My Purchase of a High-Efficiency Washer and Dryer
About 10 years ago, I purchased my first front loader high efficiency (HE) washer machine and dryer. High-efficiency washer machines use less water and are more energy efficient making this a great purchase right?
Well yes and no… let me explain my struggles. I remember when I first brought my new washing machine home. I did my first load of laundry and thought something has to be wrong here.
First, it sounded like a plane was taking off in my laundry room! Second, there is no water or very little water at that when my clothes were washing! How can these clothes get clean?
So I called the manufacture and started to ask questions. This was normal and she assured me the clothes would get clean.
Why Aren’t My Clothes Getting Clean?
So over time I accepted the loud noises coming from my laundry room and learned to accept the really low water levels, but I do have to say that I was and am not impressed with how these HE washer machines clean my clothes.
I have to pretreat my stains and pretty much get the stain out before I put them in the wash or they just don’t get clean. Now I should put a disclaimer on this. I have always been the type of person who just throws my laundry in the wash, adds a bit of soap and expects them to come clean.
Laundry isn’t one of my favorite chores, to say the least. So maybe if I put a little more effort into pre-treating my clothes I might have better results in this department.
There is one challenge that I just couldn’t conquer however and that was the smell that was coming from my HE washer machine!
What is that horrible smell?
So over time, my washer machine began to smell. Not only did it smell moldy and musty but my clothes were starting to smell this way too.
I researched what to do about it and there was advise all over the place on what you should and should not do for bad smelling HE washer machines.
I hired someone to come out and clean and balance my machine. That worked for a little while but the smell came back in a few weeks. I kept my washing machine door open when not using it so it could dry out, but that didn’t fully work either. I purchased the expensive HE washer machine tablets to do on a monthly cycle but those failed very quickly.
Finally, in a last-ditch effort to have clean smelling clothes, I added this one ingredient and everything changed!
Add this one ingredient to every load for fresh smelling laundry & for a clean HE washer machine!
So just what is this ingredient I am talking about? Well, it will cost you about a $1.00 per gallon and can be found in any grocery store! Wait for it 🙂 ….alright, it is vinegar! Vinegar you ask…yep, that’s right vinegar! Now I use plain white vinegar and here is how I use it.
Just like you buy laundry detergent, I buy a gallon of vinegar and keep it right next to my washer machine. I load my HE washer machine up with clothes, add my soap and then in the bleach dispenser, I fill it all the way to the top with white vinegar.
The vinegar helps kill the bacteria that grows in your washer machine and kills the odor. Not only does it kill the odor, but it helps with cleaning my clothes too. If that wasn’t enough, it also softens your clothes naturally.
Is Vinegar The Answer To Everything?
So let’s take a look at this: vinegar cleans clothes, gets rid of nasty smells in laundry and in the machine and it softens your clothes too!
Wow, I would call vinegar my little miracle in the laundry room! Who knew one little ingredient could do so much!
So finally I have clean soft clothes and a washer machine that doesn’t smell. I still have a plane taking off in my laundry room, however, but I can live with that :)!
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Thanks for sharing! Ours is currently afflicted, but i was too uninterested to investigate!! 😉
I don’t have any answers to the not cleaning clothes problem. I have tried everything. As to the odor, vinegar is good, but when I run the “clean cycle”, I fill the detergent slot with Borax and the bleach slot with vinegar. It works much better that just vinegar or bleach alone.
I would use bleach OR vinegar but not both. Mixing them will lower the pH, which cleans the smell and mold better, but if you combine them you get chlorine gas. A weapon used in World War 1. Poison gas was outlawed in 1925 after WW1.
It is bleach and ammonia that, when mixed together, will make chlorine gas.
I have tried vinegar too and it did not help. I used to be a mechanic and have always had to do my own repairs on appliances because they don’t break down until after the warranty goes out…lol. However, I have a Frigidaire stack-able unit and even leaving the lid open does not help. I have figured out what the problem is though. It is the water pump. It is too small and does not have the power to push all of the water out of the drain hose. When I removed the drain hose from the water pump, a large amount of foul smelling water poured out everywhere. It had me gagging. The water pump is so tiny, and the water has to be pumped uphill so to speak. It doesn’t get all of it out and the water sours, or whatever you call it.
I think that’s my machine’s problem too. I’ve tried vinegar, Borax, hot water, bleach, baking soda, washing the gaskets, cleaning out the pin trap…nothing works, and the smell seems to be worst near the hoses leading to and from the pin trap. What did you do about it? I’m using an old Bosch front-loader which I other love. Had no problems with it for over a decade, then suddenly, poof! nasty smell I can’t get rid of. Maybe because usage frequency suddenly dropped.
Use essential oils. Lemon, orange, lime, eucalyptus, tea tree and wintergreen all work great for odor and kill bacteria viruses and microbes for allergies.
Is the borax powder ?
I’m on this page because we got a high efficiency washer and dryer this week, and it cleans absolutely terribly, no fresh scent, stain removing is rediculous. When you look at them in the store and wonder how they clean, apparently the logical answer we had in our heads was the right one…they don’t. These are going back to store ASAP. What do you call an expensive washing machine that doesn’t clean clothes?…A refund. At their cost, you don’t work around the problem, you get rid of it. This is a Samsung pair with nice ringtones, very esthetically pleasing and very useless. I need a washing machine, not a Kardashian.
OMG I love this post!!! We just moved into a new house yesterday & this high end washers STINKS. I found this post & your reply made this exhausted, frustrated mom laugh outloud THANK YOU
The answer is powder detergent. Once you start using it there will be no oder.
