Comments on: Fighting the mold monster

By: Sue Sullivan

Sue Sullivan — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 03:15:55 +0000

http://www.smellywasher.com sells the miracle product to get rid of the smell, it works!

By: Kara

Kara — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 01:56:13 +0000

Oh no! I just picked up the dryer that will match the stacking washer when sears remembers to bring it in!! I look forward to hearing more on how it goes.

By: Marianne

Marianne — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 00:30:20 +0000

I don’t have a front-loading machine, but I know when my mom got hers a number of years ago the instructions very clearly state to leave the door open after each load to help it air out. In fact, top-loading washers shoudl also be left open after a cycle, but if they aren’t they air out better because of course there isn’t a water and air-tight seal around the lid.

Anyway, I agree with the hot water and bleach cycle. You may want to run it a few more times over the next few weeks just to be on the safe side. The bleach will also help kill stuff in the hoses.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 00:00:45 +0000

I saw (possibly “coldwater” too) liquid Tide Free HE at Loblaws last week. I don’t know if you can get it up there yet. I think it’s pretty new. It was in a white bottle.
Also, if you’re worried about safety and leaving the washer door open, can you install a baby gate to the laundry room / put a child lock on a door? That’s what I ended up doing.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:46:42 +0000

If all else fails I’d try running some sort of mold killing bathroom cleaner through like Tilex or something. I saw a lady who lives behind us washing out her clothes with a washboard in a kiddy pool! That’d be safe.!

By: Gen

Gen — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:20:46 +0000

We had the very same problem this week! Black mold was growing in the rubber seal. A bleach cycle and a good wipe down seemed to solve the problem, although the seal is stained now. I guess weekly maintenance is a must. Now, if only our fancy electronic dryer was able to survive those nasty Yukon power surges! How I long for my mother’s appliances which seemed to last 20+ years!

By: Beth

Beth — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:39:02 +0000

We bought a front load washer two years ago. We leave the door open between loads and we also pull back the rubber flap back at the bottom when you open the door and wipe that out.

I am allergic to mold so we are very careful with stuff like that.

We have not found any mold yet but sometimes do find a musty smell and when we do we just air it out and it seems to be fine!

By: allmycke

allmycke — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:27:46 +0000

I had the same problem with the washer at my previous adress and I realised that the mould started around the detergent tray. I began taking it out each time I was done and I also left the door open just a bit.
Nowadays I use a detergent free washing ball – and have thus eliminated both detergetn and softenser. It’s great!

By: Malva

Malva — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:15:43 +0000

I’ve heard of alot of people having mold problems in front-loaders and hating them (obviously) as a result. Most of them have Whirlpool (if I recall correctly) and other fancy brands.

But personally, I’ve had a cheap Kenmore front-loader for the last 4 years and I love it. I’ve never had any mold problems. In fact, I’ve never had any problems at all. I do leave the door open in between loads and when I used to buy laundry soap, I always bought HE one and if that wasn’t available, used the tinyest amount of regular stuff. I still use soap fyi, but I make my own.

By: Heather

Heather — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 05:12:11 +0000

I’m pretty sensitive to mold. What I recommend is running a bleach cycle (no clothes) wiping the gasket with an oxiclean type product and leaving the door open between loads. That should reduce your problem. Good luck!

Wow, you’re quick, Heather! Thanks for the tip. I’m actually running a hot-water bleach cycle with no clothes right this very minute. And I’ve got the buzzer on so that I can go open the door right away once the “load” is done. One thing I read was to also keep the detergent tray open between washes to let it air out.

The good news is that after I wrote this post I went to look at the washer and I couldn’t actually smell anything in it (it’s been drying out for a couple of days), so I take that as a good sign. Some of the threads I read had people complaining that their machines were stinking up entire houses. I wish I could figure out how to have a look at the drain hoses to see if there are any problems there, but I take comfort in the fact that I couldn’t smell anything nasty — my nose is pretty sensitive to mold.