Smelly washing machine

[twofingerstoGideon]

My old machine never used to smell, but this one has smelt almost from day one. I empty the filter thang regularly, run through one of those drum cleaning sachet things periodically, leave the door open all the time, but it smells like a muddy riverbank in there. Why? The clothes smell alright when I take them out, but the drum stinks.

Any suggestions? :)

When you do the drum washing thing do you use the hottest possible cycle? That helps. Try running an empty cycle on hot hot hot Woth regular detergent and bleach. Then again with detergent and bicarbonate.

What washing powder/liquid do you use?

We used to use liquitabs, or liquid/gels, and we started having deposits and bad smells from the drum. We were told by engineer to stick with the powder and do regular washes on hotter cycles.

I use either Persil, Waitrose or M&S own brand liquid. I hate the smell that Ariel leaves on my clothes.
I do an occasional hot wash (90 degrees) to flush everything through (maybe every 2-3 weeks) but tend to wash on 40 usually.
Did using powder help, rocket?
I haven't tried bicarb, but have tried white vinegar.
Nothing seems to help. :(

I had this problem got advice from here to put on a very hot wash with soda crystals. It worked :)

I've found that washing liquid causes the smell. I'd start using washing powder. Put you washing machine on an empty very hot wash and then start using washing powder. You may need to do a second very hot wash.

Just wanted to clarify and say it's the liquitabs I'm talking about.

I used to get this when I used a liquid but since swapping back to powder it's not been a problem.

Deffo the liquid. Had this problem myself a few years ago.

Apparently liquids (detergents and fab conditioners) leave a film on the drum.
Bacteria breeds on this, and lack of hot washing for many clothes, means the bacteria isn't killed, hence the smell.

Only use washing powder.Use white vinegar as fabric conditioner if you want to.

To get rid of the smell first try a very hot wash either with some white vinegar or a handful of washing soda in the drum.

Thanks, all. When I run out of liquid I'm going to try powder!

Whenever I do a hot wash on my machine, it smells worse!

I use powder (non-bio though) and run it through regularly with white vinegar/bi-carb on a 90 degree wash.the first few washes after smell horrendous though

Soda crystals are the way to go

Silly question, I'm about to switch to powder, do I put it in the drum or the drawer to avoid smells??

i am so obsessed with cleaning my washer after these smells i know where you are coming from especially if the smell wears off onto your clothes ? i clean out my drawer and the underneath of the drawer with a dish scrubbing brush to get into all the little holes then when that is clean i put a bit of dettol into it Never use bleach though !! anything high foaming is a total no no for washing machines as is clogs up your sump pump and pipes with suds and then the washer will eventually pack in all together a bit of dettol will do fine you can also try tea tree oil drops and some bicarb of soda/baking powder too but anything soapy or high foaming is not to go in washers which is why the soap powders and fabric softeners don't foam too much when cleaning :)

kippersmum powders go into the drawer always you should never sprinkle them onto the clothes in the washer this just creates a big clump of powder when wet which just swirls around in the washing and doesnt clean the clothes also clogs the machine too

I put the powder directly into the drum before putting the clothes in. keeps the drawer clean.

if it smells worse after a hot wash, that's because it has disturbed the resident sludge and started to wash it around.

Give it another hot hot hot wash with washing soda crystals and no soap or fabsoft. If the water foams up and goes grey, that's the old sludge dissolving out. Do it again until the water stays clean.

If you have white cotton towels, put them in because they will not fade or be damaged by the hot wash.

you will wreck your washer doing that mousmous that what the drawer is for and as for keeping it cleaning it take 5 mins max if you do it regular hardly a massive chore

I followed advice from MN on this subject before to use powder. It worked.

why would it wreck the washer?
I started doing it about 5 years ago as we had very low water pressure and the powder would just stay in the drawer. washer still going strong and the drawer is clean ;)

I put the powder through the door and have never experienced the problem hedwiggity describes.

I had this awful smell and was another advised to change from washing liquid to powder. Gone, completely gone.

Your stink is caused by the liquid.

Thanks everyone. I'm going to try these suggestions. Am sitting at my kitchen table now, catching the whiff of the washing machine. It has to stop!

Ditch the liquid, honestly the awful stink will go.

When my washer started smelling it was because I was using laundry liquid and ecoballs and washing at low temperatures. I followed the excellent advice on here and switched to bio washing powder and hotter washes.

The result was a smell free washing machine

And an eczema free child!

Apparently it was the mould spores causing the eczema, not the washing medium. I now use Ariel bio for my white washes and the clothes are cleaner and I'm delighted to report that DD's eczema hasn't returned.

Interestingly, I read somewhere that it isn't usually the powder that causes the skin problems, but the conditioner. I use Fairy conditioner and it doesn't cause any problems.