FL WASHERS and BAD MOLD SMELLS; when did you 1st hear about this issue?

[3beltwesty]

Here my family has used FL washers since 1947.

*******The first time I heard of "MOLD Smells" with a FL washer was from a neighbor; whose newish late 1990's Maytag Neptune Fronter smelled so bad "that they had to hold their nose while walking through their laundry room". Their rear house's entrance by their garage has one walking through their laundry room every day.

At first I thought my neighbors concerns were a weird joke, ie like saying one has:

(1) Trailer hitch ball odors

(2) Mailbox odors

(3) toaster odors

(4) Clorox bottle odors

(5) Lightbulb odors

(6) windshield wiper odors

When I visted their house back roughly 1998 ish; it did have a strong moldly smell in the laundry room. I was SHOCKED that the mighty Superbrand MAYTAG screwed up so bad; ie made a washer that was far worse than a 1941 westy; with a "PUKING STINK" stink as my neighbor called it . ie the golden boys at Maytag failed to study 50 + year old designs that did not stink.

My own experience with about 1/2 century of usages with the 1947 and 1976 Westinghouse front loaders; I never heard of this MOLDY SMELL issue before the neighbors issue with their Maytag Neptune. And since 1971 this is in an area that rains 65 inches of rain a year; and is real humid. With the 1947 washer powdered ALL was used; or Dreft Powder by my mom when us kids were in diapers. The 1976 westy used used mostly with All powder; but from about the last 7 years All in liquid was used.

With both the 1947 and 1976 machines; we never removed water from boot; or even used bleach to clean the boot either. We also did not worry about trailer hitch ball odor either!

About the only thing we did us typically left the door open; to make the boot last longer ie no set in the rubber.

I wonder about this "NEW TO ME" mold smell issue;

ie was the American FL washer of the 1990's was the start of this new problem; or did some other countries have issues with some washer models back in the 1980's and before?

 

[3beltwesty]

Our 1947 westy was in the mid 1960's down in the damp basement in Indiana, and I never heard then of FL washer smell issues.

Most of the washing we have done is with cold water too; and the last 7 years was with liquids thus these 2 things others mention as "issues" did not make the 1976 machine stink in recent usage.

 

[sudsmaster]

I heard about this problem back around 1999 when I was looking into getting a front loader.

I wound up getting a Neptune 7500 set (gas dryer).

Guess what?

It has NEVER had a mold odor problem.

I think that is due to several reasons: I run at least one hot wash load a week. The rest are warm. Seldom do I do a cold only wash.

I use STPP in most of the loads. This is a wonder chemical that virtually eliminates mineral deposits inside the washer, and it also helps gets laundry very clean.

The 7500 version of the Neptune also incorporated a special routine in one of the rinses that does a high speed tumble to help flush out any debris that might be clinging to the inside of the outer tub. It seems to work.

The only place I've had mold on this washer is a slight amount in the detergent compartment. This only started appearing after I switched to an "environmentally friendly" fabric softener. The same thing happens to a Miele 1918 that I run on cold water only in an unheated space. (The Neptune is inside the heated home). It's not a problem in either washer - easy enough to wipe clean. And again, no mold issues elsewhere in these washers. I do leave the Miele washer(s) with their doors open and the detergent drawers pulled out a bit. I don't do that with the Neptune - the front door and the detergent compartment lid both are kept closed when it's not in use.

I suspect the people who had mold issues with the Neptune did the following mold friendly things:

1) Used cold water only washes
2) Used too much fabric softener
3) Didn't use enough detergent
4) Used a liquid detergent only
5) Ran the shortest possible cycle with the minimum number of rinses
6) Never used an effective laundry booster like STPP

 

[cfz2882]

neptune odors

when i got my 1999 mah3000 neptune,in non-working condition for$25,it did
have a few mold spots on the boot and "dirty sneaker odor"After getting the
machine working,scrubbing off the mold spots,the odor has gone away...
no mold or odor problems with my splendide either.
BTW after the repairs,the neptune has been a great washer-just works great
and sounds cool too-just love the"UFO"sound of the motor during spin runup
Some people just do not know how to use a washer properly-i have found
toploads that reeked too and been around people that just reek of laundry
detergent LOL.

 

[3beltwesty]

Here with our 1976 westy it mostly used cold washes.

Thus we never did a "hot wash once a week".

Plus in its later years we used liquid detergent for the last 7 to 10 years and never had any issues.

That is why my take is the newer washers are somehow less robust or collect water, since we never had these issues for 50 years with older FL washers.

There has to be some fundamental design flaws that some new American washer's have in their design.

Ie we older FL washer users never had any mold issues for 1/2 century; and we used liquids, cold water and did really nothing special except most of the time leaving the doors open.

