Are you washing in cold, warm or hot water? what detergent and how much? Which make and model of washer?

Softened water may generate more sudsing from your detergent, which leads you to lessen the dose, which may not be sufficient to properly clean your laundry.

Does the machine have a Tub Clean cycle and do you run it occasionally with a washer cleaner product? Do you occasionally use chlorine bleach? If you object to using bleach on clothes, then run a Hot/Heavy or Sanitize cycle occasionally with bleach (unless your machine's manufacturer forbids use of chlorine bleach). Use regular sanitizing bleach, not the scented or no-splash products which can generate sudsing.

Unfortunately, we need to leave the door of a front loader ajar after we do the laundry. Sometimes it is awkward because it will block a door or a pathway. Read the instruction manual. It was a disappointment to me when we bought our first one, but it became routine. Otherwise the musty smell will grow if you don’t. Sorry.

We use Afresh regularly.

We use Affresh every 5-6 washes but it hasn't had much effect.

We use Tide Hygenic Clean Power pods. Also, changing from cold-warm-hot water doesn't really seem to matter either.

My front load washer recommends a chlorine bleach clean cycle in between so many washes like dadoes describes. I also leave the door ajar.

What kind of washing machine is this?

It might be that your washer has a lot of crud build up inbetween the wash drum (the one you can see) and the outer drum (the one you can not see). I had a front loading washer that had that problem a long time ago. Nothing helped. Heaven knows I tried everything. We have soft water too...it does make rinsing properly difficult.

Using Affresh every 5-6 cycles to no improvement tells me you likely have a washer that either needs to be replaced or taken apart and scrubbed out manually. Sorry you are having this problem. I've been there and it's not pleasant.

@SEA SEA do you know what kind of detergent is best for soft water? Also any additive that helps with rinsing?

Yes, that's a LOT of Affresh, which means there's probably an underlying infestation of residue that has accumulated beyond what the Affresh can handle.

Changing to hot water won't instantaneously fix the problem, it may take a couple/few months until the residue clears. Those Tide pods may be part of the problem. Try a different detergent, and stick with it for a while for the change to have an effect before trying another.

You haven't yet cited the brand/model of washer involved regards to what cycles and options are available. Does it have an onboard water heater and a Sanitize or Allergen cycle? What is your method of running the Affresh?

Alex,

In my experience here powdered detergent (I use Tide orginal and Tide Free & Gentle) works best for cleaning and rinsing in my soft water. I do use liquid detergent, but never with towels or fleece. I used to, back in the day, but I found liquid detergent was the source of mildewy smells in those two things.

When I visit a family member in a hard water area, I am amazed at the very clear rinse cycles she has. Same washing machine as me. Same detergents too. Water chemistry does make a difference.

Hard water technically rinses away detergent better than soft water ... but the other problems related to hard water and mineral content outweigh that benefit!

Alex,

Forgot to mention I use Borax in wash cycles. This helps detergent clean better for us. I use stpp in towels and fleece loads so they rinse better. Those loads come out soft and fluffy when I remember to add stpp. I don't use liquid fabric conditioner.

Is there an additve that hardens the water for the rinse cycle?

It helps us to know which washer you have and its capacity. Detergent pods with soft water might be the problem. I don't dare use pods in our moderately hard water (100 ppm or 5.8 grains). It would be overdosing for us, which can cause smells, unless i was filling up a ginormous 6-7 cu ft washer, which we don't have.

It is a Maytag front-end loadng, model W10775517B. i do not see any reference to capacity it does state that we should only use HE detergents (which we do)

Sea Sea, can you tell e what stpp stands for?

Sodium Tripolyphosphate.

It's an ingredient that used to be in laundry and dishwasher detergents. It helped to bind minerals in water and also to aid in cleaning function. It was removed quite a few years ago and that's when so many of us starting having issues with laundry and dishwasher outcomes.

I order a small amount at the big a online retailer and use 2TBS on loads that I know will come out less than perfect without it. With the added cleaning and rinsing power, usually, washing machines and dishwashers are cleaner as well.

No, hard water doesn't rinse away better than soft water. And if you have soft water, don't use laundry pods because that could be too much detergent for dust water. You'll want to use a liquid laundry detergent in a smaller quantity than normal to reduce the sudsing action.

*soft, not dust.

W10775517B may be the document number of the user instruction manual. It's not a valid Maytag model number. The model is on a tag affixed somewhere around the loading port, visible when the door is open.

We have very hard water here, making a water softener mandatory. Without one, the buildup of mineral deposits happens quickly, ruining appliances and plumbing. The interior of my MIL's stainless steel DW is a perfect example-I should take a picture of it and post it.

Like SEA SEA mentioned, I add either 20 Mule Team Borax or the Arm & Hammer equivalent to every load I do. I use slightly less than the directions on the package recommend, mainly because I don't reduce the amount of detergent I use. I never have asked-I probably should-but it seemed logical to me that if I were to use the full amount of detergent and the full amount of Borax that would be too much suds and compounds to rinse out. Since I have the same SQ washer as SEA SEA I think a second rinse would be a waste of water to make up for me using too much soap/borax. I try very hard to not over dose the detergents and FS.

