Destinking musty smelling washing machine....how d'you do it?

[minkah]

Is it even possible, ladies please tell me how.

Should I put the vinegar in the soap powder drawer, or directly into the drum, Rudy?

I do use liquid generally, is this a problem, d'you think?

Ok well I've switched it to the longest hottest wash and it's got plenty of vinegar in all possible places.

Thankyou for the idea, Rudy.

Yes to taking out the drawer and giving it a good scrub. Also get some latex or rubber gloves and shove your hand where the drawer was and pull out the gunk build up as far back as you can reach.
I've done a hot wash using peroxide but white vinegar gets the job done.

I use an antibacterial rinse instead of conditioner. No more stink!

to the realisation it must have massive gunk build up...

Antibacterial rinse, Stone? I don't know what that is?!

I'm such a washing machine noob, this is now evident.

Despite having owned various ones for over 20 years.

If you've never had your hands down the back of where the drawer goes then chances are there will be gunk :)
It's just old slimy powder/ softener but if it's mouldy then without removing it as best you can then the smell will stay.

Wipe all round the seal with white vinegar too.

Oh crumbs, carbediem. Mouldy gunk. Definitely I will investigate tomorrow. Yeuch.
Thanks for the tip. Sounds awful.

The seal wiping sounds like a very good idea, thankyou butterflies.

It's so nice to be told what to do over something clearly in need of attention, but outside my experience.
X

You gotta learn somewhere Mink and a lot of us have had the misfortune of learning from the repair man :)

Liquid definitely causes smelly problems, especially when used at low temperatures. It doesn't contain any kind of bleaching agent for hygiene, so your washer ends up a lovely warm, damp environment. Perfect for mouldy and bacteria.

I use bio powder and wash at 40 and 60. Apart from cleaning the drawer, I've never once had to run a cleaning cycle.

You can get a washer cleaner from the pound shop and home bargains. Make sure you get the powder ones as these are oxi bleach and give the machine a deeper clean. Run one of those through on a boil wash and it will get rid of the smell. After that, try switching to a powder as it keeps your machine cleaner

www.washerhelp.co.uk/forums/topic/1399-liquid-vs-powder-bio-vs-non-bio-which-is-better/#entry4866

Antibacterial rinses are just heated rinses. I think LG are the only brand that do it in the UK. It's popular in the US. Our Miele doesn't do it, neither did our Beko or the Hotpoint.

You shouldn't need to use heated rinses if you've washed on hotter temperatures anyway.

Ok, this is great, thankyou very much. I switched to liquid this year, and it's the first time I've noticed a smelly machine, but of course I didn't put two and two together...DOH!

Didn't have time to buy gloves and get my hand in there today, it's obv going to be my Saturday Jolly. Gunk Weekend Fun.

After this cleansing, I'm back to powder and doing regular hotter washes.

Don't want to be seeing that repair man, no wayz.

drawer put it in the dishwasher or soak and scrub in sink. I spray bathroom cleaner (lime scale removing stuff) in the slot where the drawer goes. bottle broshes are great at getting into the nooks.
and everything othets say about hot washes.
I use bio powder and put it directly into the drum. no more manky drawers.

Depending on the make of machine you might have a flap at the front, at the very bottom. Mine has a knob thing you twist and it gives you access to a little sump at the bottom. I need quite a lot of towels down when I open mine as there is often some stagnant water sitting there. I have found hair and coins lodged there as well as the stagnant water. One of my least favourite jobs .

Mine is a Bosch, my last machine was a Whirlpool and they both have the flap.

oh yes the filter. there is treasures to be found!

Ah yes. Knew flap was wrong.

I found £1.20 in there last time, bought just about chocolate to compensate for the washed and dismembered slug I also found.

The stinkiness is usually in the filter. Mine is behind a little square flap on the front of the machine. Whenever I pull out the filter it is always covered in a black swampy gunk, lumps of tissue and clumps of grass, and the machine smells a whole lot better once it is all cleaned out.

Just make sure you put newspaper or similar under the machine when you pull out the filter - it often spews water everywhere.

Once I've cleaned the filter I usually run a cycle with a washing machine cleaner.

Make sure when you wipe the seal, you also do the bit right between the seal and the drum! Lots of loveliness will be lurking there. (I use kitchen towel to wipe it up and chuck it in the bin.)

Check this link out, there's lots of helpful advice on there!

www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/help/fix-it-yourself/cleaning-maintenance/2657-smelly-washing-machines.html

I found it when trying to sort my smelly machine about a month ago.

Wow! Thankyou, lettice, and thankyou everyone, very much.

I cleared out the gunk tray and slot, sprayed it with vinegar solution and flash bleach, opened the filter..good job you told me to prep with towels on the floor! Out flooded lots of water with gunk bits in it, so washed all that area too. Bought ariel powder and ran two very soapy 90 degree washes.

Machine now clean!

I also ordered something from Amazon which you use to wash and de limescale the machine, for maintenance.

I can't create links at the moment, downloaded iOS 8 on iPad and there's a c&p glitch. But looks like good product, well reviewed.

VERY glad to have understood and sorted this issue!