There are a few things you can do to help. The first stage would be to clean off any mold and mildew in the machine as well as you can. Every few months I run a short wash cycle, with the washer empty, using bleach instead of detergent. This also helps with top-load machines. After you have finished a load, leave the door open for a couple of hours to give the machine time to dry, so the moisture is not trapped inside. Wipe the door down thoroughly if it is damp. These machines are usually loaded with detergent and other washing aids from the top or from a slide-out draw. When you have finished a wash, leave the door on the top open or the slide pulled out. The repairman who changed the door seals on our washer (see below) also recommended that we run an empty load once in a while using a powdered cleaner for dishwashers. Dishwasher detergent is slightly abrasive and will help scour the inside of the machine. ------------------------------------------------------------ Important footnote for consumers ------------------------------------------------------------ Our experience with a front-load machine came with a Maytag unit we purchased in July 2004. Unfortunately, the model we purchased turned out to be one that we later found was the subject of a class-action suit. The settlement covers defects in the control circuit board (which our machine has not experienced), as well as problems with mold and mildew inside the machine, particularly on the door seals (which we have experienced; the material the door seal is made from has been changed). This suit affects Maytag Neptune front-loading washing machines and stackable combinations. It divides the machines into two groups with different settlement terms: those purchased before 1 March 2000 and those purchased after 1 March 2000. There are about 30 different models covered by the suit, most of them falling into the 2000, 3000, 4000, 5500, 6500, 7500, and 7550 model families. You have until 6 August 2006 to file a claim under the terms of the suit. More information can be found at http://maytagfrontloadsettlement.com/ .

My wife and I purchased an LG Tromm SteamWasher model WM2487HWM with matching dryer in March of 07. The salesman at Home Depot raved about his and we were looking for the largest load we could find. We noticed the moldy smell in the washer if we left the door closed but just leaving the door open helped, but then we started to get the smell in the towels. I checked the web and was really worried when I saw all the complaints and horror stories. I decided to get to the bottom of this problem myself and started working on a solution. Here are the things I found and the results I got. If you have the smell problem I will also tell you what we did for our washer and out towels The biggest single problem is standing water in the door seal. When a load is finished, if you fold back the bottom of the door seal this washer will have a cup or two of water trapped underneath. To fix this problem, just fold the seal back and use a towel to soak up this extra water. The next biggest problem is leaving laundry in after it is finished. I don’t mean one or two hours, I mean long periods of time like during the day or over night. If you want to do laundry before bed or on the way to work, use the delay start function so it finishes just before you get up/get home. As mentioned above, leave the door open when the machine is not in use. Let it dry completely. We don’t close it at all, so I don’t know if it could be closed after it is dry or not. Another problem was too much soap. In my research, I found out several interesting things. The main cleaning action in a front loader is the tumbling action. If you add too much soap, suds form and cushion the clothes hampering the cleaning action. Too much soap also causes soap build up in the clothes and in the washer. If you think about it, If the washer uses 80% less water how much soap do you need for the same concentration of soap in the water (80% less) so if a full load takes about 1/3 cup (2.66 ounces) of 2X liquid detergent in a top loader then you would need .53 ounces (2.66 times .2) for the same concentration. Sorry about the math. In reality, we use no more than line 1 on the detergent cup for the largest loads and less for small loads. I have read several things about liquid fabric softener, but we don’t us it. I do see how it could cause all kinds of problems with build up. If you want to use it, I would reduce the amount used by the same 80% rule for detergent. So these are the rules we follow to keep the problem from occurring. He is what we did to clear up the problem. I used a disinfectant spray to wipe down all surfaces of the door seal I could reach. Take your time and do a good job. I then followed the Mfg. directions to clean the tub. The LG has a tub clean cycle and during this cycle it spends a lot of time spraying water through the door seal area. I ran this twice in a row using the suggest amount of bleach. Then I took a load of white towels and ran them through using the Sanatary cycle with bleach and detergent. This really cleaned up the washer and got rid of the smell in the towels. I now follow all of the suggestions above, use the clean cycle once a month and run a load of towels using the sanitary cycle now and then. Hope this helps

I have a Bosh nexxt and was getting the smelly odor after about 3 yrs of use. I cleaned out the trap and now I add about 2 tablespoons of bleach and a cup of water in the detergent receptacle between washes and do whites first the next time I wash and I have no more smell at all.