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[gilaray]

I was told by the washing machine engineer that the machines start to smell as they are constantly washing on 40 degrees.
If you run the machine at 90 degress once a month that should banish the smell

[Margarett]

That's what I do. Just run the program with nothing in, having first cleaned the filter (mine's a washer dryer so I have to do that quite regularly) , and the drawer.

[CLKD]

Well!  I have had a light cotton top which I love - a few weeks ago I held a greasy jam jar close to my chest to undo the lid, there has been a stain on the top since; despite going through various wash cycles.  This morning in desperation I rubbed lavender scented hand soap into the stain, left the garment to soak; hey presto! through a cool wash, onto the line and 

[Taz2]

Good tip CLKD. I always use Vanish for stains - especially greasy ones. Either the bar or the spray.

Taz x

[honeybun]

Vanish was first marketed/ invented by the violinists Nicola Benedettis dad.

Bit of completely useless information 

Honeyb
X

[CLKD]

Vanish didn't work on this particular top  ........... nor did it work on the muddy jeans I brought home from the Bird Fair on Friday 

It seems that the lavender bar of toilet soap did though 

[honeybun]

The one that works for me on everything is Astonish. It works on carpets and upholstery as well.


They also do a cream cleaner that works brilliantly on hobs, and stainless steel. Great shine and no scratches.

Honeyb
X

[ariadne]

For the past few months my washing machine has smelt bad. I've tried everything - vinegar, washing soda, an expensive washing machine degreaser but to no avail. My washing machine is in the garage and so once I've turned it on, I leave the garage and don't go back in till later. But because of this smelly problem, I've been googling to see what could be causing it. I read that if you use liquid (which I did) and wash at low temperatures (which I do), then gunk builds up inside the machine and smells bad. So I've been going into the garage to check on the machine every so often and I realised it wasn't getting hot at all! So of course gunk was building up as it wasn't being dissolved by hot water.

New element fitted by my "White goods man" and now my machine smells clean again - hooray! He was most impressed by my diagnosis too.

ariadne xx

[CLKD]

Well done!  These apparently low wash temps. are useless. Washing needs to be hot.  Otherwise the powder will soak into the laundry and parts of the machine ........ I find if I don't do towels on a very hot wash they smell ............ they get an extra rinse too!

[Dyan]

I do a very hot wash with towels and biological powder ( cheap powder will do ) once a week and this seems to keep the smell away.
You have to clean the powder drawer out first.
I think I saw this on superscrimpers once.
My machine is integral and I keep the door shut when not in use ( which isn't often)
I was finding it was getting very smelly but since I've been doing the very hot wash it has been ok.

[ariadne]

I did actually look at my instruction booklet recently and it does recommend a Maintenance Wash on the hottest setting once a month. I've never done that on a regular basis  - naughty girl. And when I did do one recently, I didn't realise my machine wasn't getting hot 

I intend to do one from now on of course 

ariadne xx

[CLKD]

Also: remembering to empty the filter thingy is important 

[Dyan]

Oh yes

[ariadne]

Ah - now I asked my washing machine man if he could do that for me because after struggling to locate it, neither me nor hubby could undo the thing. But washing machine man said unless your machine isn't emptying properly, leave the filter alone because sometimes after they've been undone and emptied, the washing machine can start leaking.  I ws looking forward to a good clear out as well - bra wires etc. 

ariadne xx

[CLKD]

Having had success in getting out stains by using hand soap, I bought a different sort of powder - phew, the drum smells, the jeans smell stale ........ out on the line in the drizzle, will probably need to put them through again