High Efficiency Washing Machines and Bad Smelling Water
Front loaders are all the rage now, and rightly so: they are easier on your clothes; they can handle ginormous loads of laundry; some even have steam cycles for delicates and removing wrinkles. But none of this is any good if the washer is making your clothes smell worse instead of better. What's worse than drying off after a shower with a fresh, fluffy, warm towel...that smells like mildew? Don't worry--all is not lost. You can keep your front loader(and clothes) odor free.
- Understand what makes the washer smell. Unlike top loader washing machines, front loaders don't drain completely every time a load of laundry is done. Think of a soda can. If you poke a hole in the bottom, and let it drain out, it will all drain out--like a top loader does. But if you turn it on its side and poke a hole there, there will be a bit left over in the can. Sort of like a front loader.
- Leave the door open whenever there is not a cycle being washed. This allows moisture to escape. After a wash, the tub is warm and wet: a hotbed for mold and mildew to grow. When the door is closed, the water has nowhere to go, except down further under the tub. Opening the door allows it to evaporate into the air, and allow fresh air in. Look at the picture below. A load of laundry was done two days before this picture was taken. For those two days, the door was shut. Notice how much moisture is still left in the drum.
- Use HE or "high efficiency" detergent all the time. Super concentrated, this produces less suds and has less fragrance than regular detergents. The volume of suds produced by regular detergents acts like sludge to water draining out of the tub. Also, their fragrances mix with the mildew-y water to produce something much, much, worse.
- Rub a cloth over the inside of the washer after each load. If you're too lazy for this, and let's face it, who isn't? Try to do this once a week. Keep a roll of paper towels nearby, and wipe down the glass on the inside of the door. Then, peel back the rubber door seal, and clean in there. You'll notice little grooves. Water sits here, collects and... yep, you guessed it! Stinks. Just cover your finger with a paper or real towel, stick in the grooves, and spin the washer slowly. You'll notice there are two grooves. Clean both. Check out the gunk.
- Clean the drain pump filter. This should be done about every two weeks. The drain pump filter gets slowed down, and fills up with stinky water over time. Old water that never drained sits here, as does lint and other odd items. The drain pump filter is usually located at the front bottom of the washer. If you're lucky enough to a drain plug next to it, pull that out, put the hose in a bucket and let it empty before opening the filter. If you don't have a plug, have your bucket ready under the filter before you open it--you'll be shocked how much water flows out! Once that is done, pull the filter out, and clean it.
- Clean the tub. Some washers have a "tub clean" feature. If yours does, pour two cups of bleach into the detergent area. Then run the tub clean with an empty washer. If your front loader doesn't have this feature, pour the bleach and run it, empty, on its hottest cycle. When it's done...wipe down and leave the door open. Bleach and heat are a great combination for killing nasty colonies of microstinkies. Do this about once a month, or as often as you deem necessary. W
If your HE Washer is smelling you can also use a product developed by Whirlpool called
Affresh.
Affresh™ Washer Cleaner removes and prevents odor-causing residue that can occur in all brands of HE washers. While bleach only kills odor-causing bacteria leaving behind the detergent residue, Affresh™ Washer Cleaner uses surfactant chemistry to remove the root problem. Affresh™ cleaner is a formulated, slow-dissolve, foaming tablet that gets under residue, breaks it up, and washes it away leaving the washer smelling fresh and clean. Simply place one tablet in the wash basket (without clothes) and run a Normal Cycle (hot option) or Clean Washer Cycle. Affresh™ brand is environmentally friendly, safe on septic tanks, and safe for all washer components
