"Also, try a cup of powdered dishwasher soap in the tub of the washer"

 

I've been using Front Loaders for almost 20 years. Long before they became "popular" and - for the most part - affordable.

 

I had odour problems - and imbalance issues - even with my first front loader. A German made AEG unit. And the distributor (and manufacturer) both recommended running a "hot" cycle with a cup of powdered dishwasher detergent in it about once a month. Cleans and disinfects the tub and seals, and, it cleans out any residue built up in the tub, on the drum, etc.(Dishwasher detergents usually contain bleach.)

 

NOTE: The European machines are 220 volt and "hot" means cranking them up to 95°C. North American models don't go that high but they do have a "sanitary" cycle on them that heats the water to at least 70°C. USE IT. You need it to kill the bacteria.

 

Cheers!

I have had an LG front load for just over a year.  It was great for several months and then my laundry room started to smell like a swamp.  I emptied the hose and cleaned out the trap and things were ok for about 2-3 weeks.  My clothes smelled terrible (I thought it was me!!) until I realized the source was actually the washer itself.  I was having to empty the hose almost every week to keep the smell down in the room.  On a whim, I tried the Odour Eliminator from  Norwex and the smell is gone.  Yes I am a consultant however I would have tried anything to make the smell go away.  Now I add 2 capfuls into every 3rd or 4th load into the fabric softener area.  I emptied the hose today and it was milky but it didn't smell at all.  I was getting ready to get rid of the washer but the Odour Eliminator seems to have done the trick for me anyways.

I've had my LG washer since the beginning of October. I can report no smell at all.

 

Knowing that so many people have had this problem with front loading machines, I've been paying attention to the issue. Every few washes I've been sticking my head into the machine, and taking some deep breaths to see if there is a developing odor problem. 6 months into using the machine there is nothing but a pleasant clean smell in my washer.

 

Now I've taken some precautions, and I recommend if you own a front load machine, you should to.

 

1. I keep the door open between washes. Always! If air can't circulate inside it will become stagnant.

 

2. I have never used anything in my washer except HE certified soaps and softeners. Absolutely no regular soaps, be they powdered or liquid , go in my machine. Soaps that do not have the HE certification foam up, and leave residue inside that the washer struggles to expel. That residue is the perfect breeding ground for mold and bacteria. NO REGULAR SOAPS... ever. 

 

I'm going to keep reporting back on this issue. If I ever develop a smell I'll post it here on the forum right away. However, from what I have seen, if you follow those 2 rules religiously, you should never have a problem.

 

If you do develop an odor problem, I'd steer clear of dishwasher detergent. I'd be worried that it would have some unforeseen problem like eroding seals on the washer, or damaging the rubber gasket around the door. Instead I'd use a product like Affresh, which is designed to remove smells in front load machines.

 

Future Shop sells the Affresh tablets here.

 

Also, I've been using the soap Future Shop sells. Attitude Eco-Friendly Laundry Detergent.

I really like the light fresh scent, and it does an amazing job on my clothes. Though I have on occasion used the Arm and Hammer HE soap, when I went through the supermarket, and decided not to make a trip to Future Shop. As far as cleaning results go however, the Attitude soap is much better. I'm down to just 2 tablespoons of soap to a full 4.0 cubic foot capacity wash load. I'm getting way more than 40 loads out of a single bottle.

 

I hope this helps.

I purchased an LG washer and dryer from future shop in 2003.  I had numerous problems with my washer.  The odour and mildew problem was disgusting.  They did replace the rubber liner for me as the newer models had three drain holes which mine did not.  I had this machine serviced probably five or six times in the first five years including a new motor.  Well now it is 7 years old and the motor is gone once again, and now the gears are shot from water leaking through the gears.  What a lemon.  So now what do I do?  Buy another one so that my washer and dryer match?  Not a chance.

This does not apply to only LG manufactured machines

Bad smells and spider corrosion in front load washing machines.

When all other remedies for curing bad smells coming from front load washers have been tried and have not been found satisfactory I believe the source of the smell may well be corrosion of the aluminium spider with the products of this corrosion harboring ‘water’ that turns foul as described below, or, should no corrosion have occurred any retained water will, if left long enough, turn foul.

Aluminium, and its alloys, are corroded when immersed in an aqueous solution with a pH value below about 4.0 (acidic) [nitric acid is a well known exception] or above about 8.0 (alkaline), most laundry aids, detergent including HE detergent, borax, bleach, sodium carbonate, sodium percarbobante, sodium hydroxide, Affresh and OxiClean can have pH values above 8.0 should the required concentrations be reached. At the normal operating levels found in washing machines these values are not exceeded. However when the machine is shut down any water remaining will contain, inter alia, soil from the laundry, products of the interactions between the soil and the laundry aids used, unused laundry aids, and the chemicals found in the tap water. As the water from this mixture evaporates the concentration of the ‘impurities’ rises until such time as a ‘smelly sludge’ develops and/or a pH level above about 8.0 is reached and corrosion occurs.

