Musty smelling washing machine

[Biscuitsandtea]

Hi,

My washing machine is smelling all musty and Bleh - how do I get it smelling lovely and nice again?

Thanks

It's not an Indesit by any chance is it?

Nope - it's a Bosch but is at least 7 years old.

Are Indesits famed for being smelly?

do a maintenance wash (90°C hot wash with vinegar or soda crystals), clean out the filter, clean the rubber seal, remove and clean the dispenser drawer and the bit the drawer fits into (I use bleach spray and an old toothbrush for that bit).

Ooh I think I have soda crystals somewhere - do I put them in the drawer or the drum?

i never knew i should be cleaning my washing machine?!?

I stick some in the drawer but you could fling some in the drum too.

bahookie - my washing manual recommends a regular maintenance wash to get rid of the build up of sludge you get from doing washes at low temperatures. I also switched to powder as I found liquids were making the drum mankier and was getting marks on clothes.

I use Milton (or the cheapy supermarket one!) in the drawer and drum. Work a treat. Also wipe the inner bit of rubber seal it's yucky usually and the filter at the bottom can smell hideous

vodka - thanks for that. will do a clean cycle tomorrow - the things you learn on here :-)

Indesit Moon is renowned for it. You can't do a maintenance wash either, as it's highest temp for washing is 60 degrees. Good luck. U

HG do a product called service engineer, run a hot wash with a bottle of that in and it'll fix the problem and you will have a lovely sparkly washing machine. You get two bottles per box so can do the dishwasher at the same time.

Any tips for cleaning the grey deal round the door / Opening? It looks pretty grim (now I've looked in there!) I can wipe it and the cloth comes away brown but what's best to clean it with? It looks like mould (Bleh!) but I'm sure mould and mildew stuff is a no no for a rubber seal?

Seal, not deal!

clean the seal with whichever of these you have to hand:

Diluted bleach/milton
Neat HG service engineer liquid
White vinegar
Strong solution of washing soda crystals in hottish water

Wear rubber gloves for all of these except vinegar and rinse thoroughly before you do the next wash.

Only use ONE of the above - don't try to mix any of them unless you want some interesting (and potentially dangerous) chemical reactions going on!

I've got a Bosch and had the same problem. Doing a hot wash with bio powder seemed to help and I now leave the door open and take the drawer out after each wash. That seems to have done the trick, no more smells.

I found that using a 90* wash (empty or with towels) gets rid of that problem. We now mostly wash stuff at such low temperatures and without bleach that mould and decaying water can easily accumulate and cause odours. Also most detergents no longer contain bleach and don't remove spores.

also leave door ajar between washes and empty is immediately after wash is finished.

If bad smell persists after that look inside the drainage pipe - overtime debris can clog it up and rot wafting odours back into the machine and contaminating your laundry.

I had thus prolem but now I use powder or powder tablets as was told these contain a small amount of bleach which also cleans the machine. Liquids or liquitabs don't contain bleach. Also I wash cleaning cloths at 90* once a week. Doing this cleans the machine and also the cloths.

I did a hot wash with a bottle of dr Oetker service wash stuff that I found in the supermarket and that seems to have helped enormously. Also cleaned the drawer and seal (although the seal needs a bit more work).

I've always left the door open between washes but probably need to run more got washes I think.

I used to use powder but the drawer never empties properly on my machine so if I use powder or powder tablets (or even one of the liquids that goes in the drawer) I get loads of residue left so I had to find a liquid that goes in the drum. I'm using fairy non bio these days.

The LCD display is all knackered anyway these days so I'm just waiting for it to conk out so I can have a new one

I would also recommend that you remove the powder drawer and clean it after every wash.

I have a Bosch and it went all smelly and manky when I started using Ecoballs instead of detergent. After following excellent advice on here my machine now doesn't smell at all.

I also found that by switching back to washing powder (and using a biological one for whites) my daughter's eczema has disappeared.

What a great article - thanks

just put the powder or powder tablet directly into the drum. at my old place the water pressure was too low to dissolve it and flush it out into the drum, so I switched to putting it directly in.

Just ordered soda crystals for the drain (bleurgh!) and also the washing machine, it was fine until that awful Tesco natural power stuff trial now it, and the washing, is completely rank!

Just ordered soda crystals for the drain (bleurgh!) and also the washing machine, it was fine until that awful Tesco natural power stuff trial now it, and the washing, is completely rank!

brilliant article bunbaker