Washer issue driving me nuts

[blaczero]

A while back my washer/dryer combo started to make the clothes smell like mold. After a cycle, they just smelled. Never used to do this, used it for 2 years.

Tried vinegar, bleach, oxy, O3 water, and every solution I could find on the interwebs. Finally gave up, bought a new one.

Now 2 weeks later with the new one smelling fine, the clothes are smelling bad again, same smell as last unit. The first unit was a Magic Chef, this is a Splendide.

Any ideas as far as what to check? We drink the same water that goes into the washer, so I don't know how it could be that.

[enblethen]

Is the drain hose sealed where it goes into rig's plumbing? gases could be coming from the holding tank.

[blaczero]

magicbus wrote:
Did you clean the door gasket so it’s drain holes operate as they are supposed to?

Dave

The washer was 2 weeks old when it started to smell. I always leave the door open between washes, and I wipe it out whenever I see anything gathering.

[enblethen]

Tide product emits a fairly strong chemical type of odor. You must run a complete cycle as I suspect it could be some type of acid like used to clean swimming pools.

[magicbus]

Did you clean the door gasket so it’s drain holes operate as they are supposed to?

Dave

[way2roll]

enblethen wrote:
The Tide product does well in our home washer! Whether it will work for you is unknown.

How exactly does the tide product work? I suspect modern washer issues are a result of the design. I think products like Tide just mask the issues with fragrances.

[enblethen]

The Tide product does well in our home washer! Whether it will work for you is unknown.

[blaczero]

I've tried vinegar, oxy powder, bleach, dawn soap, baking soda.

Would this do better you think?

[enblethen]

Try running washer cleaning powder.
Tide washer cleaner

[blaczero]

All indicators point to the "leftover" water from previous load smelling. I use oxy powder in the main tray, and a little blue dawn in the pre-wash tray.

The reason I am thinking its the leftover water is because if I run the load 2x in a row, it smells significantly less.

Very frustrating.

[way2roll]

LMHS - tried all that. They still suck.

[SoonDockin]

If the unit does not completely dry out after use and you close it up, it can start to get a moldy smell. We went through that on a front load washer. Now we leave it open for a day and no more moldy smells.

[stickdog]

We have a Splendide 2100XL going on 6 years fulltiming. Only time it was not used was one summer in Alaska. Wife does the cleaning routine monthly and only adds vinegar. She leaves the door open a inch or so when not in use. I clean the lint vent every couple months. Hopefully it will last another 6 years.

[LMHS]

Using an HE (High Efficiency) washer is different than the previous generation of washers. You can't just shove dirty clothes in a big wad. You have to use a light hand and run a smaller load of clothes. I used to get stuck in the appliance dept at Home Depot. I learned a lot about HE washers because so many people had problems with them. Turned out they just needed to adjust how they loaded the machine. Kinda like going from a 700W microwave to a 1000W microwave. There will be some adjustments that need to be learned. HE washers just work better with liquid detergents. So do HE dishwashers and the small countertop dishwashers.

I have a Whirlpool Cabrio TOP LOAD HE washer. I find that I need to put clothes in the bottom of of the tub in a single clump, one item at a time. I start out spacing the clumped items, 6 items in the first layer, evenly around the tub. Then I put a second layer, lightly laid on top of the first layer but off set between the first layer clumps. With shirts, I can run a 3rd layer. I add a Color Catcher sheet and about a cup of baking powder on top of the dry clothes. I buy baking soda in 15 pound bags from Sam's Club.

I use 2 TBSP of a low sudsing coconut oil based liquid dish detergent. The brand I use is the PINK dish detergent from Sam's Club. I use white vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser. I don't use fabric softener in the washer or dryer. I have allergies to many of the fragrances used in laundry detergents.

I run most loads on Normal wash/Heavy soil/High spin/cold wash-cold rinse/Deep clean cycle. My daughter works at Harbor Freight and her work clothes are full of dirty mineral oil. They do come out clean. I don't pretreat her clothes either.

Bedding, coats and towels (I have bath sheets which are heavy oversized towels) are washed on Bulky Wash with all the other settings the same. Bulky Wash uses a higher level of water. But it's still not like the non-HE washers.

I used the same settings and methods when I was using my other daughter's front load HE washer. I also wiped out the door gasket with every use since we had dog hair in the laundry loads.

[magicbus]

The reason you need to leave the washer door open/ mop water from door sill/ spray bleach is because you need to press in and peel back the wide door gasket dead center at the bottom of the door sill and clean the drain holes in it. Ours clogs with dog hair and we clean it regularly. The gasket is attached on one side just for this purpose.

Dave