Washing Machine Odor

Steve B. wrote:
Forgot to mention that I only use 2 tablespoons of powdered detergent, or one pod.
Tide or Arm and Hammer. Works well.

Steve
2 tablespoons is correct.

If you are going to use the pods; poke a hole in it or slice it open with a knife, then put it in the tub with the clothes.
The reason I say to cut it open is the makers had to make the skin of the pods tougher because babies were getting a hold of them and sucking out the soap.
I think the pods have about 1/3 too much detergent in them for the standard load of clothes.

Forgot to mention that I only use 2 tablespoons of powdered detergent, or one pod.
Tide or Arm and Hammer. Works well.

We were told to put a teaspoon of dish soap in the washer and run a cycle with nothing in the washer.

Almost all of the odor problems associated with washers are the fault of the detergent. That said, all of the detergents available today are the problem. A few years ago, the manufacturers stopped putting phosphates in the detergents; this is why we have odor problems, black scum in the drain pipes, septic field problems, and poorly cleaned clothes. We started adding a small amount of TSP (trisodium phosphate) to each load, along with the usual detergent. End of problems. No more odors, no residue, no black scum.
Yeah, I know I'll get flamed by the tree-huggers for this, but it really does more good than harm. We were starting to notice problems with our septic field until we started using TSP, now the problems have gone away.

The Kroc wrote:
Front load washers retain about a cup of used water at the end of the wash, Newer washers have a hose that drains this dirty water. Over time, the bacteria interacts with the soap scum to produce a foul odor, I would not buy a front load washer until the manufacturer's solve this problem

The only water that is retained is past the pump in the drain hose. It can NOT get back in the washer because there is a one way valve there on the outlet side of the pump.

Some of the older Maytag washers did not have a drain hose on the door seal, but most of those are long gone to scrap. The door seal can be changed out to the newer style with a drain.

Front load washers retain about a cup of used water at the end of the wash, Newer washers have a hose that drains this dirty water. Over time, the bacteria interacts with the soap scum to produce a foul odor, I would not buy a front load washer until the manufacturer's solve this problem

If you are using a cheep detergent that won't dissolve in cold water, you will need to use warm or hot.

If you buy a quality detergent (Tide etc) cold wash should work.

I tell people out here in the Northwest where we have soft water to only use 1/3 to 1/4 of a scoop. (what ever the size scoop that comes with the package)

We use 1/4 scoop of the Kirkland powder detergent and the washer doesn't stink and I get clean clothes. I have seen the inside of the tub when I did a bearing job on the machine and it was free of soap scum.

I couldn't do hot/hot or warm/warm if I wanted to. All cycles have a cold rinse on my machine. I don't do cold wash very often so I don't think that has been the issue.

I had the repair guy in to check on the smell from my new top loader washing machine. I replaced the old one because of it was smelling no matter what I did. I thought that being 15 years old, a seal had gone and oil was getting into the tub.
The repair guy asked what temp cycle we were using. I told him that I had always used warm/warm. Then my new house partner who had taken over most of the laundry duties coreccted me and said that she was using cold/cold because that's what the laundry detergent said was okay. He advised us to go back to at least warm/warm and see if the smell went away. It did.

Fast forward a few years. New house partner, new house, brand new front load washer and drier. After a few weeks of use, the towels started to stink. We had faithfully dried the washer after each use and left the door propped open. Then I remembered the previous washing machine problems. I checked and the default setting for the washer was cold/cold. I changed it to warm/warm and after a few cycles of using hot/hot, the smell went away. I've used it now for 3 years and no more smell problems.

Boy, do I have experience with this! The problem with mine was not the rubber gasket on the front. It's in the washer. My machine is on the ground floor of my home so it is subject to warmer temperatures than when the machine is in a basement. The same machine at our city home, and at my sister's, in the basement have not had this problem. It just came up again before I left for a trip about 10 days ago. Here's what I've done what works...
There is a treatment with vinegar and baking soda that helps, just google washing machine odor and it will come up. The Tide washing machine cleaner only masked it, did not fix it. Affresh tablets also seemed to work. Another product that worked is called Smelly Washer. I also use it to treat my bath towels to get the musty odor out that the washer puts in them. After reading all of the comments from people that have dealt with this problem, I also stopped using liquid detergent and fabric softener. I'v gone quite awhile without a problem until this current warm weather hit. Bleach did not cure the problem. Using Borax with your wash may also help. I also tried the new cleaner from Oxyclean, which may have worked. The next day I treated the towels with Smelly Washer so it was hard to tell. So try: Smelly Washer, Affresh (Walmart carries it) or the vinegar/baking soda treatment. Good luck! I use Arm and Hammer detergent packs that have baking soda in them - love the scent and get my clothes very clean. Give them a try.