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Front Loader Mildew & Odor
This advice is for preventing or getting rid off that awful mildew smell associated with front loader style washing machines.
The first thing to do is to CHECK IN AND AROUND THE RUBBER DOOR BOOT (called a bellow) for small articles of clothing (like socks and underwear) that may have gotten lodged in behind the rubber. Pull the rubber back where it meets the wash tub and look behind it. It is common for small items to get stuck here, become forgotten and start to mildew. You should check this area after each wash and clean it periodically to get rid of the formation of soap scum, mold, and mildew. HINT: When you get ready to wash a load of towels, take a dirty towel and clean the door boot thoroughly (including the areas behind the rubber). Immediately place the towel in the wash and run it on a sanitary cycle. This way you eliminate the need for cleaning rags.
PERIODICALLY RUN THE WASHER ON A CLEANING CYCLE. Place the washer on the hottest setting you have (usually a Sanitary cycle) with nothing but bleach in the wash tub. Some newer models actually have a “Clean Cycle” available now just for this purpose. This helps keep the wash tub, drain lines and pump sanitized.
CHECK AND CLEAN THE DRAIN PUMP FILTER. Accumulations of debris in the drain pump filter can also cause odors. HINT: If you own a shop vac, pull the drain hose from the standpipe at the wall and pull a vacuum on the line. This will drain any residual water left in the tub, pump and drain lines BEFORE you remove the drain pump cover. This will prevent a messy clean up later.
LEAVE THE DOOR OPEN IF POSSIBLE. When not in use, leave the door open to allow the tub to air out and to keep mold and mildew from forming on the door bellow. I know this may not be desirable in some households with small children. If too much mildew forms on the rubber and it cannot be removed, replacement of the bellow may be required.
NOTE: This problem is common with front loader style washing machines. The doors on these machines have an air tight/water tight seal that is great for sealing the washer during the wash cycle, but can be terrible for collecting small garments and for not allowing the tub to properly air out when not in use. Following these simple preventive measures can go a long way towards preventing harmful mold and mildew, and towards extending the life of the door bellow and pump.
The first thing to do is to CHECK IN AND AROUND THE RUBBER DOOR BOOT (called a bellow) for small articles of clothing (like socks and underwear) that may have gotten lodged in behind the rubber. Pull the rubber back where it meets the wash tub and look behind it. It is common for small items to get stuck here, become forgotten and start to mildew. You should check this area after each wash and clean it periodically to get rid of the formation of soap scum, mold, and mildew. HINT: When you get ready to wash a load of towels, take a dirty towel and clean the door boot thoroughly (including the areas behind the rubber). Immediately place the towel in the wash and run it on a sanitary cycle. This way you eliminate the need for cleaning rags.
PERIODICALLY RUN THE WASHER ON A CLEANING CYCLE. Place the washer on the hottest setting you have (usually a Sanitary cycle) with nothing but bleach in the wash tub. Some newer models actually have a “Clean Cycle” available now just for this purpose. This helps keep the wash tub, drain lines and pump sanitized.
CHECK AND CLEAN THE DRAIN PUMP FILTER. Accumulations of debris in the drain pump filter can also cause odors. HINT: If you own a shop vac, pull the drain hose from the standpipe at the wall and pull a vacuum on the line. This will drain any residual water left in the tub, pump and drain lines BEFORE you remove the drain pump cover. This will prevent a messy clean up later.
LEAVE THE DOOR OPEN IF POSSIBLE. When not in use, leave the door open to allow the tub to air out and to keep mold and mildew from forming on the door bellow. I know this may not be desirable in some households with small children. If too much mildew forms on the rubber and it cannot be removed, replacement of the bellow may be required.
NOTE: This problem is common with front loader style washing machines. The doors on these machines have an air tight/water tight seal that is great for sealing the washer during the wash cycle, but can be terrible for collecting small garments and for not allowing the tub to properly air out when not in use. Following these simple preventive measures can go a long way towards preventing harmful mold and mildew, and towards extending the life of the door bellow and pump.
