Washing machine smell?

[brandis77]

I am so lost when it comes to taking care of my house!! We have a Maytag washer and dryer, which we bought new about 1.5 years ago. We have been using them only for general laundry (no comforters or anything). The washing machine has a very sour smell to it .. is there anything we can do? Has this happened to other people?

[honeybunny]

Is it actually the washing machine or is it the clothes coming out of it? Sometimes if you leave the wet clothes in there too long they will get this sour odor to them and you basically have to wash them again. I don't have any tips on the washing machine itself smelling... never had that problem. Maybe someone else knows what to do.

[Life201]

in ours, there's a filter in the middle underneath the cup for the fabric softener. If you pull that section out, lint, hair, etc. gathers in there and that may be your problem. If there's a lot of buildup and it never really dries, that could be the smell.

[Cheatara]

If it is none of that you could try running a load with baking soda and add vinegar to the rinse cycle.

[arawak]

I totally agree with Cheatara, that is what I will do if anything.
Good luck mamita!

[suzieq728]

Brandis77
Hi sweetie, you said you have a maytag, is it a front loader?
The front loaders dont seem to extrac (sp?) the water as well as a top loader. The vineger douche (LOL) is a good idea.
Also the baking powder or both.
My washing machine stinks after I do a load of my sons stinky smelly socks. After I take the clothes out I use the Clorox clean-up, I spray the inside of the tub wipe it down,(or I use one of the Clorox wipes) then run a load of just hot water threw.
Also, do you have hard water??? Believe it or not, hard water stinks after awhile, but there is a product that you can use to break down the whatever it is thats in your water. I'll find out the name of it for you.
Well good luck... And remember, if all else fails, get a maid :D LOL...

[brandis77]

My machine is a top loader, and I have no idea if we have hard water. :( I am going to check and see if there is a lint contraption right now .. if not, how much baking soda and/or vinegar should I use?

Thanks everyone for the tips!!! :D

[suzieq728]

Put about 8oz vineger, maybe a cup of baking soda, fill with cold water and let it run threw. I would probably use more, but then again I am heavy handed when pouring stuff :rolleyes: ..

Have fun ;)

[brandis77]

Yay!!! The vinegar worked!!! Thanks for the help, ladies. :) :) :)

[suzieq728]

Hi Brandis
I am glad your problem is solved, now the bill is in the mail :D ..
Nah, only kidding, my Hometalker buddies get free service LOL....

How ya been? keeping busy???;)

[Csara]

I tried the baking soda and vinegar rinse for my washer too and it worked. I get such great tips from you guys!

[brandis77]

Yeah, I don't know what I'd do without everyone's advice!!

[Turtleheadfred]

Originally posted by Life201
in ours, there's a filter in the middle underneath the cup for the fabric softener. If you pull that section out, lint, hair, etc. gathers in there and that may be your problem. If there's a lot of buildup and it never really dries, that could be the smell.

Okay - I know this is an older post - but I was looking for some help because I've got washing machine problems when I came across this.

So I checked for the filter underneath the fabric softener cup. :gag: :gag: GAG!!!! That is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen!!!! Am I the only person that didn't know there was a filter thing under there you needed to clean!!!!????? OMG!!!! Y'all - check your washers and clean that thingy! It's TOTALLY DISGUSTING!!!! :eek:

[ParagonEos]

Oh No! I didn't know there was one, do they ALL have one?

[ParagonEos]

I looked under mine and I didn't see one, but there is something kind of set in deep under there that I don't know what it is...

[carrolswan]

I came to this site because I've been smelling something horrid from the laundry room for the past few months. Yikes, you guys are right - there is a whole other life form living under that fabric softener cup. I removed mine - GAG - and cleaned the holder. Then I saw the hex nut that holds the adgitator on and removed that. HORRORS. The gunk lined the inside of the adgitator and the post it sits on. Hosed the adgitator down in the yard to remove the gunk and put all the parts in a bucket full of boiling hot water and half a cup of dishwasher soap (my cureall for all hard to remove stuff) Let that set until the water cooled and then gave it a scrubbing. I used a flat screwdriver to scrape the hardened stuff off the post (be careful not to poke the little screens at the bottom of the washer tub) and vacuumed the scraps out with a shop vacuum. Put a half gallon of white vinegar in the washer with hot water and let it sit over night and then drained the washer. It's not squeaky clean but it sure smells better! Thanks to all posters for the good advice and ideas!

[Csara]

We now have a new washer and again that nasty sour smell has shown up. The difference with this one is that you don't just place the detergent in the machine, there is a special cup for it to go in. So, my question is, where would I put the vinegar and baking soda? Would I put it in the detergent cup?

[Csara]

:bump:

anyone??

[jana]

I don't know, but it's worth a try! With our front-loader, though (didn't you guys get a FL?), anything you pour into the detergent cup runs immediately into the main washer compartment - especially if it's thin like vinegar (as opposed to thick liquid detergent). When you start a load, the water flows through the detergent cup to wash it all down. So basically it will all end up in the washer pretty quickly. I'd still pour it into the detergent cup, though, because maybe it's something in there that smells. :huh:

[ParagonEos]

I wished I could help but I've never had that problem.

I refuse to get one of the new washers because I LOVE my large capacity 13 year old washer! It's the greatest and I will be really sad & mad when it breaks down :vent:

[Csara]

OMG, how embarrassing - I didn't realize we've had this funky smelling laundry problem for an entire year and I STILL haven't done anything about it. It is almost 10 p.m. but I swear I am going downstairs right now to do it. Will report back tomorrow morning to let you guys know if it worked. :D

[suzieq728]

:hug: :hug: :hug: To each and everyone of you!
C, how is motherhood treating you? How many others have had babies since I have been gone? I guess I have a lot of catching up to do around herer huh, oh BTW, did u get rid of your smell????

[Csara]

Hey Suze - I am doing great and love being a mom more than anything. It was definitely my calling. :D

Anyway, I tried the vinegar rinse and it did not work. HELP!!! Any other suggestions? The clothes all come out smelling fine, but it just stinks in there.

[suzieq728]

I know I read somewhere on this thread that you should just leave the door open, and thats what I have to do with my front loader too. My top loader never had a stinky smell, but the front loader seems to stink.
Now my cousin has a front loader and hers is fine, go figure..
I'll ask around on some appliance web sites...

[Jester]

Maybe leaving the door open is the key...let some air in and dry it out?

[nicolef888]

Try leaving the door open every night so that it dries out. I leave mine open after running a load and leave it open until I run the next load.

[Turtleheadfred]

Who was our "Appliance Maven"? I can't remember... was it Mel?

Anyway, you can take all the parts of the agitator apart and clean that, especially where the liquid softener goes in if you have one of those (and you should) because stuff gets stuck down in there. Use one of those long grabby things like you reach down inside pipes with if you drop your ring... you know? It's HORRID what you'll get out!!!

After you do that, then flush everything with vinegar and hot water and run through a complete cycle. Then another cycle to rinse everything.

Otherwise, all you should have to do is periodically run your machine with a hot water and bleach cycle by itself to keep it clean!:kiss2: