Mold on rubber gasket

How to Remove Mold and Mildew from Front Load Washing Machines Today...

How to Remove Mold and Mildew from Front-Load Washing Machines

Front-load washing machines are notorious for collecting mold.
I've had my front-loading washing machine for about four years, and it has some great advantages - it's quiet, fast, uses less water and detergent, and gently tumbles (rather than yanking) my clothes. In general, I've been so pleased with it that I was shocked one day when I opened the door and was nearly knocked unconscious by a fetid blast of moldy-smelling air!
How could a machine that's so wonderful, suddenly turn so horribly smelly?

Gaskets hold moisture.
The answer is in the way the machine is designed. Front-loading washing machines have watertight, airtight doors that seal with a rubber gasket. That rubber seal traps moisture in the machine and also provides the perfect nooks and crannies for mold and mildew to grow.
Top-loading washing machines, on the other hand, have a rather loose fitting metal door that easily allows the tank to dry out between loads.
The problem isn't helped by our laundry preferences. High sudsing detergents and liquid fabric softeners leave behind residues and films that invite mold growth. Cold-water cycles and mild, eco-friendly detergents don't quite blast away residues like their environmentally-unfriendly counterparts.
So, to keep mold at bay, front-load washers need just a bit more maintenance than top-loading machines.

How to Get Rid of Mold and Smells in Top-Load Washers

If you've got a stinky front-load washing machine, here's how to get it smelling fresh again:

Cleaning gasket on washer.

• Clean Gasket: Use a rag or towel to clean the rubber door gasket on a front-loading washer with either hot soapy water or a spritz of mildew cleaner. Make sure to wipe underneath and around it as well. Be prepared for some slime and gunk, and possibly a stray sock or two!
• Clean Dispensers: Remove the detergent dispensers and give them a good scrubbing. If they don't come out, clean them as best you can, using a bottle or pipe cleaner to reach back into the crevices.
• Run Cleaning Cycle: Next, run an empty wash cycle on the longest, hottest water setting (or a tub-cleaning cycle, if you have it). Add one of the following directly to the wash tub:
  • 1 cup of bleach.
  • 1 cup of baking soda.
  • 1/2 cup of powdered enzymatic dishwasher detergent (such asCascade Complete).
  • A commercial residue-busting washer cleaner (such as Affresh orSmelly Washer).
  Commercial cleaning pellets.
  
• Repeat Cleaning Cycle: If the problem persists, repeat the cleaning cycle and consider trying a different additive. It might take several cycles to get the smell out.
• Professional Help: If you've tried every way to clean your front-load washer and it still smells, you may have mold growing back behind the drum, or possibly a clogged drain or filter. A qualified repair person can dismantle the machine and clean it for you, or you can unplug the machine and carefully explore and clean it yourself.

Preventative Maintenance

Once your machine is clean, follow these tips to keep it that way:

Allow washer tub to dry.

• Air It Out: If possible, leave the door of the front-load washer cracked open to allow it to dry thoroughly between cycles. However, you shouldn't do this if you have children or pets who could be tempted to climb (and possibly become trapped) inside the machine.
• Remove Loads Promptly: Be sure to remove wet clothes as soon as the cycle is finished. Set your washer to beep when it's done, so you don't forget.
• Choose Detergent Wisely: Choose low-sudsing detergents specifically made for high-efficiency (HE) machines. When possible, choose powder over liquid; liquid detergents are usually higher in suds.
Clean washer dispensers.

• Use Less Detergent: Read the labels and use no more than the amount recommended for each load. Experiment with using less detergent, until you find the minimum amount necessary (sometimes just a spoonful) to get your clothes clean.
• Avoid Fabric Softener: Liquid fabric softeners leave residue that contributes to mold in front-load washers. Instead, use dryer sheets or dryer balls to soften your clothes.
• Dry Gaskets: Use an old towel to wipe around and underneath the door gaskets and the inside of the door on front-loading washers. Ideally, you should so this after every cycle, but at the very least it needs a periodic wipe down to remove any water or mildew trapped in the folds.
• Use Bleach: About once a month, run a hot water bleach cycle. I usually take the opportunity to throw in work towels, fabric shower curtains, and muddy gardening clothes, along with that nasty gasket-cleaning towel.