Comment by jsrock516, posted on Apr 21, 2008
Thank you for your feedback. I never said leaving the door open would evaporate the water. Leaving the door open allows the wash tub to air out and helps prevent mildew build up. This can help get rid of the "musty" odor many consumers complain about. Standing water can be caused by the small holes near the bottom of the bellow where it meets the wash tub becoming clogged with soap scum. That's why it is recommended that you check this area after each wash load and clean periodically.
Comment by jsrock516, posted on May 03, 2008
kburns7274,
Using the wrong type of detergent, or too much detergent can attribute to the build up of soap scum. Which, in turn, can lead to some foul odors. In addition, since this washer has a tight sealing door and little light gets in, leaving it shut can attribute to the build up of mold and mildew. Which can also lead to foul odors. There's also a small amount of water that remains in the wash tub, drain lines and drain pump after washing. This is normal, but sometimes this water can sour, which can attribute to the same problem. I'm not saying what I have recommended here is an ABSOLUTE fix to everyone's problem, but I can assure you that it does help. It worked for me and has worked for many others. I personally own a Kenmore HE3t and follow the same routine for my own washer. Other than replacing a worn out bellow once, I haven't had a problem with it in over 8 years (now I may have jinxed myself). I do value your feedback and hope you find a resolution to your problem. I agree that there's some things about this washer that the manufacturer doesn't always tell you. Good Luck to you.
Yes
No
Comment #1
posted on Oct 10, 2009
POTENTIAL BUYERS BEWARE
(Current owners – tough luck)
Some of these front load machines have aluminium (Al) spiders connecting the spin drum to the drive pulley.
Aluminium is corroded by, amongst other things, sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) otherwise known as ‘bleach’, Sodium carbonate, Sodium percarbonate, (these later two I found listed on the contents of a popular laundry aid), sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) (this one is sometimes used as a stabiliser in ‘bleach’ but I did not find it listed on the two containers of ‘bleach’ I found in our house).
To demonstrate what ‘bleach’ can do to aluminium just find a piece of scrap aluminium, without any coating, or remove the coating and let it sit in air for a couple of days to develop the naturally occurring oxide coating, then put one drop of ‘bleach’, straight from the bottle, onto the aluminium and leave it overnight. The following morning you should have a nice little pile of corrosion products on your aluminium. This is what can happen to aluminium components in your washer, albeit at a much slower rate because the ‘bleach’ is diluted.
To check if any of your laundry products are harmful to aluminium perform an Internet search for the material safety data sheet for the chemical concerned (e.g. Sodium Hydroxide Material Safety data Sheet).
I know these spiders are fitted to some ‘Kenmore’ (manufactured by Frigidaire) machines, some Frigidaire machines sold under their own name, and some GE machines. Very likely there are many others. Additionally any aluminium component in the water area is susceptible to corrosion.
This information has been passed to Sears and Frigidaire.
Sears advise that the information ‘will be passed to the appropriate departments’ but have refused to pass any further information on to us.
Frigidaire have assured us that they use only the best quality materials and that they will pass on the information to their design engineers, the very people who would have specified aluminium in the first place. Hardly re-assuring.
My wife and I have two Sears 'Kenmore' washing machines built by Frigidaire.
I recently had to tear down the old one (8 years old) because of bearing failure. Nothing to fantastic there, those bearings take one heck of a pounding. In addition to the failed bearings and failed 'spider shaft' seal, likely caused by the bearing failure, the brass sleeve on which the lips of the seal run was scored, by the spring in the seal, rendering it unserviceable.
What I also found on dismantling the machine was a build up of a deposit, resembling powdered detergent that had got damp and 'clumped' adhering, quite strongly, to the spider (a shaft [of steel], and aluminium hub with three spokes) which attaches to the stainless steel inner drum and the driving pulley. This ‘deposit’ would not flush away, as powdered detergent, being soluble in water, would have. I took my pressure washer to ours but still did not get it completely clean. Whereupon I discovered that the aluminium portion of the spider was quite heavily corroded towards the centre with almost no corrosion towards the outer third of the spokes.
