Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 60 total)
  • Washing machine making clothes smell
  • jerrys
    Free Member

    Any one got any ideas. I’ve run cleaning stuff through it (including half a bottle of bleach), cleaned out what pipes I could get too (which didn’t have much crud in them) clothes come out nice and clean but have a horrible smell when dried. It’s a sort of musty smell and it’s horrible. Machine is about 13 years old. I’ve cleaned the rubber seal at the front to remove any gunge in the folds but to no effect.

    Any suggestions before it gets sent to landfill and I get a new one?

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    what i did with mine when i stupidly washed some turps stained clothes in after trying everything was to wash it at the hottest wash then just drain it open the door and let the fumes evaporate – this eventually worked – 2-3 goes

    no idea if it will hep with yours – you also can try soda crystals or expensive machine cleaner – neither of which worked for mine.

    geoffj
    Full Member

    How are you drying the clothes? You sure it’s the machine? Change in detergent? Washing them at 30 degrees?

    onandon
    Free Member

    Sling some old towels in and wash on the hottest setting.

    thecaptain
    Free Member

    I replaced the seal on an old machine once. Wasn’t too hard, instructions on YouTube.

    jerrys
    Free Member

    I’ve tried some posh cleaning stuff and bleach, hot washes, cold washes. I’ve got the soda crystals ready so that’s the next attempt.

    twicewithchips
    Free Member

    In contrasting advice shocker, you might try a load using biological detergent and fairly cool. Musty smell might be something growing inside.

    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    Run a very hot wash with white vinegar in the dispenser. You will need to do a second empty wash.

    rene59
    Free Member

    I had similar but a 90c wash with a half a cup of bleach and a bath towel sorted it. Is it mains fed? Any problems with water quality?

    jerrys
    Free Member

    I thought the bleach would have killed everything off. It frothed nicely all over the floor.

    jerrys
    Free Member

    No problems with water quality, Dry outside where possible but on airer inside when weather poor. Sometimes things seem okay, other times not. It’s very inconsistent, however when it gets into certain clothes it just doesn’t shift despite repeated washing.

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    Is there mold on the door seals?
    Have you cleaned the filter?

    If it’s not inconvenient, leaving the door of the washer ajar helps when the washer is not in use.

    hodgynd
    Free Member

    Don’t use liquid detergent ..that creates a gunk/ musty smell…use powder..
    Remove & clean thoroughly the draw where you put the detergent & fabric conditioner ..
    Use Calgon to clean the machine.

    jerrys
    Free Member

    No mould.
    Filter’s clean. Only thing i can think of is there is a hidden lot of gunk I can’t find lurking somewhere out of sight. I even tipped it upside down and removed the hose coming out the sump, which was clean. 🙁

    jerrys
    Free Member

    Thanks for the suggestions so far, i think I’ve tried most of them already. 🙁

    redmex
    Free Member

    13 years out a washin machine, it deserves to be stuck in a field of grass
    My samsung now coming up for 5 and out of warranty i might sell it off for £100 and buy a new one might not get 100

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    Just being pragmatic, could it be a more general plumbing problem, toilets flushing ok etc.
    Kitchen sink drainage ok etc.

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    Have you pulled the washer out to check there’s not a dead cat inside it?

    GrahamS
    Full Member

    My samsung now coming up for 5 and out of warranty i might sell it

    WTF? Are washing machines the new mobiles?

    Can’t imagine much has drastically changed in washing machine technology in the last five years, unless the new ones have face unlocking and amusing emojis.

    rene59
    Free Member

    It’s very inconsistent, however when it gets into certain clothes it just doesn’t shift despite repeated washing.

    The problem could well be with the clothes and not the washing machine. I would round of some of the clothes in question and put them through a cycle with some halo sports wash. Although usually for sports clothing which gets fusty and stinky over time with repeated use, some other items of clothing can be like this also. If your machine is not doing it all the time and with every item, this may well be the explaination.

    slowoldman
    Full Member

    I find clothes only end up smelling nice and fresh if they spend time outside on the washing line.

    twicewithchips
    Free Member

    I am led to believe that they are designed around 1000 cycles, so unless you wash less than twice a week that’s a pretty good shift. Ours was on at least once a day when the kids were small. it didn’t make 3 years.

    choppersquad
    Free Member

    We had the same problem with ours and nothing would sort it.
    New machine.

    chestrockwell
    Full Member

    Might not be the machine at all. If you put too big a load in or leave the clothes damp for any length of time (including trying to dry in poorly ventilated areas) it can cause that smell.