 

[3beltwesty]

My neighbors Neptune still smelled after washes with bleach in hot cycles. They used Tide in powder and not liquids. The machine went through the replacement of boots; many wax motors and driver boards. It later went into a landfill. Maytag paid them off with a 400 or 500 buck discount on a new washer; but it HAD to be NOT a Front loader. Today they still use their Maytag toploader with no mold issues; after the old Neptune went to the crusher.

 

[Pingmeep]

I can't remember when my first encounter with a FL mold issue was (maybe 1993 in a Whirlpool that held a lot of water and was rarely used) but can remember first TL encounter. It was 1997 and a new Maytag Neptune. The owners made soap, washed in cold and used the "infinite water" feature to make the tub as full as possible.

The machine was less than three months old. The owners blamed the "new technology" and did all their laundry at the laundromat where they used Tide and hot water because "after all we are paying for it anyway."

I purchased the machine, cleaned it out with a pressure washer and bleach and it was a daily driver till November 2010. Best $100 bucks (bleach included) I ever spent.

 

[laundromat]

The Neptunes and Whirlpool Duets were the first ones I ever saw do this.

 

[dj-gabriele]

Never heard about mold odour before joining this forum!

And in real life it never happened to me nor to anybody I know.
But I'm sure my former flatmate would have been a good candidate in developing it!
Washing everything all together and overdosing detergent and softener in cold water!
He never used more than 40°C washes!

 

[donprohel]

Me neither

"Never heard about mould odour before joining this forum!" (maybe this website?)

And, by the way, never smelled a front-loading washing machine stinking

 

[rp2813]

Before purchasing a Duet HT pair back in 2007, I did a lot of research on line and that's where I first saw complaints of odor problems with FL machines.  I had no problems with mine, but I did make sure to wipe out the boot and leave the door ajar after use.

 

I agree, though, that something is different about modern FL machines because the 1950 Laundromat I had as my daily driver some 30 years ago never developed a smell and I would routinely close and latch the door after use.

 

I don't dare close the door all the way on my Affinity.  Sometimes I can detect a smell developing after finding my partner has pushed the door all the way closed.

 

[3beltwesty]

Washing machine cleaners hawked in the usa.

Here in the USA at some local stores that sell FL washers, each new washer on display has sometimes one mini box/bag of the latest miracle product to keep one's FL washers clean.

At retailers that sell laundry soaps and bleaches; Clorox has this tiny jug of bleach that one can buy to remove front load washer odors. Tide even sells a washing machine cleaner too. ie products one buys to clean ones 1995 + and newer frontloader.

These new products are sold to use monthly; "to keep ones washer clean".

I never heard of any products like this; until the USA rediscovered the front loader 15 years ago.

http://www.clorox.com/products/clorox-washing-machine-cleaner/how-to/

 

[spankomatic]

My sister and I both have Maytag Neptunes (2004). Mine does not smell like mold,never has. Hers does. The difference? Fabric Softener. I do not use fabric softener in my washer. She uses a ton of fabric softener. There is a bunch of fabric softener residue in her dispencer with mold growing in it. It is so THICK I can scoop it out with my finger. That is just the stuff I can see in the dispencer. I'm sure the outer tub is really bad and moldy. No washing machine cleaner will get rid of it. The machine has to be taken apart and SCRUBED clean of the residue.

 

Jim

 

[3beltwesty]

Are Hogwarts Front Load washing machine cleaners sold in NON

.

 

[3beltwesty]

My mom use to use fabric softeners sometimes with the 1947 and 1976 machine that replaced it; and I still never any issues with fabric softeners with older machines

 

[3beltwesty]

The fabric softener my mom used was Ultra Downy Sunrinse Fresh Fabric Softener in Liquid form by Procter and Gamble. This is with the 1976 FL machine. I still have many many jugs left from the 1990's that were bought on sale. I do not use it much. My mom when alive used it radically more than I do. .

 

[foraloysius]

It's not only frontloaders, several owners of Maytag Atlantis toploaders also complained about it. I bet that had to do with the lid with a seal left down after use. Other regular toploaders don't have a seal on the lid.

 

[whirlcool]

I didn't first hear about it, I first smelled it!

My cousin bought a 1999 Maytag Neptune set. About 6 months later the thing smelled like an open sewer or a grease trap. Eventually (not long) after the machine started stinking the entire house started to stink. They had Maytag out time and time again but the smell would go away and then come back.

I don't know what temps they used to wash clothes with or what type of detergents.
They eventually ended up with a WP TL machine and are happy.

 

[limey]

Possible Source Of Foul Odours In FL Machines

I have explained my experiences with these and explained, what I believe is one possible source, in the thread: -
http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?29110
I do not think it is necessary to repeat it all again here.
Please note that I do not believe that this is the only source of foul odours in these machines.