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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Why should we have to add anything to the washer but what we have put in the traditional Washers. Why can’t the manufacturers make a washer that is high-efficiency that does not smell ever like the traditional units? I suspect the answer is because the use of water is so much lower than the traditional units the clothes don’t actually get clean. That is why there is a smell. I have owned an HE unit for 15 years and have fought this smell nonstop. We have used a variety of methods to combat the smell. However, why should we have to do this this is a washer for crying out loud! It is supposed to clean things not stink! Less water means less clean. Anyone who tells you different is trying to sell you an HE machine! I just put my HE washer and dryer on craigslist and will be purchasing a traditional unit. I look forward to close that smell fresh instead of a strange tangy smell. I also look forward to never having to worry about a stinky washer!
You’d think that consumer reports would knock them down a few for this very issue Jeremy, I couldn’t agree with you more. I sold mine as well and bought a top loader (Still HE) and I no longer have the smell. I still prefer the traditional “old-fashioned” washing machine though!
Hi everybody I’ve had all of the same issues vinegar baking soda leaving the door open wiping the gasket and definitely dispersing the excess water in the tube on the bottom (which also helps with the rocking of the machine puts it back in balance) , all help, but one additional thing I have started to do is I run an additional spin cycle after load finishes to get rid of the excess water in the machine. As far as fabric softener goes that’s the worst thing you could use in these or with towels or anything with soft fleece, in any machine, because it doesn’t rinse out and makes them rough and creates little balls. vinegar softens your towels and everything almost immediately.
After going into my dresser drawer and pulling out a newly cleaned pair of PJ pants and CRYING…I thank you all for convincing me I’m not crazy! How many times do I have to wash all the clothes in my dresser?!?! I grew up poor and we never had a washer or dryer at the same time. Going to the laundry mat with either wet clothes or dragging the wet ones back when I was 10, should really have made me a raging alcoholic who shops till she’s broke! Growing up my clothes smelled like this. It takes me back to a really terrible time in my life to smell sour clothes and I have a brand new (well 3 yrs old but I’m the only one using it!) front loader! I’m a freak about smelling fresh for obvious reasons and was about to start drinking heavily over this. God bless Google for letting me type “why do my clothes smell after they are washed?” And God BLESS all of you for sharing the not-so-secret-shame! I’m not the only smelly kid in class! (And now I won’t be anymore after I dismantle my washer and use a gallon of white vinegar!)
I have always been a clean freak, and I always use vinegar in my laundry, for the extra cleaning and to set the colors. When we purchased the front loaders, I noticed less water, and clothes didn’t smell clean. Now when I wash whites I use bleach and the odor goes, of course I cannot use bleach with colors. I am at a loss, vinegar doesn’t even remotely work for me, nor does the addition of other items, baking soda, every different laundry detergent out there, and Commercial odor boosters. Any other suggestions? Thank you for your time!
You could contact the company of washing machine and they might be able to adjust the water level to add more water.
Also, if you have a towel mode, it usually adds more water to the cycle.
In regards to using vinegar, are you referring to distilled white vinegar or regular cleaning vinegar? I’ve seen both at my store.
I just use the distilled white vinegar found in the food section of your grocery store.
I disagree with the Front-Loader “facts” of always being better than a Regular or Normal Top-Loader. I definitely wouldn’t ever buy a HE Top-Loader, watch it “wash” and you’ll agree. Sorry but, with Front-Loaders not even living 6-years on average and Top-Loaders living an average of 20-years, I’d have to say Top-Loaders win every time and in every way.
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I’ve never had any problem with any Regular Top-Loader’s cleaning and/or untreated stain removal. And who cares about water? My bill’s $30 and has never even hit $40. But, if I use anymore heating or cooling it’s blatant in my electric/gas bill. Now, I do only cold washes with Coldwater Tide (works amazingly well) and have no energy affect with my Top-Loader and saw no appreciable change in my bill from before I went cold.
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If you want to pay A LOT more from start to a sprint-finish, then a Front-Loader is what you want. If you want the UNBEATEN tried and true cheapest route, then a Regular (“wasteful”, according to liars and frauds) Top-Loader is what you need. Hey Front-Loaders, is it ecological or economical to throw away your forced obsolescence garbage purchase THREE-TIMES (minimum) as often?
