Help! My washing machine smells like cabbage!

[Gardenbirdy]

I noticed my washing machine was a bit whiffy last week and ran a sachet of cleaning stuff through it on a high wash, since then it smells even worse. Is there anything more natural I can use? I can't check the filter easily as it's completely built in, conveniently.

what cleaning stuff did you run through it? If that hasn't worked i normally use thse washing machine cleaning tabs to get rid of any smelly odours and it usually does the trick.

Some neat bleach and the hottest possible wash usually works wonders for bad smells. Do another empty hot wash before you put clothes in it.

I had this a while ago and was told to put in a couple of dishwasher tabs and run a 90 wash. Seemed to work

Thank you skeelo - I did use something similar. I'm now trying two dishwasher tablets, as per your advice Piscivorus, and if that fails I'll go with Fairylea's bleach suggestion!
It's all very incovenient as we're going away on Monday and I really need to get the washing done so I can pack. The load I did this morning smells horrible so that's going to have to be redone. Gah!

Do a 90 degree wash with distilled vinegar and baking soda.

vinegar and baking soda definitely works - 2 cups of vinegar to 1/4 cup of biacarb of soda in a hot wash. Put the soda into the machine first and add the vinegar via the wash dispenser. If you mix them together directly it will create an explosion.

It'll fizz, it won't explode! One is acid and the other alkali so using vinegar and bicarb of soda together means they cancel each other out.

No need for expensive products - distilled vinegar or soda crystals (sometimes called washing soda and not the same as bicarb) work. I suspect the cleaning stuff has loosened a load of gunk and couple more long, hot washes will fix things. Oh, and don't use liquid detergents to clean your clothes, use powder instead.

wowfudge what's the difference between using liquid and powder detergents?

the "smelling after cleaning" is common. When your machine has a layer of congealed sludge inside, from soap, fabsoft, mould and bacteria, the first attempt at cleaning will disturb it and start to wash it away. The bacteria then feast on the disturbed sludge. When you have cleaned it enough, you will have removed the sludge they live on.

My own preference is a hot hot hot wash with a cup of washing soda crystals and no soap or fabsoft. The soda helps dissolve the soap and the greasy fabsoft. When you do that you will probably find the water goes grey and foams up due to the old soap sludge dissolving. Do it again until it stays clean.

If you have white cotton towels and flannels, put them through a max heat wash with soda once a week. You will probably not need to add soap or fabsoft for several washes, because the old residue will wash out. This will also make them whiter and softer.

I say white cotton towels because you don't need to worry about fading or shrinking, and it withstands heat.

Check your detergent drawer. It was the gunk in mine that was causing the smell.

Hi monkey - liquid detergents don't contain bleaching agents, powders do. The bleaching agents not only brighten the laundry, they help keep the machine clean.