Good Luck

If you have mold on the rubber gasket of your Duet front loader, I can almost assure you that you have lots of mold in other places in the machine. Front loading washing machine are almost hermetically sealed and if the door is left closed, the inside just never dries out. This is just a perfect environment for the growth of mold and other fungi. Once mold gets established in materials such as rubber gaskets, it can be very difficult if not impossible to eradicate because mold grows "roots" deep into the pores of the material, making it very difficult to remove. Eradicating the mold may result in damage to the gasket since my "cure" is to paint on full strength bleach on the moldy surfaces with a brush or sponge (wear gloves). Repeat if necessary. You may wind up having to replace the front door gasket to get all of it. It will probably take more than one application to fully eradicate the mold from the VISIBLE surfaces of the rubber gasket. If you remove the detergent dispenser and peer inside the opening, you may see a lot more mold inside the cavity. If you see mold inside the detergent dispenser cavity, imagine what the rest of the inside of your machine must look like. Do you run a periodic cleaning cycle as advised in the operating manual? Have you read the operating manual? Do you use the absolute minimum amount of HE (non foaming) detergent? Factory instructions for cleaning the door gasket call for mixing 3/4 cup of bleach into 1 gallon of warm water and applying this mixture to the affected gasket area, let stand 5 minutes and wipe the area down with a dry cloth. My experience has shown that this is a grossly inadequate concentration to deal with a deeply seated mold problem in the door gasket. To run the cleaning cycle, the factory calls for 2/3 cup of bleach to be added to the bleach dispenser. "Use of more than 2/3 cup of bleach will cause product damage OVER TIME". Initially, I would definitely consider using a whole lot more bleach than recommended and run two or more consecutive cleaning cycles. Then EVERY USE OF THE MACHINE: wipe the door gasket and all the creases and folds dry with a sponge, remove the detergent dispenser and wipe the cavity dry, leave the drawer out to dry on a clean towel, leave the door open, buy a cheapy plastic box fan and place it inside the machine and let it blow air around the inside of the machine for an hour or so to dry it off quickly, run a cleaning cycle at least once a month. If this sounds too involved or difficult, I would suggest switching to a top loading washer that is much less prone to develop mold growth as air can circulate in these types of machines to a much greater extent than the front loaders.

Front loaders are known for building up mold and the smell.
It's caused by using liquid detergent which is made from animal fat. Use powder. And use the minimum amount.
It's caused by using fabric softener. Dilute it 50/50 with water.
It's caused by the water remaining in the tub between washes. Leave the door open to allow it to dry. .
Pull the rubber door seal back and clean the mold off .
Affresh is recommended by some manufacturers. You run it through a wash cycle with it.

Sounds like the little flexible apron just in front of your washer drum has mildewed. Take a look and see if it is holding water, and look for mold while your'e at it. Use a good bathroom mold and mildew remover to kill the mess and deodorize it.

Front loaders are known for building up mold and the smell.
It’s caused by using liquid detergent which is made from animal fat. Use powder. And use the minimum amount.
It’s caused by using fabric softener. Dilute it 50/50 with water.
It’s caused by the water remaining in the tub between washes. Leave the door open to allow it to dry. .
Pull the rubber door seal back and clean the mold off .
affresh is recommended by some manufacturers. You run it through a wash cycle with it.

You need to replace the rubber gasket around the front of the door. This gasket holds moisture and over time molds. Give us a call or email us and we;ll be sure to get the correct gasket out to you right away. We hope this helps and we hope to hear back from you real soon.

are you useing HE detergent? Do you leave the door open after you are done washing? do you clean your washer once a month with nothing in it but hot water and bleach? these are all things you should be doing to prevent odors and mold.

Use the aafesh tablets as instructed, this will clear hoses that have developed some mold, also inspect drain at the wall, these get moldy and as machine runs, smell comes out of there as well.

Unfortunately this problem can occur with all front loaders made by any manufacturer. The problem results from excessive soap and body oils that do not fully dissolve and/or rinse clean from inside the inner and out tubs. Front loaders are energy efficient and only use a little water so any build up between the tubs that gets higher than the water level is left behind. It is also natural that some moisture collects between the folds of the door gasket and, if not wiped out, will mildew over time.

Not to worry, a few changes in use (as compared to top load washers) can easily eliminate your current problem and keep it from returning.

First of all, make sure to ONLY use HE (high efficiency) detergent and make sure to use no more than 2-3 tablespoons per load (because too much detergent will cause oversudsing, not break down efficiently and build up between the inner and outer tubs).

To eliminate the problem you now have I highly recommend a product called Whirlout (available at Home Depot in the hot tubs section). Just one capful in an empty load with the hottest water cylce will break down the current build up and take care of any odors (a 2nd cycle if the problem is really bad).

To avoid any problems in the future, use the correct amount and type of HE detergent, wipe the door gasket dry when done with the laundry (for the day, week or however you do your laundry) and run an empty cycle once a month with a capful of Whirlout. If your machine is in a high humidity location (i.e. a basement), then leave the washer door cracked open when not in use.

Hope this helps, please rate my answer.