Stinky Washer

Do you have well water or city? You can alway use "Iron Out" just follow the instructions on the bottle. Maybe white vinegar would help too. You should run a full cycle with the product you try and then run another empty cycle before you wash anything.

Try adding a cup of white vinegar in a small wash (no clothes). Do this once a week for a couple of weeks then again about once a month. If the vinegar is not completely rinsed, it will not harm most fabrics or dyes like bleach will.

We have a front loading washer that had this problem. I did several loads with just bleach and several with just white vinegar (with a wash with just detergent between each). And I leave the door open when not in use to allow it to dry. We haven't had any issues since.

i would run a cycle of bleach water on hot and then run a cycle or two of just plain water. if the bleach makes you nervous try running a cycle and adding a cup of white vinegar and some baking soda...that should clean and deoderize it. then again run a couple of cycles of just plain water.

try that oxyclean stuff , i hear thats good

I agree that vineger might work. You could also try baking soda since it absorbs odors. Just put some in an empty washer and run a cycle. Just don't use the vinegar and baking soda together:) I use baking soda along with my detergent at times to help clean our clothes. Good luck!

I just read your message about the stinky washer and I think maybe if u try useing bakeing soda it might help. Sometimes when I wash colored clothes and if I dont get them out right away they smell. I noticed if I put a little bakeing soda in with the wash it doesnt do that. Hope this helps.

I used bleach to clean out my stinky washer and the clothes were fine. I would suggest running the rinse cycle after cleaning it out. Hope this helps.

I would try some white vinegar. It's one of the best natural cleaning products. Run an empty load with white vinegar in it and see if that helps. Otherwise I might wonder if there was something wrong with your washer and call a repairman.

I would run a cycle with just hot water and bleach. Pick the highest water level available and just use a cup or two of bleach, I assure you is won't ruin anything.

My washer was doing that not all that long ago, I did the bleach thing as my mom suggested and made sure that as soon as a load was done washing, I put it directly into the dryer; seems I have a small drip as well that is keeping the clothes inside it wet, and if I forget there's something in there until the following day, all the clothes smell nasty. I have to rewash and immediately move them into the dryer. So I also recommend you don't leave anything sitting in your washer.

Also if you ave rust problems, a cup of SnoBowl run through a cycle with just water works wonder to remove it!

You could give Vinegar or Borax a try. They both work to reduce odors. Or you could just run through a few cycles of plain hot water after you bleach if you are worried about it ruining your clothes. I find that if I leave the washing machine top open when it's not in use, it doesn't get stinky nearly as often.

vinegar! That also helps to keep a washer drain from getting clogged over time. Vinegar once a month really does the trick.

I had the same problem with my new washer. I finally read the instruction manual and it told me to run a empty washer with nothing but bleach. I do it about once a month.

You can wipe it out with bleach, then run it through a rinse cycle to rinse the bleach out...you can run it through a wash and rinse cycle with no clothes in it using vinegar instead of soap for the wash part of the cycle...if you prefer the lemon smell over the vinegar...use large chunks of lemon peal on the wash cycle with hot water. But keep in mind that you're only masking the smell and not getting rid of it. You may need to take it apart a bit to clean it out. Perhaps you have excess soap scum in there somewhere...sometimes depending on the soap that you use, it could cake up...like if you use powder detergent for example.

Run a cycle with a cup of vinegar in it.

Did you wash something crazy in there? Work clothes from your husband may be the problem if he has a dirty job. What I did was switched to a good detergent, era, gain, and tide are the best I've found. Also as long as there is no problem with the wash cycle there is no reason bleach would be in there at the end of the wash. I would get one of those cleaners directed toward deep cleaning. I really like 'mean green'. Concentrated it is very strong and I'd run maybe a half cup through a cycle alone, then of course upgrade your detergents as I mentioned. Good luck with that one! I'd like to hear what happens.

Have you tried using vinegar? This stuff works wonders.
T.

If vinigar and bleach and baking soda don't do the trick I have heard of a product called odo-ban. I haven't used it myself but I have heard miracle stories about this stuff. I don't know exactly where it is sold but I have seen it at Sam's Club if you have a membership. I know you can get it on-line too. Good Luck!

Run the washing machine on hot with 1-2 cups of vinager on the largest setting. This will clean all of the built up residue out and make the machine more effective. This should be done with all machines every couple of months.

along with the suggestions of cleaning the washer, get the drain for the washer cleaned out too. Especially if you have/had a dog. that fur can really gunk up a washer...

Check your hot water heater. Mine went out slowly last summer. The worse it got the worse my clothes smelled. The only thing I could do was use cold water since it bypassed the heater. When I did towels the cold water wouldn't work to get the mustly smell out so I used warm water and a cup full of white vinegar. It worked like a charm. Now that I have a new heater, I don't have to use the vinegar, but I still keep it on hand when I wash my husbands work clothes, bedspreads, and even the dog bedding. Vinegar is great for taking out all those unwanted smells. I swear by it.
If it is not the hotwater heater, just run a few cups of amonia threw in an empty cycle. You will be suprised at the soap suds that form from build up. My grandmother told me this trick and it really does work.

try ammonia. run it thru its cycle with nothing in there except that, it should do the trick. good luck!!

You didn't mention if it's a front loader but our front loader will get musty smelling. I found the following to help:

*leaving washer door open
*opening detergent drawer (and emptying any water that may have collected
*switching from Tide HE to Wisk HE and All HE

I was surprised that Tide seemed to make the musty smell worse, but switching detergent has made a world of difference. When I was buying Wisk the other day, the cashier mentioned she doesn't have musty smells anymore since she switched to Wisk.

Good luck!