Laundry: That Awfull Smell!

"What is that awful smell in my front load washer?"

"My top load machine smells, too. What can I do?"

"I see mold on the door seal of my front loader, why?"

"There are black specks on my laundry when I take it out of the washer. What is it?"

"My towels smell when they get damp, why?"

Detergent Build Up. Plain and simple. The answer to all those questions is, detergent build up.

Powder detergent just gets sticky or stays powdery and shows up all over everything.

Liquid detergent, it's just sticky and gooey to begin with. But what is it really?

What is the 'liquid' part of liquid detergent? Purified, liquefied, animal fat. Gross right? What do you think they do with all those "animal by-products"? They use them in other products. One of them happens to be your liquid laundry detergent.

It never completely dissolves in water either. So when you use too much, where do you think it ends up? Stuck to the parts of your washing machine that you cannot see and parts that you can see and your clothes... When it builds up enough, it starts to break off and ends up on your clothes, too. That's what that black stuff is. And it's not just excess detergent either. It's dirt that has been trapped by the sticky, gooey mess. Then it all starts to decay. That usually means mold.

You smell the mold first, before anything else. Do your towels smell musty when you get them wet when drying off from a shower? Sorry to tell you but that is mold. Gross!

HOW DO I GET RID OF IT????

Don't let it build up to begin with! But if it is already there, there are some things you can do to clean it up. Those wonderful marketing people went to the manufacturers and said "Let's make another product to clean up the mess that the liquid detergent makes!" There are a couple of products that the manufacturers have come up with to break up the excess detergent. It works pretty well, as long as your build up is not too thick. Follow the directions on the package.

Another way to clean it out is to run your top load washer on the hottest, longest cycle you have with no clothes in it, but dump in a gallon of white vinegar. The acid in the vinegar will help to break up the residue and then it can be rinsed away. Depending on how thick the build up is, you may have to do it several times.

We think, "Yuck! That smell! I need to use more detergent to get rid of that smell!" Wrong! You are just making it worse. You are adding to the build up every time you use more than what the clothes need to get clean.


Front load machines that you buy today have a "Tub Clean" cycle on them. Put in a half gallon of white vinegar and let it do it's thing. If your machine doesn't have a tub clean cycle, just use the hottest longest cycle you have and do the same thing. Front loads use less water, so use less vinegar or you may damage the machine.

The mold on the door seal? It's just a good spot for the mold to get a foothold. Mold grows well in warm, moist areas. Anything it can get itself attached to in your washer is going to be at room temperature and moist. As it builds up in your machine, it finally shows up on that seal. The best you can do there is to wipe it off with a rag dipped in bleach water. One tablespoon of bleach to a gallon of water should do the trick.

Sorry to gross you out, but it really is the truth. I couldn't make this stuff up. I'm not that imaginative.

I know we talked about how much detergent to use last time, but I just can't help myself. Don't forget the best way to not have the excess build up in the first place is to use the proper amount of detergent. 1 to 2 Tablespoons for an average load in a front load machine! 1/2 Or less of the recommended amount in a top load machine!

Any questions about what kind of detergent to use? Comment on this page or e-mail me. I'm here to help!

What shall we talk about next?
I know, "How much can I stuff in one load?" or "Really? That much?"