Black mould on washing machine door seal

[whataboutbob]

How do you go about removing this? There s quite a lot of it, must admit I think it s been there for a while. Thanks. For any advice.

When you've finished using it dry off the door and seal and get right into the crevice to soak up all the water and go right the way around.

I'm reluctant to use any products on the seal in case it rots it away. Just get into the habit of drying it off which with remove a lot of the gunk after each use and leave the door open to let the air in.

Unless anybody knows of some high that will take it all away.

*something

I'm not sure you can get rid of it now it's there can you? My old machine was riddled with it before it blew up. Have been doing what gamerchick suggests with my new one after every wash. Had no idea how much water gets caught in the seal, really surprised me.

Once it's there you can't get rid of it, I'm afraid.

To stop it getting worse you need to thoroughly dry inside the seal after every wash. You can also replace the seal if it's really bad.

This is caused by washing on low temperatures, exclusively using liquid detergents or both.

Give the seal a good scrub with a mold remover (this will be fine as a 1 off) and then run the machine empty on the hottest, longest cycle with a washing machine cleaner in it (you can get these in the pound shop). This will clean out the seal, outer tub and sump. This might not remove the stain caused by the mold, but it will kill any bacteria or mold spores and stop it getting worse.

Going forward, stick with a powder detergent and use regular got washed - 60 degrees and above. Also avoid leaving wet washing in the machine and leave the door open between washes.

We moved into a rental where the washing machine had this all through the seal, was totally gross, and stank to high heaven.
Go to wilkinsons, buy cheap, plain white vinegar cleaning spray. Lots of paper towel. Spray and wipe, spray and wipe, repeat til its gone.
Worked a treat, finished with a washing machine cleaner sachet thingo on a hot wash, (nearly) good as new.

be aware that if you are on a septic tank, liquid detergent may be better. Choice of catastrophe, I'm afraid....but a washing machine will be less so!

Thanks everyone. I'm a fan of the cleaning properties of white vinegar so will try that first and report back. Good tip too re leaving door open between washes, that had never occurred to me.