DO NOT ADD VINEGAR IN THE NEWER FRONT LOAD WASHERS THAT ARE BUILT FOR HOME USE
VINEGAR IS ONLY GOOD FOR COMMERCIAL GRADE FRONT LOAD WASHERS THAT ARE MADE OF STRONGER COMPONENTS
The newer front load washers FOR HOME USE are built with planned obsolescence in mind so that the manufacturers can sell new machines every so many years.
The “spider arm assembly” behind the stainless steel tub/drum of almost ALL of these home front load machines is made of cheap pot iron and it deteriorates into powdery material over the years (usually 4-5 years if you are lucky)
Corrosives like vinegar accelarate this process
Only way to slow down the deterioration of this part is to use AS LITTLE DETERGENT AS POSSIBLE and CLEAN YOUR WASHER WITH AN EMPTY CYCLE WITH NO CLOTHES AND DETERGENT every few weeks
Also, keep the door ajar, wipe down the gasket with a microfiber cloth sprayed with isopropyl alcohol and, if possible, run a fan in front of the washer for 30 minutes or so after each wash. This should eliminate the smell
Seriously, should we really have to do all this?? I think the manufacturers NEED to come up with a better design or stop making them! Like I am doing to put a fan in front of my washer for 30 minutes after each wash! Nope- not going to do it! I already do too much.
These front loaders looked neat at first but then soon after you realize they don’t clean, they don’t use water, they leave slime on your clothes, your laundry smells rotten, and the machines smell themselves. Ban them. Go back to top loaders and clothes are fresh smelling all the time. I was smelling bad at work because of this washer! So embarrassing when I realized it was the laundry machine and I thought it was my poor cat. He is actually cleaner than clothes washed in front loaders.
Thank you for this post! My front end smelled so bad I had the repair guy out. I was convinced there was a moldy sock jammed behind the gasket. He said everything was fine and that front loads just stink after a few years. His suggestion was to leave the door open after each wash and let that lovely stink fill the room even more. After he left I manhandled the entire stackable unit out from the wall and removed the back – still convinced there was a dead mouse or something back there. Again nothing. I had almost decided to get a new set but I didn’t want to so I found your post.
I’ve been using vinegar in the bleach slot for 1 entire Costco sized vinegar bottle and it no longer stinks. I also stopped using Tide Pods because I think the stink started about the time I switched to them. Nothing to back that theory up just gut instinked 🙂
Anyway, your suggestion worked and for that I am truly grateful and less broke. Also I agree that front end load machines are substandard and really don’t work that well and last about 5 years.
I have used front loaders for years–Asko, Bosch, LG. I like how they clean, that they are resource efficient, and that I can control the temp and spin cycles. I’ve always used a minimum amount of biodegradable detergent (critical–left over soap = microbial food) and left the door open a few inches, and never had smell problems. Until all of a sudden, recently my 2005 Bosch started smelling of mold.
None of the common suggestions (Borax, vinegar, bleach, cleaning the gaskets, super hot tub clean cycle, etc.) worked. I looked at the ingredients on a box of Afresh and noticed it was just oxygen bleach, so bought a tub of oxygen bleach, poured about 3T. directly into the washer (not sure why that’s important, but it is) and ran it on the longest, hottest cycle possible. Repeated this two more times, and my washer is back to normal.
Not sure what happened, and I may have to repeat this process in a month or so, but try it, before you give up on your machine. And stop using so much soap–let your machine work the way it’s supposed to.
My only concern with using vinegar in with my wash for fabric softener, is of course everything smelling like vinegar. Did you not find this happened to your clothing etc?
Most people with HE machines use WAY TOO MUCH liquid detergent. Because the water is unable to break it all down it turns into a black slime and remains in the machine. You’d be surprised to know that a tablespoon of detergent is enough for small and maybe even medium loads.
We’ve had our HE front-load for several years now. After I’m done with the laundry I take the dispenser out and put it in the sink and leave the door open. Ours has never developed an odor using this technique.
Lucky you! I do all that and more and have mold smell. Maybe you could share the model you have?? I have LG—- never again! Read my comment below.