Funny how years ago we didn't have washing machine cleaners and laundry & washing machines didn't smell....Thoughts?

^^because we had phosphates in our detergents back then. We all used to be normal people back in those day when our washing machines and dishwashers ran in the background of our lives...now we are laundry nerds out of nessecity.

Perhaps I should have stated it a different way, hard-water rinsing kills sudsing better than soft water ... which many people nowadays obsess on rinsing repeatedly until there's not the slightest hint of a bubble.

Appearance of suds during the wash has no bearing on whether the detergent dosage is correct. There must be sufficient concentration of enzymes and surfactants to handle the laundry stains and soil, and keep those soils sequestered in the water for the duration of the wash period to be flushed away, and not adhere to to internal machine surfaces as I've often found, even on these old-style toploaders.

I spoke with a repair man about the smell of the clothes/ towels. He told me to stop using anything but powder detergent. The liquid and others leave a film on the drum,that causes the smell . I changed to powder detergent (Tide he) and haven’t had a problem with smell since. This has been at least 10 years.

@dadoes how ”clear” the rinse water should be for well rinsed clothes?

Debfrid..do you put the powder detergent in drum with clothes or in dispenser and how much do you use?
I can’t seem to get fresh smelling laundry.

Do you use fabric softener? Are all of the dirty clothes & towels bone dry before going in the dirty clothes hamper?

Have you ran an empty cycle with hot water & chlorine bleach?

Whew, Hippo! That was such a great help. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this. I love you.

I found a user manual that matches the document number stated above. It covers several models, which all show a Sanitary cycle and/or Steam option which involves heating. The model number of the specific machine involved is better to confirm via parts diagrams that it does have a heating element. Sometimes online documentation for older models is segued to more recent documentation that doesn't exactly match.

The OP did say "changing from cold-warm-hot water doesn't really seem to matter" but has not stated other details regarding use of chlorine bleach, fabric softener, exactly how the Affresh is being run, how long it has been since the temperature curve increase was effected, which cycles and temperatures are most-often used, with what frequency the Sanitary cycle and/or Steam option is used, etc.

Does anyone use Miele powder detergent in a non Miele machine? Directions for dosage are for Miele machines. Dosage by soil level using provided scoop. I find directions on dosage to be spot on, I reduce to 1/4 on scoop for towels and denims...the rest soil level. Miele's powders are very low suds and I have been very happy with their detergents. I clean machine with my Finish Booster that I use in dishwasher. One heaping 2tbsp and run clean cycle. Miele machines sanitize drum and even use steam in cleaning process. Drum sparkles when completed.

Maybe those with soft water could try their detergent and customize dosage, would love to hear results. I know the Electrolux machines use such little water in cycles, very stingy period. Anywho maybe dose same as a Miele machine in instruction/picture on box. Their Ultra White powder is awesome and no need for chlorine bleach. Just a suggestion all the way around.

I can honestly say that Arm & Hammer 'fresh scent' powder w/oxi rinses the cleanest, IMO.

I would like to run monthly sanitize cycles on my Maytag FL using bleach, but we are on a septic system. Does that seem unwise?

Where do you put the powder...drum or dispenser?

I have LG front load and I usually put the powder in the dispenser.

So far our towels are coming out of the dryer smell oil

Let’s try that comment again. So far our towels are coming out of the dryer smelling much fresher. We switched to using powder detergent (Tide Original) put in the dispenser. Then my wife puts them through a second wash with Borax and skips the second rinse. Great progress. To answer someone else’s question, we do not use bleach nor do we use fabric softener. We’ve ordered some tri-polyphosphate to see how that does as well.

Thank you everyone for your advice!

Miz Lizzie, occasional use of moderate amounts of chlorine bleach isn't going to harm the septic system. I would not worry about using bleach for sanitizing a washing machine once a month.

I am SO glad to learn about this issue. I’ve struggled with smelly laundry for four years (two front loaders, well water, in-house water filter system) and nobody’s advice had helped. This is great information. Thank you for posting and responding.

@HU-240877082,

Borax can be added with detergent, no need to run a separate cycle for it. STPP is phosphates which function to soften the water and boost detergent performance. You don't need it if you have a household water softener, borax alone will help quash odor and boost the detergent.

Run a full cycle through with bleach and no clothes if you don't want to use chlorine bleach on your regular load of whites, kitchen linens, bath linens, and such.

I clean my machines with a wash with just some vinegar if there is ever a smell I machine it is gone after that

My friend told me to put a cup of white vinegar in the washer with my towels. Mo more odor! I use Tide liquid detergent.

Uh, th that’s “No more odor!”

I highly recommend 1 cup of citric acid and use the clean washer cycle! Also, as mentioned, use hot water more frequently. You might he using too much detergent.