How to Clean a Washing Machine and Stop the Smell

You pull a load out of the washer and the clean towels smell like a damp basement. Often the washer is the problem: leftover detergent, lint and trapped water feed mildew.

Here is a four-step routine for the door seal, drawer, filter and drum, plus the habits that keep the smell gone.

The dare

The challenge: run the four steps in order, once a month, for three rounds, until a fresh towel smells like nothing. You need gloves, an old toothbrush, rags, a shallow pan and a washer cleaner or plain liquid chlorine bleach. Already musty? LG suggests a tub clean once a week for three weeks, so do your first three rounds a week apart.

Ground rules

• Check your manual first. Some brands call for oxygen bleach instead of chlorine.
• Never mix bleach with ammonia, vinegar or any other cleaner. Gloves on, window open.
• A round counts only if all four steps get done. Miss a month? Just do the next one.

Step 1: the door seal

On a front-loader, pull back the rubber lip and wipe every fold. LG's mix is 3/4 cup of liquid chlorine bleach in a gallon of warm water, never straight bleach, which wears the rubber down. Mild soap and water works too. Dry it before you shut the door.

Check-in: the rag should come away less gray each round. Consumer Reports found even bleach couldn't get a seal fully clean, so steady wiping beats one big scrub.

Step 2: the detergent drawer

Pull the drawer, pop out the inserts, rinse and scrub them. Then scrub the empty slot it slides into, the part LG calls most underestimated. Dry everything before it goes back.

Check-in: slime in the slot usually means too much detergent or softener.

Step 3: the hidden filter

Hidden tip: many front-loaders, including LG and Samsung models, hide a drain pump filter behind a small door at the bottom front. It traps lint, hair, coins and old water.

1. Unplug the washer. If it just ran hot, let it cool.
2. Pan and towel down, then drain the leftover water.
3. Twist the filter counterclockwise and pull it out.
4. Brush it under warm water. LG says no dishwasher.
5. Screw it back clockwise until it stops.

Ours was mostly Biscuit, our old yellow Lab. Top-loaders vary, so check your manual.

Step 4: the drum

Run Tub Clean or Clean Washer with the drum empty, using cleaner or bleach as your manual says. No such cycle? Consumer Reports suggests the hottest setting with a cup of bleach.

Hidden tip: Whirlpool warns against thickened, easy-pour or no-splash bleach in its clean cycle, because it can foam up. Afterward, leave the door and drawer open to dry.

The wobble

Around round two, the smell may creep back. Daily habits refill the machine faster than a monthly clean empties it. So:

• Unload wet clothes right away. Whirlpool says left-in laundry grows mildew.
• Leave the door and drawer open between loads, unless small kids could climb in.
• Use HE detergent in an HE machine, at the label amount.
• After the last load, wipe the seal dry.

I'll say it plain: an extra glug of detergent doesn't clean better. It just raises your cost per load and feeds the funk.

Finish line

On round three, a fresh towel should smell like nothing. Then stay monthly. If the smell holds on, LG recommends calling for a repair. Post your round count in the comments. Level two: keep the habits going for thirty loads straight. My count is two rounds, and my washer finally quit going through things.

Save this: washer cheat sheet