At first I thought this was galvanic corrosion caused by the steel of the shaft and the aluminium of the hub. There is quite an informative paper on Galvanic Corrosion, use ‘Yahoo’ and search for ‘UN1001 Reactor Chemistry and Corrosion’ and open the link that gives ‘un1001_Galvanic Corrosion’, the authors are Lister and Cook. The ‘deposit’ though had me puzzled until I researched corrosion of aluminium and discovered that it is normally corroded when immersed in an aqueous solution with a pH value below about 4.0 or above about 8.0 (nitric acid is apparently an exception). Common household bleach (sodium hypochlorite NaOCl) is a strong alkali. I placed a drop of bleach, straight from the bottle, on an undamaged section of a spoke from my spider and a drop of vinegar (acid), which my wife favours, on another arm and left them overnight. The following morning there was nothing left of the vinegar and no signs of damage to the spider. Where the bleach had been was a small pile of a whitish powder, which resembled the ‘deposit’ and was also, for the portion immediately adjacent to the spider, quite difficult to remove.
Numerous detergents are alkaline, they have to be or they would not work, also alkaline are numerous other laundry aids. Reference to the ‘contents’ labels on the containers and the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) on the Internet will give more insight. In addition to ‘bleach’ I have found sodium carbonate and sodium percarbonate in laundry products in our house. Sodium hydroxide, which is sometimes used to stabilize ‘bleach’, is also strongly alkaline, and corrosive to aluminium, it was not listed however on the two ‘brands’ of bleach I found in our house.
For some time prior to the bearing failure my wife had been complaining of a ‘moldy mildewey smell’ coming from the washer and leaving an odour on our laundry, particularly the towels. After I rebuilt the washer, new drum and spider, they are not available separately, together with new bearings and seal, it ran a lot quieter, no surprise, but here is the kicker, according to my wife ‘no smell’. Conclusion, the only thing different is no ‘deposit’. Now does the ‘deposit’ itself cause the ‘smell’ or does it collect undesirable compounds that cause the offensive aromas? I don’t know but it is certainly ‘food for thought’ particularly when I found two references on the Internet to people stripping their washers down and getting ride of ‘deposits’ which cured their ‘smell’. The odours, I fear, will return unless the owners alter their laundry habits.
To see what corrosion of aluminium can do, perform an Internet search “Why Kenmore Front Loading Washers Fail” and watch the short video. I do not agree with the comment that it is galvanic corrosion between the spider and the stainless steel drum, should this have been the case one would have expected the spider to be corroded adjacent to its connection to the drum. Neither do I believe the deposit the gentleman showed to be caked detergent for the reason stated above (mine would not flush away).
Good Luck
(Current owners – tough luck)
Some of these front load machines have aluminium (Al) spiders connecting the spin drum to the drive pulley.
Aluminium is corroded by, amongst other things, sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) otherwise known as ‘bleach’, Sodium carbonate, Sodium percarbonate, (these later two I found listed on the contents of a popular laundry aid), sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) (this one is sometimes used as a stabiliser in ‘bleach’ but I did not find it listed on the two containers of ‘bleach’ I found in our house).
To demonstrate what ‘bleach’ can do to aluminium just find a piece of scrap aluminium, without any coating, or remove the coating and let it sit in air for a couple of days to develop the naturally occurring oxide coating, then put one drop of ‘bleach’, straight from the bottle, onto the aluminium and leave it overnight. The following morning you should have a nice little pile of corrosion products on your aluminium. This is what can happen to aluminium components in your washer, albeit at a much slower rate because the ‘bleach’ is diluted.
To check if any of your laundry products are harmful to aluminium perform an Internet search for the material safety data sheet for the chemical concerned (e.g. Sodium Hydroxide Material Safety data Sheet).
I know these spiders are fitted to some ‘Kenmore’ (manufactured by Frigidaire) machines, some Frigidaire machines sold under their own name, and some GE machines. Very likely there are many others. Additionally any aluminium component in the water area is susceptible to corrosion.
