Suburbanmd, I actually did run his shirt through 3 sanitize cycles, so maybe it is the soap. Strange thing, on the 10 year old now broken machine, I only used warm/cold setting & FS. Perhaps the FS was masking the smell. Also, we have a recirculating hot water pump that was running, so basically it has instant hot water. Plus, the utility room is the first stop in the hot water loop. I can also verify this, as I just could not resist the temptation to put my hand in the flow of the water to test its temp. I have a load of linens to do tonight or tomorrow that I will do with the Kirkland HE liquid I have on hand and just let the machine do its thing as you say. The linens are not really that soiled, just one night stay by a guest, but still it will be interesting to see how it does and to check the soap level. Janet, it is ironic you mention your model number, as when the delivery folks first delivered my machine and placed it, husband looked at it and said it was not the right one. Turns out it was the WM2016CW! What I do not understand is why of all the models they took the water plus feature out of my chosen model. Do you find that the towels are actually in any water in the drum or have they absorbed it all? Mine has so very little you have to hunt for it and move them over just to find the frog puddle. Maybe this is quite normal for FL machines and being my first, I am used to the concept of water in a wash. I am still concerned about how it will do on the dog blankets and dog hair. How can it rinse the hair out when there is hardly any water? Only trial will tell. Oh, and yesterday it started leaking slightly from the front left hand corner! I wiped up water several times including when I first got up, and no, the only high water time was when it did the error code while wildly filling. I have read that over sudsing can cause leaks, so maybe this high water level reached that point? Then again, it might be something else. Do any of the FL machines actually spray the clothes to rinse them while they are spinning, much like the TL do? It seems like this would add a lot to rinsing the clothes. Thanks, Schutzhund

debrak_2008, Why not simply add a recirculation system to your hot water line? This will ensure every tap in the house has almost instant hot water. gates1, I don't think you'll get much build-up from powder detergents. For the most part, when you add water to a substance and then evaporate the water, you're left with the original substance. Liquid detergents are so gooey and sticky that they are bound to cause build-up problems in the detergent drawer as well as the machine. I've never had powder detergent cause build-up in the drawer, ever, and it's unlikely that it would cause problems in the washer either. I also think overuse of cold washes and fabric softener are definitely factors. Fabric softener is released during the final rinse. That means whatever is left in your machine after the final rinse will evaporate and leave a slight oily residue in its place. If the next wash uses cold water, it's unlikely to pick up that residue and may actually deposit more residue on top. I think this whole issue starts and stops with fabric softeners and liquid detergents. Hot water washes in themselves don't necessarily solve the problem, but can prevent it from happening in the first place by limiting the amount of residue left in the machine. Cold water washing exacerbates the problem because it is not hot enough to remove the fabric softener/liquid detergent buildup left from the previous wash/rinse. Use powder detergent, dilute the fabric softener or use less, and wash regularly on HOT. For those using liquid fabric softener, it may be advisable to start your "laundry day" with a load of whites on the HOT cycle and progress to cooler cycles and darker colors. The reason for this is simple. The last time you did laundry, your machine had a very slight fabric softener residue left in it from the final rinse. To have the best shot of removing that residue, start out with a HOT wash.

I use either splash of vinegar or lemon juice in the final rinse.The lemon juice should help brighten up the laundry.Your stale smell could be result of not properly rinsed laundry. Try wash each of your next load twice ,once w/extra detergent,second without.Even add extra rinse to it.Use the hottest setting you can. I only use hot and sanitary and always extra rinse and our laundry smells nice.I had problem in past w/smelly laundry and found out it was my bf laundry.He has dermatitis and uses medicated lotions and it didn't get washed out properly. Hot water and the extra rinse took care of it. I only use Persil now.

After reading all these comments, I'd like to say that drying your front-loader gasket thoroughly after finishing your loads is something you just need to do- it takes less time than writing these comments/questions! My Electrolux is 10 years old and I always left the door open; with a dehumidifier in the room I thought that was enough. I was wrong. I love this washer, but bought a new HE top-loader ( a big expense for us) and returned it after one day- it was worse than useless. We ordered a new gasket, since I realized that over time the old one had molded and was not salvageable. My husband replaced it with the help of the video and the instructions that came with it. He is handy but had never done anything like this. It was not as difficult as you might imagine and was totally worth it. Now I get down on my knees on my garden kneeling pad and just dry it completely, and put in vinegar with blue jeans loads (this also helps set the dye on denim if you don't want them to fade too fast). I also use vinegar and hot water for towels. Once a week or so I run a hot cycle with vinegar and dry the gasket, and leave the door open. I do not use chlorine bleach at all because of the environmental impact and because of sensitive skin. Also use fragrance- and dye-free liquid detergent, and I'm wondering how much of an impact these ingredients are having on the mold problem y'all are having. All is well, still got my good machine. Dry that Gasket!