Thursday, July 17, 2008

Things (I Will Learn To Love) About Our New House: The Washing Machine

I have a love/hate relationship with my new washing machine. It's a Frigidaire front-loader. I've dreamed of owning a front-loading washing machine for several years and was thrilled to discover one in our new house. The problem is, the machine stinks. It literally stinks. I don't know why, but the seal surrounding the door leaks. Water pools within the folds of the seal. It's full of mildew and smells like a dirty, old swimming pool.

I've cleaned the seal as best I can for now. (I'm hesitant to use anything stronger than soap and water.) I plan to call the 1-800 number plastered to the machine. Has anyone else encountered this problem? Is it a design flaw, or does my seal need to be replaced?

3 comments:

Sarah said...

Mine does this too! I hate it! I normally don't use bleach but was thinking about doing an empty hot water and bleach "wash" to see if it at least kills the mold/mildew and then clean it out with a Q-tip or an old toothbrush with a rag on it or something. I think that it also gets moldy from potential food that gets in the wash (which often occurs in my house - from washcloths washing off the table from the mess my little guy makes! :) so if you can try to reduce any potential food getting in the washer, it should (so I'm told)decrease the mold/mildew issue.

I hope this helps! I don't know if you can replace the seal that easily, but the hot water & bleach wash might do it! Or at least curtail it for awhile!

Best,
Sarah

Anonymous said...

We had a front loading one in our condo (whirlpool) & it also stunk....sorry to say! (Wendy)

Lindsay Inkster said...

Oh yuck. At least it helps to know other machines have this problem as well. I do think I will try the bleach wash. Thanks for the advice, Sarah :-).