Smelly washing machine

[jennymac]

My washing machine has a bit of a smell of old socks about it. I have tried running it on a 90C wash without clothes to see if that helps but it doesn't seem to have done the trick. Any advice?

run a cycle with a cup of white cheapo vinegar, then run a rinse cycle. also give rubber seal a good scrub

Sorry if you've already done it but have you cleaned out the filter. I had a problem with my machine not draining properly and was when DH unscrewed the filter and pulled out the smelliest blob of gunk imaginable.

Where exactly is the filter?! That could be the problem, as I have been having draining problems also. Also, nickytwotimes, do you put the vinegar in the detergent drawer?

just shove vinegar in drum. good luck!

Use powder, not tablets or sachets. Powder is abraisive and cleans it better. Those little plastic sachet things that dissolve are the worst things for washers AND they produce horrible slimey gunk that gets all over clothes Also do continue to do a 90 degree wash twice a week.

Since we switched to powder, our washing machine isn't niffy anymore, and powder is much cheaper!

Trust me, I am a textiles teacher........!

We use some washing machine cleaning powder purchased from Homebase, once a month on a hot wash.

And use powder like fizzbuzz!

Jennymac - did you find the filter? If you've had the machine for more than a year and you haven't found it yet then that will be the problem .

It is as littlelapin says behind a drop down flap near the bottom of the machine.

my soap drawer has black gunge...and where the water spays down is black gungy too.....and after using ovenpride o clean my oven...i want a 'quick fix' for my washer too!

anyone know what this black is...is it cos we live in a 100 yr old house...have we got dodgy water pipes????

No, cj, it's mould/mildrew. We have that in the same place in our washing machine. Though God knows why because it's never off ...

Only thing to do is to give it a really good scrub then soak in bleach. The bit where the dispenser lives also has mould on the actual washing machine and that's really hard to get out - lots of nooks and crannies. Try using a J cloth with a cocktail stick/wooden skewer inside it.

Then a couple of hot washes with disinfectant/commercial washing machine cleaner.

I'm so going to have to clean my washing machine today now.

Me too It's rank.

I'm just imagining mould...