My Whirlpool Cabrio smells like mildew and that smell is getting on my clothes. I wash the washing machine with special bleach for h.e. machines but nothing helps. What can I do?

If you have a smelly front loading clothes washing machine, toss in a Finish Geltabs (the ones that are all liquid) and run the machine on a hot wash cycle, medium to heavy load (to get more water in the tub) with no clothes in the machine. You don't need to use much of a spin cycle so set it on low. The washing machine will come clean and even the moldy spots on the rubber gaskets will disappear. A second treatment may be needed if the smell is not completely gone. We tried everything from vineger to bleach to baking soda to borax to commercially available odor removers from Whirlpool and Tide. Nothing worked until I hit on this idea. It's cheap, easy and can be done anytime your machine needs a refreshing. I used the orange Geltabs but any fragrance would be fine. Keep the door on your washer open a bit when possible to air out to help preclude those nasty smells.

If you dont wash whites with clorine bleach, you may want to every once in a while. Clorine kills germs and backteria which can smell. washer pumps do not get 100% of the water out.

bleach and bleach and bleach and bleach!!!!! also i notice more of a smell in washers when people only use liquid detergent and too much of it.
Tip: leave door open after every wash
clean with bleach and hot water regularly once a month
with no clothes on a normal cycle
alternate liquid detergent and powder (yes powder comes HE)
only use HE detergent
try these things and you will find your washer smelling like new again. but tthe trick is BLEACH and a lot of it. once you get a smell it takes a long time to get rid of it.
good luck and let me know if this helps

clean the washer with bleach and a small amount of detergent

Cure 2 cups of bleach large load water setting, hot water let set 2hrs full of water run washer empty "no clothes just hot water" 2 times normal wash setting, repeat if nessary.Note : Not all of the water drains from a washer the water left in yours spoiled, bleach should take care of it.

Any washing machine will grow mold & mildew when there is moisture in it and the door is shut. When you do a load of wash, the smell transfers to the clothing. To eliminate it, run a load just water & chloring bleach. This will kill the spores. Adding a little color safe bleach to each load or leave the door open when not using the washer will keep the problem from coming back.

after wash wipe out door boot

Run your washer with 2 cups of bleach, maximum hot water. After it starts agitating for a minute, stop the washer & let it remain for 2 hours. Then continue the wash.

Front load washers retain water that you cant see or get to. There are cleaners for washing machines available. I clean mine every month with alot of bleach , try pouring a half gallon of bleach in the soap insert on a normal wash cycle and an extra rinse would not hurt no clothes of course.