Mouldy-smelling washer/dryer but primarily when drying

[brick24]

Hello,

I have recently moved into a new rented flat, and found the washer/dryer (Whirlpool BI WDWG 7148 UK) to have a strong mouldy/mildew smell on opening. There was some visible mould in the seal and the detergent drawer cavity, which I cleaned out, I cleaned the filter, and also ran many wash cycles with commercial washing machine cleaner, vinegar+bicarb, and bleach (separately – don’t mix vinegar and bleach!). The bleach made the biggest improvement to the smell, but washing and drying clothes still leaves a horrible mouldy smell on them.

Though I’m reluctant to sacrifice more of my clothes for testing, I think this now happens primarily when drying, not when washing. I think I read somewhere that mould can grow in the dryer condenser or fan – since I have tried everything else, could this be the case? As far as I can tell the condenser isn’t easily accessible by a lay-person to clean. Does anyone know if this is the case? Do I need to convince the landlord that we need to call in a professional to clean out the mould?

Thank you for your help

[brick24]

As an update, we got it checked and the condenser and fan were clean. It sounds like the problem is in the drum (though I don’t know why drying leaves such a worse smell than washing). More cleaning cycles it is…

[andyjawa]

You might have a wad of rotting smelly cloth caught around the wash heater*** and especially its bracket, it will not take a lot to get caught there to create a smell. Your machine is basically a Hotpoint sold as a Whirlpool ( same company but not always the same machines ), Hotpoints are infamous for stuff disappearing between the front of the drum / back of the door seal in my experience. You were on the right track because usually its rotting lint in the condenser, alas not on your machine it seems.Failing everything you or someone else has checked, if there is nothing caught up anywhere it could be “stuff” caught under the bearing spider arms in which case you have probably had it `cause the tank cannot be dismantled from memory. **** very often upon removing the element ( which can sometimes be a bugger to get out ) you might find nothing! And you might find that the heater might not be able to be re-fitted no mater how much washing-up liquid used on its rubber boss….so a new heater for no gain, so a word of warning there..

[brick24]

Thank you for all the information [USER=”19014″]andyjawa[/USER]. Yikes though, don’t like the sound of that! The heating element might well be the problem though – I’m running a 90C clean cycle now and smelling the same unpleasant smell which I suppose could be from something around the heater.
I suppose this would be something I’d need a professional to check? If it were my washing machine I’d be happy to take a chance on maybe buying a new heating element, but the landlord element makes it all a bit harder…

Hope it’s not something under the spider arms as you say! The machine is quite new but I suspect the previous tenants were leaving the door closed and not cleaning mould off.

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