if you are environmentally friendly ( wash at 30 or below regularly) you will find that it is the bacteria in the machine. 30 isnt enough to kill them just makes ideal conditions for them to breed. rather than having to waste a hot wash every few weeks just wash your bedding at 50 when you change it and that should keep it fresh, assuming you change it regualarly.

i'd also use a powder instead of a liquid as it contains a small percentage of bleach which keeps your machine clean. Liquid encourages the black scum.

have you cleaned the filter (ours is behind a kickplate at the bottom front of the machine) and the dispenser drawer (also remove the drawer and clean the bit the drawer fits into)?

I'll give the filter a go as well, but I do keep the draw clean and open to stop mould!!
I'm going to give everything a go!

Do you use liquid rather than powder? We tried everything with our washing machine but the smell kept coming back. Then we were told by a friend that washing liquid was causing this in her machine so we switched to powder and it worked!

I do an empty hot wash now and then with biological powder as it is more effective at cleaning the machine and the rest of the time I wash everything with non bio powder. My washing hasn't smelled since

Laundry liquid, low temperature washes and using a bleach free detergent are often the reasons. I stopped buying liquid detergent after reading about it on here

I switched to Ariel biological washing powder and guess what, DD's eczema has all but disappeared.