This information has been passed to Sears and Frigidaire.
Sears advise that the information ‘will be passed to the appropriate departments’ but have refused to pass any further information on to us.
Frigidaire have assured us that they use only the best quality materials and that they will pass on the information to their design engineers, the very people who would have specified aluminium in the first place. Hardly re-assuring.
My wife and I have two Sears 'Kenmore' washing machines built by Frigidaire.
I recently had to tear down the old one (8 years old) because of bearing failure. Nothing to fantastic there, those bearings take one heck of a pounding. In addition to the failed bearings and failed 'spider shaft' seal, likely caused by the bearing failure, the brass sleeve on which the lips of the seal run was scored, by the spring in the seal, rendering it unserviceable.
What I also found on dismantling the machine was a build up of a deposit, resembling powdered detergent that had got damp and 'clumped' adhering, quite strongly, to the spider (a shaft [of steel], and aluminium hub with three spokes) which attaches to the stainless steel inner drum and the driving pulley. This ‘deposit’ would not flush away, as powdered detergent, being soluble in water, would have. I took my pressure washer to ours but still did not get it completely clean. Whereupon I discovered that the aluminium portion of the spider was quite heavily corroded towards the centre with almost no corrosion towards the outer third of the spokes.
At first I thought this was galvanic corrosion caused by the steel of the shaft and the aluminium of the hub. There is quite an informative paper on Galvanic Corrosion, use ‘Yahoo’ and search for ‘UN1001 Reactor Chemistry and Corrosion’ and open the link that gives ‘un1001_Galvanic Corrosion’, the authors are Lister and Cook. The ‘deposit’ though had me puzzled until I researched corrosion of aluminium and discovered that it is normally corroded when immersed in an aqueous solution with a pH value below about 4.0 or above about 8.0 (nitric acid is apparently an exception). Common household bleach (sodium hypochlorite NaOCl) is a strong alkali. I placed a drop of bleach, straight from the bottle, on an undamaged section of a spoke from my spider and a drop of vinegar (acid), which my wife favours, on another arm and left them overnight. The following morning there was nothing left of the vinegar and no signs of damage to the spider. Where the bleach had been was a small pile of a whitish powder, which resembled the ‘deposit’ and was also, for the portion immediately adjacent to the spider, quite difficult to remove.
Numerous detergents are alkaline, they have to be or they would not work, also alkaline are numerous other laundry aids. Reference to the ‘contents’ labels on the containers and the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) on the Internet will give more insight. In addition to ‘bleach’ I have found sodium carbonate and sodium percarbonate in laundry products in our house. Sodium hydroxide, which is sometimes used to stabilize ‘bleach’, is also strongly alkaline, and corrosive to aluminium, it was not listed however on the two ‘brands’ of bleach I found in our house.
For some time prior to the bearing failure my wife had been complaining of a ‘moldy mildewey smell’ coming from the washer and leaving an odour on our laundry, particularly the towels. After I rebuilt the washer, new drum and spider, they are not available separately, together with new bearings and seal, it ran a lot quieter, no surprise, but here is the kicker, according to my wife ‘no smell’. Conclusion, the only thing different is no ‘deposit’. Now does the ‘deposit’ itself cause the ‘smell’ or does it collect undesirable compounds that cause the offensive aromas? I don’t know but it is certainly ‘food for thought’ particularly when I found two references on the Internet to people stripping their washers down and getting ride of ‘deposits’ which cured their ‘smell’. The odours, I fear, will return unless the owners alter their laundry habits.
To see what corrosion of aluminium can do, perform an Internet search “Why Kenmore Front Loading Washers Fail” and watch the short video. I do not agree with the comment that it is galvanic corrosion between the spider and the stainless steel drum, should this have been the case one would have expected the spider to be corroded adjacent to its connection to the drum. Neither do I believe the deposit the gentleman showed to be caked detergent for the reason stated above (mine would not flush away).
