smelly washing machine

[Magicmayhem]

My washing machine smells, which in turn makes my cloths smell, I've cleaned out the filter which was actually clean and hubby has cleaned out the pipes which were full of lime scale, and I given it a 95 degree empty wash with oust. I brought some soda crystals but wondered how much to put in.. also it says not to use it on aliminium.. is the drum usually made of aliminium?? Has anyone else had this problem? and what did you use.
We only noticed this after the holidays when the washing machine wasn't used for 6 weeks.

I understand this is a really dull question but can anyone help me? I'm using double dose of fabric conditioner to mask the odor(sp) and I don't know whats worse, the musty sock smell or sickly sweet fabric condition aroma

sorry can't help, but I'll bump it for you

Not a clue either

you can get something to put in the machine, have a look in the cleaning aisle of the supermarket, will probably be near the soda crystals etc

Halgon or something, I can't quite remember the name

Mine has been smelling like something died in there (I did actually wonder if I'd inadvertently washed a mouse), again since it was unused for a couple of weeks, so I'll be watching this with interest. I even put some Tea Tree oil in but now it just smells like death and tea tree oil.

use calgon in every wash or something similar - i had the same problem.

on a lighter note it smelt really bad once when dh loaded the washer with dd's nappies not thinking to empty the soiled one he had just taken off her first.

thanks every one
oliveoil, do you mean calgon, which I believe is very similar to oust, its for limescale I think
Hassled.. glad yours smell to and its not just mine

well here's a what not to do post- i had the same problem and the solutions to it from various mumsnetters was blach, lemon juice, vinegar, bi carb and soda crystals knowing we had most of these at home i phoned dh from work and relayed the message- DO NOT PUT ALL OF THE ABOVE IN THE MACHINE IN COPIOUS QUANTITIES TOGETHER AND RUN A 95 DEG WASH!!

he dissolved our kitchen flooring, blew up the washing machine and the smell was awful!!

one by one they may work though

you can get washing machine sanitisers

ok will try the soda crystals and hot wash... off to bed now. (nursing a chest infection) will report back later...
all being well.... I made myself laugh then.. thats what MIL always says....

This has happened to our machine too when it was out of action for a few months whilst our extension being built.

We discovered that the problem was mould - yeugh!! Have a look underneath the rim of the rubber door seal (where you can't see easily) and see if any mould has gathered there as it's likely that some water has remained there while you were away and gone stagnant.

It's really hard to remove as it's so awkward to get at, but we've removed a lot of it with applying neat bleach and leaving it for a few hours, rinsing off, then doing an empty hot wash. Some still remains and I plan to have another go at the weekend and wwith a bit of luck it will improve some more. It still smells now, but not as badly as it did. I don't think I trust dh to actually take the door seal off and replace it again after cleaning it, so we're just muddling through, cleaning it a bit at a time. HTH

This should answer some of your questions

www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=43

have same prob, might phone manufacuter

Do you use non-bio all the time? That can cause this.

I went over mine again yesterday inside the rubber seal with neat bleach and an old dishbrush. Left it overnight and this morning, hardly a trace of the mould is left. Did and empty wash at 90oC and it's pretty much gleaming now. After reading that website, I was panicking that only a new door seal would resolve the problem (as it wasn't far off as bad as the picture shown!!), but perserverance has paid off and we'll be doing a maintenance wash every month or so to keep it from returning.

Do check under the seal if you haven't already, and if that's where the problem is, the at least it can be cleaned or at least greatly improved.

I had this problem - do you use washing liquid? I did and thats what caused the smell. Started using poweder/tablets and the smell has gone . Give it a good clean and hot wash and the problem should resolve itself quite quickly. hth

sorry, I used liquitabs, thats what caused it.

Happened to my mums machine. Turned out to be rubber seal which she cleaned numerous times. She had to change the seal in the end.

i was told that you need to always use powers rather than the liquid ot tabs and need to do hot washes more often. i sometime put it on at 90 with bleach and powder in occasionally just to get rid of the smell. ive used a w machine cleaner but it did nothing. regular hot wahes tend to do the trick even if nothing in the machine. i cant stand the smell it gives the clothes!

what dreadful spelling, sorry powders not powers!!!

have descaled mine &at the moment am tring soda crystals at 95 degree wash. will report results later.