While I was ill our daughter in law over loaded the washer and now there is a moldy mildewy smell. I have cleaned the drum by running a load of bleach water with no clothes, but the smell seems to be between the drum and the outside. How can I clean and get rid of that smell?

Yes this is a common problem

Check for lint buildup in the vent discharge hose/pipe and the inside of the dryer blower housing.
Heavy wet lint buildup will cause a moldy/mildewy smell that you describe.
Heavy lint build up will also increase the drying time, and it is a fire hazzard
This is a free answer, Please rate me

Mine only smell mildewy if I leave them in more than an hour before drying. My old top load washer did the same thing. I dont wash unless I can immediately switch to the dryer.

Hi,
Everything that you did was good and right. Front loaders have a tendence to harbor mold and mildewy smells by the nature of their design. Cleaning the pump strainer, and repeating the steps that you took woll take care of the problem. The pump strainer is located between the drum and the pump, behind the kick panel of the washer. The strainer is connected to the drum with a rubber hose. Open and clean the strainer. While it is open, peer up into the pump, and see if you can see any other debris in there. Remove al that you can, and reassemble the strainer. Wipe down the seal faces at the door with a solution of bleachy/soapy water, and run a 'sanitary' load with bleach in all dispenser cups. Dump 1 cup of bleach also into the tub prior to starting the empty load. Use the hottest water setting. After the cycle ends, run another empty load to flush all traces of the bleach from the system. This should take care of the issue.

Best regards, --W/D--

Hi, Go to you local appliance store and they should carry a product for this issue. Most front load washers are having the same issue.
I hope this helps you.

Vic

Hi Jewel,
You may want to try some Washer Magic, or similar product specifically designed to clean out washing machines. I personally use Affresh in my front loader and it works very well.

SG

This moldy look could also be due to alot of 40 degree or less washing temperatures where the bacteria cannot be killed therefore a once a month maintenance wash at max temp would help solve this.

I have read that the imbalance/drum problem is a known problem and should be covered under warranty.

also, that the smell is also a known problem and can only be fixed by replacing the outer gasket. Which seems like a waste of time, as how long would it take for the new gasket to smell?

thers a product o the market now www.affresh.com helps too alleviate your smell issues.. you NEED to be using an HE detergent designed specifically for front loading machines, regular detergent has to much suds amd will not break down completly leavig behind a moldy/mildewy smell, its the dtergent not hte machine..2-3 tablespoons of HE detegent is all that is needed

just start with cleaning out the pump and the pipes that connect it both to the drum and the outlet, check the outlet on the wall that it is clear, given the info you have this sounds like that the pump is not clearing all the water in time and filing up with some old water left in the machine,, clear out these pipes with care and you should be fine, check the pump pushes out the water with sufficient force work safe unplug when working on appliances, electric and water don't mix hope i have helped, if so rate me please