Get Rid of Front Loader Washer Stink!

Hey, Dirt Farmer Jay here from DirtFarmerJay.com. Don't you just love your front loader washing machine? We do, but there's one problem with them. They can stink sometimes. What's up with that? Stay tuned and we'll show you how to solve it. Well, as I said, we really love our front loader, but sometimes they can get a little odiferous, and there's a way to solve that, though. Not too long ago, we had a friend of ours who's in the appliance repair industry, and he gave us some insights. He was telling us about how superior these machines are, what a great job they do, and using a little bit of detergent, less water, and a superior finish. But we objected and said, everybody we know struggles with the thing stinking. He said, I'll show you how to solve that. So, we're going to pass on his expertise to you. Well, the first thing you need to know, that odor occurs when there's lots of different moisture pockets in the machine, and you need to eliminate those. But one thing you can do ongoing, monthly, let's say, is simply put two cups of regular white vinegar into the dispensers and run a normal cycle. What that'll do is put that vinegar, which is acetic acid, throughout the plumbing, inside the tub. It'll rinse it all out and start to kill off any bad guys that are in there starting to put out a stench. So, that's something you can do ongoing that is really simple. The second ongoing practice Dirt Farmer Maggie and I use is we simply wipe out the three areas that are always moist after a cycle of laundry is done. So, the first thing you're going to do is when you open the door, this whole area, we just wipe it down because it usually has droplets of moisture all over it. And we just simply use a terrycloth towel to do so. And as you can see, it doesn't scratch. We just simply wipe like this and get that all dry and around here. Literally takes about 20 seconds. The second area is the rubber seal right here. Water collects right inside down here. And if that water stands in there, it will start to stink. So, what we do is we simply pull back the tub liner like this, put a rag in, and just go around inside and dab out that extra moisture. And we leave the door ajar like this to assure that any residual moisture dries out on its own. The last and third place is the dispenser area itself where you put in detergent as well as softener and other cleaning boosters. As you can see, these areas tend to collect a little bit of water. And get out the majority of the moisture and then simply leave the dispenser open. This will allow it to air out. And what you'll do is kill the odor. If you are simply trying to spray fresheners throughout, what you're doing is treating symptoms instead of getting rid of the cause itself. One last place you need to pay attention to is this area right here where there is a filter that needs to be cleaned on a monthly basis. Now, ours is equipped with a little access panel and that little door actually removes. And it has a pictogram on RLG here. Yours may or may not. But here's just the basic steps. The first thing you're going to do is pull this little hose, extend it out, and you're going to drain that into some kind of container. And you'll see that there's residual water that is in here that needs to be drained out. And what this is actually doing is draining it from this area where the actual filter is. Once this is done draining, we'll be able to open this up. It'll take just a moment. Okay, now that that's done, we'll go ahead and rotate this to the left and pull that out. And when you do pull it out, you'll see that there's a little bit of gumminess and all that that's here. If that's not cleaned on a regular basis, this is another area where odor can start to be generated from. So I simply use a little tub of soapy water, a toothbrush, and clean it up. Okay, there you have it. And the area where it was pulled out of will a lot of times have a little bit of residue in there as well. So go ahead and just swab that out. And now you can reinsert the filter back in. Rotate to the right until you feel it lock in. There it is. Put the plug back in the hose and push back in. Reinsert. Let's install our access panel door again. And there you have it. That's how you stink-proof your front loading washer. Hey, if you found this video to be helpful, why don't you like it? And better yet, subscribe. You can check out all sorts of other helpful videos for things around the yard, the shop, or the kitchen. Until the next time, this is Dirt Farmer Jay from DirtFarmerJay.com.