    Lad I used to live with was always a bit wiffy for this reason.

    vincienup
    Free Member

    Washing machines really aren’t ‘consumer durables’ in the way they once were. I bought a perfectly good Hoover for about £250 new when I moved in to my current house in January. I’d expect a good, working s/h washer to be around £50-£100.

    Assuming you’ve checked there’s nothing icky jamming up any filters or drains (I had one that was stinking that turned out to be a part blocked drain descender out of the kitchen…) then really you’re left with trying to flush it. Don’t get the thing about gunky liquid hodgynd is on about unless you’re sticking it in the drawer instead of the intended was ball thingy…

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    Yeah leaving a load in for more than a few hours after a cycle .. You’ll just have to re wash it as it will whiff.

    spooky_b329
    Full Member

    Same here, if I dry the clothes indoors on a drier, they will normally smell. Same again if I’ve left a load in the machine overnight, or left them damp in the basket for a few hours before hanging up.

    Drying outside, or tumble drying and they do not smell.

    The only other time I’ve suffered it is when I had one of those silly eco-detergent balls filled with beads. Load of rubbish 🙂

    The annoying thing is sometimes the clothes smell OK, but once you’ve put them on and got to work, they warm up and start to whiff!

    mikeyd
    Free Member

    Anti bacterial condioner, Wilko / dettol works well. No more slightly pissy/musty smell

    olddog
    Full Member

    I use laundry/washing soda, especially good on stinky sports kit.

    Also, as above, may be a drying fail. Either outside on the line, or dry heavier stuff next to radiator. I guess a drier would work too, but I’m too tight…

    beefheart
    Free Member

    Move house, scrap the washing machine and burn all your clothes.

    dantsw13
    Full Member

    Stick 2 dishwasher tabs in on max temp once a month

    maccruiskeen
    Full Member

    If the machine has been cleaned then the other variable is the washing detergent you’re using and the temperature you’re washing stuff at.

    It might not be the machine but the clothes that are smelly. If the detergent / temp isn’t getting rid of stinky microbes then they’ll have a field day in wet cloth.

    Switching from non bio to bio and upping the temp and duration of the wash can make a big difference

    Also make the most of the machines spin function, help stuff to dry quicker once it’s out by spinning off more water in the machine.

    globalti
    Free Member

    The problem could well be with the clothes and not the washing machine. I would round of some of the clothes in question and put them through a cycle with some halo sports wash. Although usually for sports clothing which gets fusty and stinky over time with repeated use, some other items of clothing can be like this also. If your machine is not doing it all the time and with every item, this may well be the explaination.

    This. Washing at below 60c doesn’t kill bacteria and your clothes aren’t getting properly clean, so while they’re drying the bacteria are having lots of naughty fun and reproducing in the warm damp environment. Wash at over 60c or use a disinfectant.

    selkirkbear
    Free Member

    As above. It is the bacteria in the clothes not getting killed off in a 30 Deg C wash that causes the clothes to smell after a bit. Use some anti bacterial detergent and that should cure the problem.

    bruneep
    Full Member

    we wash dog towels and his blankets at highest temp we use a bio powder, that keeps machine smell free.

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    There must also be a water quality/hardness factor at play. All of our sports clothing gets washed at 30c or 40c in non-bio powder and has done for years. We don’t have any issues with smells.

    GlennQuagmire
    Free Member

    I’ve found that certain combinations of detergent and fabric conditioner have made my clothes whiff a bit odd. Have you changed brands recently or just using the same?

    Vanish do an “extra hygiene” additive which might help if it’s a bacteria issue as mentioned above – just add a small amount every now and again.

    I_did_dab
    Free Member

    I use napisan in with the wash occasionally, for those ‘agricultural’ rides. No problem with smells.

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    fabric conditioner

    I think I can see where you’re going wrong.

    retro83
    Free Member

    GrahamS – Member

    Can’t imagine much has drastically changed in washing machine technology in the last five years, unless the new ones have face unlocking and amusing emojis.

    Close, they play a tune when it finishes.

    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7gNfv-Rsyk[/video]

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