Smelly tumble dryer

[ChickenSandwichandCupofTea]

We have a Hotpoint condenser dryer, it’s about 4 years old. Lately it has started to stink of a horrible sour milk type of smell. The water tank is always emptied after use, the lint catcher is regularly cleaned out (I rinse it using the shower head to ensure the worst of the lint is gone). I might add too that the only thing I really use it for is towels and bedding, everything else I line dry. And obviously everything going into it is freshly washed straight from the washing machine, nothing has been sitting around getting dusty before going in. Any ideas on why it would smell and how to fix it?

Are you cleaning the lint from the condenser too?

Have you checked the manual to make sure you are following the maintenance required?

When you say you're cleaning the lint catcher do you mean the plastic bit that sits inside the door, or are you also cleaning the bit at the bottom of the machine that pulls out?

*musty not dusty

@Silverfinch Both the little door bit and the bigger part that slides out from the bottom of the machine.

@hedgehoglurker yes I have, I seem to be doing everything it says as far as I can see.

Has anything been spilled/ died underneath or behind it? Is it a build up of fragrance from detergent/ softener, that has degraded over time? Burning cable? Limescale/ mould in the water tank? (Clutching at straws a bit now...)

Haha no dead or spilled items. Could potentially be a build up of detergent or softener smell. Smell seems to be coming from the drum itself. What’s safe/good to give it a wipe down with?

I'd use a white vinegar solution on a microfibre cloth, personally. This would be perfectly harmless with heat, fabrics, and the smell would dissipate quickly.

Thanks @hedgehoglurker will give that a try then