Remove Front Load Washer Odors

June 14, 2012 by TyWells 0 comments

Eww, does your Front Load Washer have your clothes smelling like they came from Oscar the Grouch’s closet? Does it smell like a sewage drain and knock you down when you open the door? Yeah, no worries ALL front loaders get that sour smell. There’s an easy fix and I’ll tell you how to clean it to rid that horrible smell.

Here’s what happens, When Front Load Washers finish a cycle, some water is left un-drained, when we close the door to the washer, there’s no way for the leftover water to evaporate, therefor causing an odor, A FOUL ODOR at that. The moisture also causes mold and mildew inside the rubber lining between the wash drum and door. When we first moved to the new house, the washer and dryer was already in there. I put some towels in the washer quickly and didn’t notice the smell until after they were washed. When I opened the door I gagged and the smell almost made me vomit. It was horrible, almost to the point I was just going to buy new towels. I tried everything to see what would get that smell out of the washer from bleach to washing it by itself, I bought stuff made just for front loaders to “Clean” it but the smell still lingered. Then I thought, get some ammonia and cover the inside and really “detail” it. When I pulled that rubber ring back a little bit it was soured water that had BLACK mold and mildew all around the ring and the smell was so bad that I had to cover my face just to be able to breathe without gagging. So I took my rag and started wiping, it took 5 ( YES 5) rags to get all the mold and mildew out. Once I did that, I regularly clean my washer and I don’t have an odor issue at all with it anymore.

Here’s what you will need:
Ammonia (I like lemon scented)
Gloves
Spray bottle
An OLD rag (trust me its not really usable afterwards except to clean the washer)
A Gas or Face Mask (no really the smell and the fumes from the ammonia is HORRIBLE)

First, Cover your nose and make sure that the room is well ventilated, Open a window, leave the laundry room door open, etc. It gets really REALLY fumy (yes I made that word up ) Over look me, I was tired and just got up. But it had to be done before I washed.

First spray and wipe the door off, Especially the bottom, Mildew (the white spots) tend to build up here.

Then Glove up and be ready to be disgusted, Just saying. Take the rubber ring and pull it back, (like I said, when I first done it, it was horrible, but mine doesn’t look that bad now) spray inside the washer and the rag itself, (For safety please don’t inhale the fumes and pass out) try to wipe every part inside the ring you possibly can. You may even need more rags if its never been cleaned before.

Once you have wiped, pull back and inspect, there’s always a few parts that was left, make sure there is no mild or mold left behind.

Now, if the pull out drawer for the detergent and fabric softener is removable, remove it and place in your sink.

Notice the stuff left behind and under the detergent drawer? Eww, Wipe that off.

Now spray the drawer down with ammonia, wash off, and replace back in washer.

Now, Last thing, Run a cycle of sanitary or really hot water with no items in the washer, add about a cup full of ammonia to the empty washer and let it finish. There COULD possibly be a little odor left, wash towels like regular but add ammonia to the wash cycle. I know it sounds odd, but I always was a couple of loads with my towels and garments every now and then, check to make sure it wont remove the color to your clothes first. This is my opinion, but I think its very accurate, ammonia enhances the scent of the fabric softener while helping kill and odors as well. If towels you have previously washed has the odor try this post to remove to remove. Also, NEVER mix Bleach and Ammonia!

LAST THING, But VERY IMPORTANT, Never leave clothes longer than 15 minutes in the washer after being washed, & ALWAYS leave the door to the washer open so the leftover water wont build moisture for mold.