Good Luck
Comment #2
posted on Dec 11, 2008
I bought the original Neptune front load. My wife and two girls have been diagnosed with allergies with no clue what was causing them. We live in a brand new home so I doubted it was from mold. Thought it might be construction dust so we have a furnace and duct work professionally cleaned. Still, the alegies persisted. Testing from Dr's indicated alergies to "toxic" mold. We then hear that a few years back, there was a recall on our units. We had completed the warranty information yet did not receive any notification. Not sure if it was due to moving and the address was not the one on the warranty card or what. Regardless, we have a $1000 washer that takes more time to wash before and after than it does to wash the clothes. Is there anything we can do?
Comment #3
posted on Dec 03, 2008
OKAY, IT'S OBVIOUS THAT THERE ARE ISSUES WITH THIS "RESIDUE BUILD-UP" IN FRONTLOADING WASHERS! I'm convinced that's the politically correct way of saying mold and mildew will build up! We purchased our Whirlpool duet FL set in Feb. '08 after having a Kenmore top loading set for 18 years that never gave me a seconds trouble until it died finally. Not one service call,NEVER had to spend so much money on buying tablets to clean it, NEVER had a mold issue, NEVER HAD TO DO EXTRA CYCLES TO CLEAN IT, and as far as I'm concerned I wish I still had it!!! Yes, I left and leave the doors open to dry out because it's a "no-brainer" there could be an issue, but.... here's what I've been dealing with:
I've been sick and diagnosed with CHRONIC SINUSITIS recently and on my 6th round of antibiotics since Aug. 13th. (3 1/2 months). Literally finish one round of antibiotics to get well and then be sick within a few days and would be right back in the Dr.s office again getting put back on another round because "the first round just must not have gotten the infection" (sarcastically). Now I'm am scheduled for a catscan because my ENT specialist can figure out what's going on and this 6th round of antibiotics is for 3 weeks and I'm still having more symptoms everyday!
I went to a natural food store a couple months back and the told the owner what was going on and asked if there was anything I could do because I was desperate to get rid of this "INFECTION"! The first question she asked me was: DO YOU HAVE ANY MOLD OR MILDEW IN YOUR HOME????
Well, I told her NO, because we've never had an issue, even in our basement which is completely finished off. BUT.... now I'm realizing that I MUST HAVE THIS RESIDUE BUILD-UP (MOLD) in my FRONTLOADING WASHER, and duhhhhhhh, that's probably why I've been so sick. WE'RE ALL WEARING CLOTHES 24/7, WASHING/DRYING OUR BODIES AND OUR DISHES (OCCASIONALLY) WITH THE WASHCLOTHS/TOWELS, SLEEPING IN THE SHEETS/BLANKETS EVERY NIGHT, AND WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE.........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M CONVINCED THAT THERE IS AN ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED.
I CALLED THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT OF THE STORE WHERE WE BOUGHT IT - "NO WE'VE NOT HAD ANY COMPLAINTS OR PROBLEMS". BUT HERE'S THE CS# FOR "WHIRLPOOL". Totally blew me off!
I SPOKE WITH WHIRLPOOL AND IMMEDIATELY WAS TOLD "THAT MOLD IS ONE OF THE DRAWBACKS TO OWNING A FRONTLOADING WASHER." UGHHHHHHHHHH! WHY WASN'T THAT MENTIONED WHEN WE SPENT ALMOST $1800 BUYING WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A "DREAM SET" AFTER HAVING A SET THAT WAS SO OLD!!!!!!!!!! IT WAS A MAJOR PURCHASE FOR US AND I'M SO UPSET! After telling her what I've been going through, she said, "Oh, we need to report this to the SAFETY department. Let me see if I can get a technician out to see if there's a problem".
Now that I've started googling, I've found all kinds of "KNOWN" problems and even law-suits over this issue. Yes, there are some of you who have never had problems, but what about the rest of us?