I keep my shop vac nearby and vacuum out the runner ring after every load. I wile down the inside glass door with cleaner. I wipe down all the way around inside the rubber ring as well as on the outside. I have even killed my fingers trying to clean the drum beyond the runner ring. I run the clean cycle with the appropriate cleaners and I drain the trap once a month and I leave the door and the drawer open between every wash AND mine stills smells horrible. I have gotten a little help from the lysol sanitizer but it is not perfect. After a couple of days sheets and blankets smell musty. On hot days my t-shirts smell too. I am at my whits end
Hi, do you leave your wash in the wash with the door closed for awhile before you take them out to dry? If you leave wash in the washer and either don’t remove the damp clothes from the washer right away, you are in for a whole lot of smell once they do get dried. You have remove the washed clothes from the wash straight away.
Thank you for sharing. I’ve been thinking I need to do something but wasn’t quite “brave” enough to put vinegar in my wash. Thanks!
If you have hard water, vinegar is a must. However I wouldn’t wash your clothes with it, only because it will clean the washer at the same time, and you’ll get soap scum and mold deposits on your clothes. Soap scum forms with hard water when soap doesn’t get rinsed out well, it’s inevitable and reoccurring stuff that acts as a petri dish for mold growth. Hard water is horrible on laundry in many ways.
Add 4 cups of vinegar in a long hot wash with no clothes and let finish. Because of the hard water and constant use of detergent, this process will need to be done occasionally to keep laundry clean.
If you choose to soak with the vinegar, don’t do so for very long, or the drain hose may have difficulty draining, which could result in a sewage type odor (aka mold), and may even confuse the washers’ internal components. If this happens, it will take time for the washer to work the scum out of the machine.
Hi: my front load washer smells like gasoline; did not put anything with gasoline in it. Only used dr. Bronners and apples cider vinegar.
So now I am cleaning with apple cider vinegar and baking soda on the cleaning cycle.
Any suggestions. It leaves all my clothes smelling like gasoline.
Hi, maybe try Tide with Febreze. When I was helping a friend whose house caught on fire, this was the only thing that got the smoke smell out of the clothes. I realize this is different than your problem, and your problem seems to be caused by your washer, but until you find a solution to the washer, try Tide with Febreze for the clohtes.
I Use baking soda and essential oils in my washing machine. It will leave it smelling great and soften your clothes. I love using lemon, orange, eucalyptus, tea tree and wintergreen essential oils. They kill bacteria and viral and microbial. Which is Great for allergies.
Maybe try white vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar? I think white vinegar is more for cleaning and disinfecting, whereas apple cider vinegar is more of a food/health supplement.
good tip, some of us (me) had never even heard the term “HE” high energy machines. Of course I’ve seen them advertised but way behind the times.
ThAnk you for posting — I could have written that ( except for the noise). Will definitely give it a try
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I got tired of the smell in my front load washing machine too and started to use vinegar with every load. It has been wonderful. My clothes actually smell clean now. I use to have this horrible odor on my towels and dish rags. I hated having them out when company was coming because I thought the smell was just horrible. And then I discovered vinegar. My family thinks I’m crazy but I don’t care. I sure like the smell of my laundry now.
I just did it last weekend I wash my towels and it has been great. I do really love it. I’ll be buying a gallon of vinegar next time I go grocery shopping because I just had a little bottle on the pantry and is over now 🙂
My mom also thought I was crazy, but now want to give it a try
Happy to hear it worked!
Yes, my HE washer was starting to smell but my husband had already done his homework for our old top loader, so we got that part covered. And you are absolutely right about the vinegar; it is a miracle liquid. Not only does it soften fabrics like nothing else, but…wait for it….it will set color. After years of buying fabrics, pre-washing and sewing and finding my sewing machine staining, I started using white vinegar and cold water on new yardage – especially for quilts – and no more running colors. Since I hand wash my yardage, I use about 3-4 cups of vinegar in a sink of cold water, soak for a few minutes and rinse in clear water. Depending on the dyes and fibers, that may be all it needs, sometimes I have to repeat the process until the rinse water is clear.. There are websites that say vinegar will not set color, that its a myth, but I am here to tell you, it works. I would be my sewing machine on it.
Hi I never close the door to my HE washing machine. I empty the water from the hose in the front of the washing machine every load. That is where the smell comes from the stagnate water. Every couple loads I put baking soda in the machine set it on regular and hot and run it with out anything in it. It comes clean.
Thanks for your tip. Where is the hose in front of the washer? I do not see one. thanks
Front loading washer, on front bottom left. small door, open and unscrew filter to clean, replace. Pull black tubing out of holder, pull out plug and drain into a shallow container, reinsert plug, place tubing back in clip, close door.
Thank you, my hate the smell of my towels and wash cloth and I will try the vinegar thanks a lot
Great post Halle, thank you for sharing such great information and handy tips 🙂
Nath @
http://www.laundry365.co.uk/commercial-laundry-equipment
I have always done this too, but I put it in the “fabric softener” dispenser too, because it really does replace chemical laden softeners.
Very great article! Thank you for sharing with us at Healthy 2day Wednesdays! 🙂 Carrie @ http://younglivingoillady.com
Very good article
@We buy cars Yes, You are right.
Thanks for sharing that Nice Article.
Have always been using vinegar. It makes a GREAT fabric softener too. I no longer buy fabric softener which leaves a film buildup in HE machines!