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I've had a Neptune 7500 set for the past eight years.

I don't leave the washer door ajar when it's not in use.

I don't leave the detergent dispenser lid open when it's not in use.

The washer has NEVER had an odor issue.

I do run only warm or hot washes - rarely do I run a cold wash.

I do use mostly powdered detergent boosted with STPP.

The set is also inside the house, where the temperature and humidity are relatively controlled (as opposed to a basement, garage, or other unheated space).

The 7500 washer also has a sequence in the last rinse where it tumbles more aggressively, to help flush any dirt/suds/debris out of the outer drum.

So, no, Louis, not all Americans have mold/odor issues with their front loaders - even with the much criticized Maytag Neptune front loader.

PS-Citric acid is a very useful chemical. It's also used in metalworking for restoring the protective oxide layer on stainless steel after it's been machined, in a process called passivation. I sometimes use a cut lime or lemon to clean stainless steel cutlery.
 
No Odors Here

I have never had a problem with mold, mildew, or odors in my front loader. I leave the detergent door and door open after the last load, and I wipe off the inside of the door and the boot. I've been doing this ever since I got the washer doing this seemed like common sense to me. Once a month I run a half cup of dishwasher detergent using the longest cycle for a cleaning cycle.
 
2 other possible clues about molds and bad smells

Wettexman posted a very interesting link in the super forum.
Don't be scared of the 132 pages most of them are blanks and half written. It is a survey of laundry habits in Spain , Nederland, Greece and Norway
They have a "neutral" approach, taking into consideration both the "green" and the "clean & hygienic" points of view.

I think we can get more clues about mold issues.
There's more than a single culprit, rather several factors in the meanwhile lead to the mold issue

We already knew that hygienic level is correlated to water temp and use of bleaching agents (oxidation).

Find rather scary that sterile fabric samples get contaminated after a warm wash with other dirty ones ...

What' s really unexpected is the role of rinses in hygienic levels (then in mold growt)

They made this "discovery" because of a very sudsy spanish detergent. They made sample tests using commercial Wascators and household miele novotronics.

After a sudslock the miele engages an additional rinse that normally doesn't occurr.
The wascator uses rinses with less water and hasn't any post-sudslock extra rinse

So they discovered that samples washed @ 40°C in the miele with the sudsy spanish detergent were less contaminated than those washed with other detergents and than those washed in the wascator with the very same spanish detergent

This means that effective rinses help to flush away bacteria.

Now I'm thinking of the pics showing water levels in Duets and US E'lux FLs posted in the thread #22155 "Electrolux washers". These levels are even lower than those of many european FLs, expecially rinse levels. Maybe this can enhance the mold issue.

Another clue. I am also thinking of enzymes. They break soil and stains into simpler chemical compounds. The same way they do in our stomach with the food we eat
Enzyme-broken dirt particles are better nutriments for bacteria. If these particles aren't flushed away by a effective rinse process ... the washer becomes a restaurant for bacteria



http://www.sifo.no/files/file48506_fagrapport2003-1.pdf
 
I have never had that problem in my Washer ever

I guess that it is something that I had never thought of .I have a Miele though and wash with really long wash times(1Hr 45 min) usually for a normal wash program. Whites, like what I just put in before I left today, I used UK Ariel non bio Tabs, Sanitize(190) and to be really anal that they would get clean, I usually put 1/8 cup of water softener in with every load;I also used a 2 hour soak on top of the long program, making it (4 hr 15), it got them really clean.Most of the time, I use powder, although I Love the Persil small and mighty, but then there is powder, and then Faks. Anyway, as far as my two cents for the eco detergents, I call them do gooder detergents; they do not do any one any good. I agree that you have to think of the Earth and protecting it,but at what cost?If your clothes can't be worn because they smell with mold all over them and in them, your environment is now impacted.That is the first one that you have to look out for. I want my whites white, boil the suckers! If they did a good job, the eco detergents, I would be using them. I almost always wash at 105 minimum. I also run vinegar(1/2) cup though every Monday with no clothes on 190. I also use Ben Kaiser(descaler) about once a year. That would kill off the mold really fast! I will have to admit, I think that it is the water temps that help as well. Although, I never had that problem when I had a Maytag Neptune.Oh! I did long wash programs with it, and cleaned it well, kind of like now. I know that the average American consumer is not like me.I am kind of a neat freak that Loves my washer.
 
@reply 23

Not only does the average consumer not give a damn, but reasoning doesn't work. For example, when they find their duds coming out dingy, dirty or shredded, they will blame the machine for their errors on their part of not sorting, filling the machines properly and using the correct cycle and their variables. I have seen this thousands of times. I ALWAYS make sure my clothes are assorted according to color, fabric and soil level and run my machines according to these variables.
 
You have resurrected a thread of ghosts.

OP and two or three other posters are no longer with us; several more aren't active members. Was interesting to see a thread started by Sudsman; he had so much knowledge of commercial laundry equipment and products both modern and vintage.

Guess we're all getting on.....
 
It really is interesting to see how much can change over 11 years. I also find it hard to believe that I’ve been here for so many years - many more than 11.

I remember the individual contributions made by each of the three members in this thread who are no longer with us, and I was fortunate to meet one of them at a wash-in in Tucson many years ago. Come to think of it, there were two more very active members at that wash-in who have passed as well.

I know that time marches on, but it seems to be doing it so quickly these days.
 
#73

I had a Frigidaire just like Eugene’s in the photo and I shoulda never gotten rid of it! It was an excellent FL! It had the capacity to wash the largest kingsize comforters and bedspreads and it NEVER failed to go into a high speed spin, with none of the endless attempts to find the “sweet spot” to begin spinning. It just started out slowly and gradually increased the speed to reach a perfect balance with no banging or dancing on the floor.
WHY can’t the newer FL’s still use this same tried and true technology? Also, there was never any question about an adequate amount of water used to wash and rinse each load.

Eddie[this post was last edited: 2/17/2024-15:39]
 
stinky front loaders

Only once have I ever had a foul smelling machine, that was about 34 years ago, and my parent's machine. It had been fine for the first few years while we were using powder detergent, then we switched to using a liquid detergents, first Whisk, then Radion and were mainly doing 50°C and occasional 60°C washes. It had been leaving brown spots on some of the washing before it started to stink.

My mum cleaned it by putting it on a 95°C cycle with probably something like half a bottle of toilet bleach, and I had to do several more boil washes to get rid of the chlorine smell and the foam from the bleach and detergent residue.

We switched back to powder detergents, changed nothing else and the machine never stank again.
 
Wow...Ah yes.. 2009... At that point I had only had my Duet a few years..and I remember the stinky washer videos and the horror stories over the years that STILL happen to this day and yet I've gone along all these years with no stinky washer.

It's interesting the ONLY stinky washer I experienced was a late 80s Whirlpool top load washer... I don't think it had the dual action agitator...Thinkin back, I think it was because the washer was in a very humid area and we didn't leave the lid up.....but every other TL washer I had over the years there were no issues... I think in that case it MUST have been the unconditioned humid air..

I was sooo young thinking back I wonder what I could do differently. I can't remember if we used HOT water. I know we always used warm 99% of the time..I don't ever remember using cold. We also used bleach for whites.. so I don't know.

I can vaguely remember the funky smell... It wasn't what you'd expect.. It wasn't a straight up sour smell but more of a slight hint of that mixed with something else...NO telling what was growing in that and none of us had a clue.
 

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