smelly front load washer

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DOEBOY1

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i am at my wits end trying to get the corn chip smell out of the washer. i have taken the back off and pulled the pipes off the bottom and cleaned every piece of trash lint and broken ball point pen out of the traps. i went from hero to zero in about 2 seconds after the first load was finished. if any of you have fixed this problem please fill me in. i have run front load cleaner through it many times with no change. my oldest asked his mom why his shirts smelled like doritos. so enoughs enoughs i want this to end before i do a ballistics test on this expensive target. thx Doeboy
 
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Hi Doeboy!

Is the odor coming from the washing machine itself or the water supply?

If the washer, try doing an empty machine-full (no clothes) with 1 - 2 cups of household bleach.

If the water supply, PM me and I'll go over the many possibilities with you.

George, Water Supply Technician
 
Doeboy,George knows his stuff.I wonder if you have any filtration equipment?Are you smelling it in the shower?Or is it just the washer?Hot water or cold?

DG,another water guy.
 
s@wchad also has good advice.Very interesting and I'll consider that,it makes sense to me.Check out the link.I copied it.

DG
 
Several years ago ours had a funky smell, I did the vinegar trick and that fixed it. Since then we no longer completely shut the door when the washer isn't in use and the problem has been eliminated completely.
 
i have read all the comments and even previously read about the mold issues. i have run bleach, front loader tide cleaner, and purple power cleaned the seal with clorox cleaner and cleaned out all the pipes from underneath the machine that i could take off. if it were the water would the clothes not smell when they were taken out directly after the wash? Doeboy
 
jimmyj said:
Hi:
Run a large cup full of vinagar though the wash cycle. Second wash cycle run a large cup of lemon juice though a wash cycle.
Jimmy
Click to expand...

what kind white or regular vinagar. i remember my grandmother would use vinager to cover up the smell of a dead rat. i wonder if it could be residual from sweat not getting washed out in previous washes? Doeboy
 
I make my own laundry detergent. We don't use fabric softener or sheets. The new wife and kids thought I was crazy, but have accepted the fact that it works. I run 1/3 of a cup of white vinegar in the final rinse and use dryer balls, and no static cling, clothes are nice and soft and no more headaches from all the fragrances. I make the detergent from a bar of Ivory melted into 8 cups of filtered water. Two cups of washing soda and two cups of borax in a five gallon bucket. Dump the hot water/melted soap in and stir till the soda and borax are dissolved. Dump in 2 1/2 gallons of warm filtered water. Stir and store in jugs. Shake well before using, use 1/2 cup per load, costs about .02 a load to use. Machines smell and look like new, no soapy buildup or odors. The vinegar dissolves all the old soap buildup on your clothes, too.

Lots of people use this soap recipe in high efficiency washers, too, just google "Homemade laundry detergent" and you will see lots of threads on it.
 
My wife just fixed a friend's washer. They cleaned some little things they removed from somewhere. I've got a call in to her now; I'll let you know just what it was that they cleaned....
 
Steave said:
Several years ago ours had a funky smell, I did the vinegar trick and that fixed it. Since then we no longer completely shut the door when the washer isn't in use and the problem has been eliminated completely.
Click to expand...

We always leave our front load washer door open after doing the laundry, and have never had a mold/odor problem. I'd try the vinegar, lemon juice thing, and see how that works.

If you still have a problem, you may want to look into having the rubber gaskets around the opening removed and thoroughly cleaned, or replaced; that is usually where you have the mold problems... We purchased our machines last fall (LG, and it works great), and were told that most of the newer machines have antimicrobial coatings on these gaskets to limit the chance of mold. We were also told to leave the door open until the unit is thoroughly dry. Again, so far, no problems...
 
OK, I got the scoop. On this washer, a Whirlpool, there are two little plastic box thingies (direct quote) with screens in them in the middle of the drum. Check near the baffles. Take these out and clean them, and the hole they fit into. They used a toothbrush (still hoping it wasn't mine) and dishwashing liquid. They soaked them for a few hours and they cleaned right up. Next load came out smelling peachy!

BTW, this happened after the door was left closed and the washer unused for a couple of months, so +1 on the door thing.

Hope this helps!!
 
Like dmar, we always leave the door open until at least the next day after doing a load of laundry. I quickly noticed that when you take a load out and move the drum slightly, you can hear a small amount of water still sloshing around somewhere below it in the machine. I'm not really happy that the machine doesn't siphon or spin out all of the water, but we've managed to avoid an odor problem so far.
 
We had a Maytag Neptune, at first it was OK, then...the mold and mildew started, PU. We tried everything, door open, bleach, special cleaners. Scrubbed the gaskets clean with bleach (fun!). It got to the point that you could not let the clothes sit inside the machine for a minute after it was finished washing, we were slaves to the machine.

Please note I said we HAD that machine, one of the BEST things were did was get RID of that nightmare and buy a new topload. No more tree hugger junk for us thank you. We no longer smell like homeless people or live life around a washing machine.

Check google for smelly front load washer and you will get lots of hits. Lots of people blame fabric softener, I dont know.

Send it to the curb and move on, you will be happy again! :)
 
wheelgun28 said:
We had a Maytag Neptune, at first it was OK, then...the mold and mildew started, PU. We tried everything, door open, bleach, special cleaners. Scrubbed the gaskets clean with bleach (fun!). It got to the point that you could not let the clothes sit inside the machine for a minute after it was finished washing, we were slaves to the machine.

Please note I said we HAD that machine, one of the BEST things were did was get RID of that nightmare and buy a new topload. No more tree hugger junk for us thank you. We no longer smell like homeless people or live life around a washing machine.

Check google for smelly front load washer and you will get lots of hits. Lots of people blame fabric softener, I dont know.

Send it to the curb and move on, you will be happy again! :)
Click to expand...

I am half way there just not to the point of had one. I am running the white vinegar through it right now. As for the type of washer I have (wife has) it is a whirlpool duet. As for the smell it started about 6 monthes ago. I have also noticed that when I put my shirts on they itch. thanks for the comments if anyone has a trick that works or location of a filter (other than the one behind the very bottom panel that leaks if you don't tighten it enough) please let me know. Just got an up date on washer from my wife "still stinks!". I am still a failure only thing left to do is pour gas in it and clean it with a match. Looks like I'm going to have to sell one of my guns and buy a top load". Anybody want a package deal on 2 davis's and a pheonix? Doeboy
 
Doe, don't give up yet! Was just checking out my owner's manual for the whirlpool duet and saw some things on the installation set up. Check out your drain set up to ensure its according to the manual.
 
Did you try running "Affresh" through it? That's a commercial product meant to cleanse front load washers. You're supposed to run some through once a month.

What happens when you run it in santize mode? I always run ours in sanitize mode and just boil the clothes.
 
DOEBOY1 said:
i am at my wits end trying to get the corn chip smell out of the washer. i have taken the back off and pulled the pipes off the bottom and cleaned every piece of trash lint and broken ball point pen out of the traps. i went from hero to zero in about 2 seconds after the first load was finished. if any of you have fixed this problem please fill me in. i have run front load cleaner through it many times with no change. my oldest asked his mom why his shirts smelled like doritos. so enoughs enoughs i want this to end before i do a ballistics test on this expensive target. thx Doeboy
Click to expand...
Check the pockets for corn chips before ya wash the clothes-problam solved-thank you all. ;) Used to have a problem with all my clothes coming out orange before I started checking my pockets for cheetos :D
 
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