Prime areas for these deposits to occur are, in my opinion, the recesses found at, or very near, the hub of some of the aluminium alloys spiders found in front load washing machines. The final spin, no matter how fast, will not, in my opinion, remove all the ‘water’ from theses recesses.

 

To see fractured spiders from Frigidaire built machines, Whirlpool ‘Duets’ and other manufacturers’ please visit: -

http://fixitnow.com/wp/2009/10/28/front-loading-washer-corrosion-contagion-a-menagerie-of-metallic-m...

 

 

Not all manufacturers use spiders with recesses, Speed Queen do not (Speed Queen call them trunnions) and photographs at: -

http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?30834

show Miele spiders without recesses. There may be others.

 

Unfortunately the only way to cure the bad smell and/or corrosion in these cases is to strip the machine down, clean it, perhaps modify the spider, reassemble and alter your laundry practices. Not a popular solution I would guess!

According to the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) put out by Whirlpool, the manufacturer's of 'Affresh" its main components are, sodium carbonate (washing soda) and sodium percarbonate. Now when water is added to sodium percarbonate it reacts to form hydrogen peroxide, the actual cleaning agent, and sodium carbonate.

Sodium carbonate is, should the required concentration be reached, (pH level above about 8.0) corrosive to aluminium. It is also hygroscopic which means it will always be at least 'damp' in air and therefore could be very corrosive to aluminium.

Thanks biguggy!

 

I can say I've used the affresh pucks maybe half a dozen times since the washer was brand new.  We started getting a moldy smell not long after we purchased the LG Trom series washer. 

 

I think the solution that had the BIGGEST effect for avoiding the mold smell was to leave the door open when the washer was not in use.  This is not the most visual appealing solution as the front load door is usually in the way when walking past the machine.  A top loader does not have this problem and why our next washer will be a top loading machine.  Also it will have the steam function!

I really do not understand how front loading washers can be called energy efficient when:

 

1.  I need to purchase laundry detergent that is more expensive than top loading detergent.

2.  I need to purchase cleaning products to clean the machine, which I never in the entire time of owning a top loader needed to do.

3.  Run the washer on hot water cycle in order to reduce the chance of mold, when I only used the cold cycle on my top loaders, unless it was bedding.

4.  The cost of running the machine extra times to clean it or re wash clothing that came out with an odor.

5.  Have the machine running on the heavy duty cycle, which is 1 hour 30 mins, just so the clothes come out clean, and still do not have food on them.  This only took 30-40 mins on my old top loaders.

6.  Spend time worrying about drying out the machine after each use, especially since I have children who also use it and do not dry it out after each use, unless I follow behind them.

7.  Sending my comforter to be dry cleaned since it will not properly fit in the washer or dryer, and only half of it comes out clean when I do wash it  in the washer.  (I have the second largest capacity washer available by Samsung).

 

Oh there are so many other problems I could probably write a book, I am at my breaking point of replacing them with the old fashioned top loader!  I think the saying goes "If it ain't broke, why fix it?"  Exactly, I fell in to the trap of  "needing" them, because they are "energy efficient", and look so pretty sitting in my laundry room!  Thousands of dollars later this is what I realize  

It is NOT user error, this washing machine is meant to wash clothing and save us money, not create more problems and hassles.  As a full time working mom of 3, my time is valuable, so dealing with such problems is just not realistic.

My wife's sentiments exactly. The only thing that makes these front loaders energy efficient, is that they use less water. In Washing, less water translates into greater washing time, suds remaining in the clothes requiring more water (extra rinse cycle) to try to reduce the amount, and skin irritations because of the suds staying in the clothes. Our family cannot use just any He soap because we start feeling itchy. So in the end the question is, are these front loaders really energy efficient? This LG model uses more energy than our older Maytag top loader did, which was at least 10 years old. The new front loaders seem to waste a lot of time going back and forth, and then waiting. My wife has also had it with front loaders. We are going out to buy a top loader that does not have the energy star designation, and also one that allows us to decide how much water to add to the cycle, not some engineer who has no idea what it takes to wash clothes properly. And the last beef my wife has about washers today, is where is the hot/hot option. It seems that we are going back in time, where we have to lose something in order to claim energy efficiency. Not only that, but doing the laundry is taking much much longer than before. What every happened to increasing productivity for the person doing the laundry? What is up with that?!