Smelly washing machine - what else can I try?!

[Rainatnight]

My washing machine smells musty and fusty. I've cleaned the seal, the drawer, the filter and last night did a soda crystals wash for the first time.

It still smells fusty and musty. Am I missing anything? Is there anything else I can try?

Thanks!

Following as mine does too

My washing machine repair man FIL swears by a bit of bleach on a hot wash.

And only using powder soaps, no liquid wash tabs or anything once problem resolved

Pour two capfuls of Zoflora or Dettol lavender disinfectant into the sopa dispenser and put it on an empty boil wash cycle, then leave the drum to dry out completely with the door open.

Mine stopped smelling when we stopped using fabric conditioner. It clogs up the machine really badly.

Always leave the door ajar and detergent drawer open.
Super hot wash while empty once a month.
You can also buy washing machine cleaner.

Thanks, that's really helpful. I only use powder already. Hm, I'd find it really hard to give up conditioner...

Annoyingly, our hottest wash is 60 degrees, which I managed not to notice when buying the machine in the chaos of moving house. Do you think that might be contributing?

Agree with the bleach suggestion with a hot wash.

Mine got a bit frothy where it came out of the soap dispenser, literally 😳

Vinegar will add as a degreaser in the machine. Put it on the longest, hottest wash possible. If there is an additional 'interview' option select that too. If a machine is in a bad way it may take a handful of maintenance washes to loosen and clear the gunk and bacteria. Our machine has a 'tub wash' programme which last for three hours.

Act as a degreaser, not add

Blimey predictive text is not my friend today: intensive, not interview!

Put it on it's hottest cycle unloaded. This usually works.

I do a couple of capfuls of bleach on the hottest wash, then do another cycle afterwards with just the Bio washing powder to make sure the bleach is all washed out, my washing machine smells lovely

Do this with the washing machine empty (obviously) I use fabric conditioner, I love it, and my machine is fine.

Add soda crystals (I buy mine from Sainsburys) and do a hot wash - keep repeating the hot wash until there's no more frothing. I had to do about 4 hot washes to get rid of the frothing (as I'd never done a service wash before . Got rid of the smell. You've reminded me that I need to do it again.

Agree with leaving the door slightly ajar. I had this problem with mine and my sister told me to leave the door open, problem solved!
It did still whiff for a few days but eventually it stopped.

It may depend how hard the water is. Ours can scale up a kettle in a day. I've stopped using fab con because environmentally friendly DS asked me to, and just by coincidence the washer seems fresher.

The dettol antibacterial stuff is great. Would definitely recommend.

Put something like this through

www.lakeland.co.uk/22369/Lakeland-Washer-Wiz-Washing-Machine-Cleaner-250g

I replaced my seel when nothing was helping

This thread reminded me I hadn't done an auto clean for a while, so I set it off and went out. I put a dollop of bleach in the drum as others suggested. I have come home to a room full of foam, it has all poured out of the soap dispenser and the door won't open.
Sigh.

I always did all the things that people have suggested, the smell would go for a couple of days and then return.
The only thing that eventually got rid of the smell was to pull the machine out and disconnect the drain hose, it was filled with thick slimy load of gunk, once we cleaned it all the smell went.
I had always thought doing the monthly clean on a hot wash with soda crystals, bleach etc would have worked but it seems I was wrong.

allwornout I'd had the same problem as you - tried something, worked for a day then the smell came back. It was only when I read a post by PigletJohn saying to use soda crystals on a hot wash and keep repeating this until there's no more foaming in the water. I did this and it worked.

Thank you for all the tips!

DoneInn Excellent point about leaving door and drawer ajar. I used to and then got out of the habit. (Door needs to be propped with something as it swings closed, so it's a slight faff). Think ts making a difference.