Smelly Washer

moorefish5

Senior Member
Hey guys I was wondering if anyone has ever experienced this and maybe has a few pointers on what to do. Last summer we sold a house and moved to another house. In the time between the moving out an moving in, we left our washer and dryer in storage for about 3 months. Ever since we have moved into our new home all of our clothes and towels seem to have this extreme mildew smell to them. I have done some research online as to how to handle this situation and have tried every thing I could find from using vinegar to wash clothes in, to buying "smelly washer" or "pure washer" detergent that I have heard was the magic trick. These are not high efficiency washer and dryers, they are just standard ones. Hope somebody has got this fix for this, we have been fighting this battle for almost a year now. Thanks, Robert.
 

bany

Senior Member
i think i'd try filling the washer as full as possible,even adding some water after the cycle stops and using several cups of bleach. then let it sit for several hours.this may be alittle tough to smell for awhile depending on where the machine is in you house.then let it run through a cycle,no clothes of course!!
 

moorefish5

Senior Member
no this is the regular washer that is loaded from the top.

We have tried bleach already on the cycle that fills with the most water, but haven't tried adding water to that to completely fill it up. We will give this a try and see how it works.
 
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tuffdawg

Guest
Have you tried putting baking soda in the load?? My front loading washer does this ever so often. It smells like the water doesnt spin out good or either the mineral deposits from the water build up every few months and then the clothes start smelling soured. You probaly just have stagnant water and sludge stuck somewhere. I will wash about five or six loads straight with a cup of baking soda in each one and its good to go. Just use your detergent like normal and add the baking soda. I PROMISE IT WILL WORK!! If it doesnt work I will come and wash your clothes for you!!! :)
 
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suburbanman

Member
My wife and I stopped using powder detergents; they leave a residue that will stink over time. We began using a liquid soap, Charlie's Soap, which is this all-natural stuff, and over time, the washer stopped smelling. And it used to smell BAD. Also, leave the lid open when not in use to dry things out.
 

dixie

Senior Member
the baking soda sounds like a good idea, if that didn't work I'd try running it with hot water and a quart or so of purex bleach in it
 
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tuffdawg

Guest
Ditto on the powdered detergents. We use liquid and leave the door open when not in use.

I swear by the baking soda, we have lots of mineral deposits in our well water, and about every four or five months we have to use the baking soda trick for about a week straight and it works!
 

JeffC3030

Senior Member
This sounds like something that we had a problem with. We thought our washer was causing clothes to have an odor. I would notice it especially if I was sweating. Found out the problem was not our washer. I work outside every day, so in the summer, I sweat a good bit. Well, I would put my shirt in the laundry basket and it would stay in there, maybe for a couple of days, when the next load was washed. Found out that the sweat soaked shirts were causing the smell issue. Once we figured this out, we had no other issues.

Maybe this is not the issue with your washer, but figured I would throw out the tip, just in case.
 
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