Smelly washing machine

[curlyclaz13]

I live in a rented house and the crap washing machine was part of the inventory so I am stuck with it, tge problem is it smells of damp, I have cleaned the drawer and filter and done several maintenance washes and it still smells. I leave the door open when it's empty. What else can I do to shift the smell ?

Have you used one of those washing machine cleaner products? They can help.

My machine often does this as it is in a cupboard so can get shut accidentally. I find it is less smelly with traditional washing powder than with tablets or liquids.

Have you done a maintenance wash with soda crystals?

Ugh, that is the absolute worst! It ends up making your clothes smell as well. Completely empathise.

I used a shit load of vinegar (half a bottle or more), just dumped it in the soap dispenser, then ran it on the highest temp setting it had. You can also get limescale/refresher tablets (I use these)
and just do it every month or so...

Good luck!

After always washing at 40, I ran some towels on a 60 wash. Afterwards the machine was absolutely stinking.

I ran an empty (but with powder) 90 degree wash and it was still bad, quick google and did two more 90 degree empty washes and it's gone! Smells absolutely fine now!

Ours smelt for ages and it turned out the heating element had gone so I was just washing everything in cold water! Do your clothes smell okay? Ours smelt like they hadn't been washed.

The man who came to fix it said a 90 degree wash with soda crystals once a month should keep it clean and prevent limescale.

Will try soda crystals. Clothes come out clean but if not taken out the machine as soon as it's done they smell damp.

did you clean the roof bit of where the dispenser drawer goes into? have you cleaned the rubber seal of the door as it can collect crud and go mouldy?

Do you use powder or liquid? I get better results with powder as they contain bleaches that help to clean the drum

Curly I had this prob with my machine and tried all the above to no avail. The problem was actually that the heater had gone in the machine and so bacteria was building up because the water never got hot enough to kill anything. Because I always put the machine on overnight I never noticed the clothes were not warm when it finished. The problem went after the repair although the 90deg wash does still need to be done of course. Just wanted to say if all else fails get the repair man in. And,I must say I was always very sceptical about 30 degree washes but my m/c was washing on cold obviously for ages but the clothes always came up clean!

oops sorry Trilby you already said that!