How to cure a stinky washing machne

[turnkey4099]

There is a product that does an amazing job of cleaning Dishwashers and washing machines - Lemi Shine. I learned about it from my "fix-it" guy.

My dishwasher was total grunge, one treatment and it was showroom clean.

Wal Mart has it in the 'cleansers' area, small box and hard to spot.

Harry K

 

[KennyG]

The last washer we had was a front-loader. The upsides were low water use, and it would wring almost all the water out on the spin cycle. The downside was that the drum bearings were shot in 10 years. The horizontal drum supported only one one end put a lot of strain on them. It would have cost more to replace the bearing assembly than to replace the whole machine.

Was that an early (circa 2000) Kenmore? We had one of those and the bearings went in 5 or 6 years. Our Meile is about 10 years old and our Whirlpool about 7 years old and they are very solid.

 

[mbohuntr]

i've heard that powdered detergents should never be used with septic systems, because they have plastic filler (to prevent caking/bridging) that never dissolves and can cause problems in the distribution field. true?

we do use powdered detergent in our dishwasher (it isn't used often) because the liquid stuff just doesn't get our dishes clean with the hard water in our area. the powdered detergent keeps the inside of the machine considerably cleaner, too!

our bosch washing machine gets a funky smell to it from time to time. i run baking soda through it and this generally clears things up. also, the door is always open when the machine is not in use.

Yep, seen the plugged leach field myself. My neighbor was digging it up and swearing up a storm. The pipes were clogged with undissolved detergent.

 

[mddorange]

Was that an early (circa 2000) Kenmore? We had one of those and the bearings went in 5 or 6 years. Our Meile is about 10 years old and our Whirlpool about 7 years old and they are very solid.

All Kenmore washing machine, Front and Top load used to be made by Whirlpool until LG took over in 2009.

 

[Scooby074]

IMHO good detergent is key.

For us, its Persil powder. Both Dad and I use it. Both our places are on septics. Neither his (Miele) nor my (Bosch Euro) machines have any smells.

Not only does it keep the machines in top order, its a way easier on the skin and gets the clothes super clean (no residue). Tide feels like an oily, smelly mess by comparison. The wife thought she'd be cheap and slip in some tide when we ran out, needless to say that didnt last more than one load because I was all broke out, there really is that much a difference.

Its pretty expensive on a per box basis ($60) compared to tide, but we get 6 mths out of a large box, and thats with 2 kids, and a load of laundry a day. It only requires about 30ml maybe less of detergent per load, so on a per load basis its pretty cheap.

 

[Ford850]

Many people use way too much detergent. They think if a little works ok, then double that will be much better. A major part of how detergent works is additives to soften your water so it can clean the clothes. If you have soft water, or a water softener, you can cut your detergent use in half and it will clean the same. That's what we do now and it works great, and the cothes don't hold as much of the detergent fragrance.

 

[MacLawn]

We have maybe same Bosch as old dave49 (were ye also born in '49?), front loader. We NEVER close the door! Never had a smell problem - never close the door. I do have to wipe out the water holding place dave mentioned.

 

[dave1949]

We have maybe same Bosch as old dave49 (were ye also born in '49?), front loader. We NEVER close the door! Never had a smell problem - never close the door. I do have to wipe out the water holding place dave mentioned.

Yep, born in '49. Always a lot of Dave's, just tried to pick something to tack on.

We leave our door open too and I'm sure that helps in the drum and door seal area, but the stinky smell comes from that sediment trap. Mine isn't easy to just wipe out, first you have to spill the water setting in it all over the floor, then you can do something after cleaning that up. :laughing: According to the user's manual, there are no customer serviceable parts there.

Maybe I should put an injection port on it, squirt in some bleach now and then.

 

[Tollster]

I use humidifier cleaning solution and washing machine cleaning tablets I found at Lowes, and good stiff shot of white cleaning vinegar for good measure..hard water is also an issue.