Smelly Washing Machine

[The Tiggster]

The detergent drawer of my washing machine (and the compartment that takes the powder/conditioner away) is all gummed up, black & smelly from the fabric conditioner. I have taken it to bits & cleaned the best I can, but there are still nooks & crannies I cannot get to.

Any suggestions of what would help disolve the waxy deposits? Thanks.

[cole13uk]

Squirt with lime scale remover and soak it in water, use an old tooth brush to get to those hard to reach bits ( and cotton buds for really small areas

[The Tiggster]

Thanks, will get some limescale remover tomorrow.

[Ethel]

I find a cheap bottle brush is ideal for this job - you can use it in the slot the drawer fits in too.

If the lime scale remover doesn't work (I'm sure it will!) try soaking it in the sterilising solution usually used for babies bottles. That should finally kill any smelly nasties.

[SteveD]

We take ours out and put it in the dishwasher.

[vikki67]

I also have this problem.Do you live in a hard water area cos we do and a washig machine repair man says it's worse in these areas ,also cos we tend not to boil wash anymore you get a build up.What I do is put a limescale tablet in with a load every other day then once a month fill the drawer with bleach and put it on the hottest temperature.If you try this don't forget to give an extra rinse to get rid of the excess bleach,I wouldn't want you to ruin your clothes.Try it,it works for me the smell & black has gone..

[The Tiggster]

Thanks everyone, very helpful suggestions. We do not live in a hard water (that I know of) vikki, but I do think it is because of not washing at very high temps.

Thanks again.

[spudqueen]

Make sure that you put on a wash with nothing inside the machine on the hottest you can (no deteregent or anything) every few weeks. Probably won't solve the problem 100 per cent but will make it a lot better.