HAS ANYONE ELSE THAT OWNS A FRONTLOADING WASHER HAD THE FOLLOWING:
*UNUSUAL SINUS/ALLERGY ISUES THAT CONTINUE ON EVEN AFTER THE "ALLERGY" SEASON HAS ENDED
*HEADACHES
*DRAINAGE IN YOUR THROAT OR SORE THROAT
*FATIGUE/ACHINESS?
GO TO WWW.TOXIC-BLACK-MOLD-SYNDROME.COM FOR MORE SYMPTOMS. I SAW THIS MENTIONED ON A LOCAL AM NEWS SEGMENT YESTERDAY AND BOY AM I OUTRAGED!!!!!! IT FITS WHAT I'M GOING THRU TO A "T". NEVER HEARD OF IT, BUT NOW I'M DOING SOME RESEARCH! I'm not one to sue or pursue this type of issue, but something needs to be done! COMMENTS ARE WELCOME AND APPRECIATED! I'VE GOT THE "TECHNICIAN" COMING SOMETIME TODAY - SOMEHOW THEY FIT ME IN THE BUSY SCHEDULE - THE VERY DAY AFTER I CALL!!!!! I'LL UPDATE THE INFO...
*UNUSUAL SINUS/ALLERGY ISUES THAT CONTINUE ON EVEN AFTER THE "ALLERGY" SEASON HAS ENDED
*HEADACHES
*DRAINAGE IN YOUR THROAT OR SORE THROAT
*FATIGUE/ACHINESS?
GO TO WWW.TOXIC-BLACK-MOLD-SYNDROME.COM FOR MORE SYMPTOMS. I SAW THIS MENTIONED ON A LOCAL AM NEWS SEGMENT YESTERDAY AND BOY AM I OUTRAGED!!!!!! IT FITS WHAT I'M GOING THRU TO A "T". NEVER HEARD OF IT, BUT NOW I'M DOING SOME RESEARCH! I'm not one to sue or pursue this type of issue, but something needs to be done! COMMENTS ARE WELCOME AND APPRECIATED! I'VE GOT THE "TECHNICIAN" COMING SOMETIME TODAY - SOMEHOW THEY FIT ME IN THE BUSY SCHEDULE - THE VERY DAY AFTER I CALL!!!!! I'LL UPDATE THE INFO...
Comment #4
posted on Apr 29, 2008
We purchased our Kenmore front loader when they first came out. Shortly after, maybe 6 to 8 months the most horrible smell you have ever smelled began to linger from the laundry room. I am not kidding when I say I thought there was a dead animal or rotten meat somewhere hidden in the laundry room. When we finally realized where it was coming from, I immediately contacted Sears. They gave me the same run around about the bellow, so I did exactly that, cleaned it out, looked for something stuck, and nothing. I have called them back several times with the same problem and now they are telling me that it is my fault because I put too much soap in the dispenser and the "suds" error appeared on the LCD. What a bunch of *.!@! Consumers are paying top dollar and getting nothing. I leave the door open, I wipe out the bellow and now I have to make sure to run a cycle of bleach through the machine before I start laundry. Then after that, I have to make sure that I run a load of old cleaning towels first, because the bleach is now ruining my clothes. What a headache. I thought I had done my homework before buying the front loader, but I guess I didn't search through google well enough. I will never buy a front loader again, and probably never buy a Kenmore product from Sears.
However, I will try your suggestion of the drain hose. That is something that no one ever suggested.
Extremely disappointed.......
However, I will try your suggestion of the drain hose. That is something that no one ever suggested.
Extremely disappointed.......
Comment #5
posted on Apr 20, 2008
With only two fairly clean adults in the house, I use the front loading Kenmore only a few times a month. I had irremovable dirt streaks on whites which I finally found were being deposited from scummy build-up inside the bellows seal. I also have to use a syringe to remove at least a 1/3 of a cup of water still standing in the bellows. Leaving the door open does not evaporate this much water. I don't believe that the amount of water used in these machines is enough to acutally clean clothes. I'm planning on replacing this machine with a Fisher Paykel top loader because of the design of the agitator. I also long for the old style of top loader that allowed me to clean the filter myself!
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