Said It Here

How to clean mold and gunk trapped inside washing machine rubber seal

Front-load washing machine seals trap mold and slime in tight gaps between the rubber and the metal where fingers and scrub brushes cannot reach. This leaves stubborn buildup behind that standard scrubbing fails to remove, preventing a truly clean seal.

Overview
People affected9 accounts across 3 forums
Workarounds found20 items attempted
Community agreement60 total upvotes

What the numbers show

Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count

  • This comes up 15.4× more often in r/CleaningTips than across the site as a whole.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

20 items+ Contribute

Found another way around this?

Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.

  1. 1
    wiping the area and running multiple cleaning cycles
    Did this help you?
  2. 2
    surrendering to using laundromats
    Did this help you?
  3. 3
    Scrubbing with a brush
    Did this help you?
  4. 4
    Replacing the rubber seal entirely
    Did this help you?
  5. 5
    Keeping the washer door open when not in use
    Did this help you?
  6. 6
    Wiping the ring after doing laundry
    Did this help you?
  7. 7
    Running multiple tub clean cycles with cleaning tablets, hot water, and bleach to break loose and flush out accumulated residue.
    Did this help you?
  8. 8
    Cleaning with a cotton bud and trying to ignore it
    Did this help you?
  9. 9
    Using bleach in the tub followed by a regular cycle
    Did this help you?
  10. 10
    Adding Pine Sol to every load
    Did this help you?
  11. 11
    Using a magnetic handle to prop the door open and replacing the front gasket entirely
    Did this help you?
  12. 12
    Using hot water and vinegar with a long brush
    Did this help you?
  13. 13
    Running empty hot cycles with water and bleach
    Did this help you?
  14. 14
    Scrubbing specific spaces with a diluted bleach solution and a toothbrush
    Did this help you?
  15. 15
    Using mold remover spray or Astonish, letting it sit, wiping it off, and running an empty hot cycle with citric acid
    Did this help you?
  16. 16
    Completely taking the washing machine apart with a wrench, screwdriver, and pliers to clean the outside of the wash tub
    Did this help you?
  17. 17
    Reading conflicting advice online about using household cleaners like vinegar, citric acid, or baking soda
    Did this help you?
  18. 18
    Considering expensive commercial cleaning products
    Did this help you?
  19. 19
    watching YouTube methods on how to remove the wash plate
    Did this help you?
  20. 20
    manually breaking off the seized agitator
    Did this help you?
Tried another approach not listed above?+ Share your workaround ↑

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/HomeMaintenance2 people · September 2026

“the washing machine has an insane amount of gunk!”source ↗

“the gross gunk still remains between the rubber and the metal of the washing machine! It's such a tight gap that I cant even shove my fingers in there to scrape it out.”source ↗

livelaughlobber · r/HomeMaintenance · 29 upvotes

“The laundry room had a bit of smell when we moved in 2 months ago.”source ↗

“Today it smelled awful in there, like vomit.”source ↗

“I dropped one in and ran the Tub Clean cycle and when it finished there was black gunk all over the bottom.”source ↗

bigdorkwithabigdork · r/HomeMaintenance · 3 upvotes
r/CleaningTips6 people · September 2026

“My front loaded washing machine rubber seal is disgustingly moldy. Need tips on how to clean it. I tried taking a scrub brush to it but it’s ON THERE.”source ↗

xxTERMINATOR0xx · r/CleaningTips · 13 upvotes

“I just did a tub clean yesterday with active washing machine cleaner then I checked under the silicone and found these 🤢😭. is there anything I could do to make it go away and not coming back?”source ↗

belle_lia97 · r/CleaningTips · 5 upvotes

“I just want to be able to clean it so it doesn’t become a whole family affair mess through replacing it. The outside and inside is moldy.”source ↗

“I’m pretty it’s one of the reasons the laundry room smells awful.”source ↗

SkyrimDessert · r/CleaningTips · 3 upvotes

“I'm reading all sorts of conflicting advice: *Use vinegar, I swear by it* vs. *Do NOT use vinegar under any circumstances!* Then there's *Use citric acid* vs. *Do NOT use it, especially on high temperatures,* and *Use baking soda* vs. *No, baking soda is useless and leaves a residue.*”source ↗

“Commercial cleaning products can get quite pricey in my country/area due to a lack of competition, so I have no idea how to tackle this. Any help?”source ↗

NegationDerNegation · r/CleaningTips · 2 upvotes

“The outside is clean, it’s only under which I had no idea it could be that disgusting 🥲😂”source ↗

belle_lia97 · r/CleaningTips · 1 upvotes

“Ours got really bad in the past from continually shutting the door after use.”source ↗

mattlovestacos23 · r/CleaningTips · 1 upvotes

“When I was attaching it back to the washing machine, I noticed the inside, and it was shocking. How do I clean this? Is this safe???”source ↗

Ancient-Explorer-547 · r/CleaningTips · 1 upvotes
r/appliancerepair1 person · September 2026

“Worst case I get a new washer and my clothes stop smelling like mold I guess”source ↗

ejfitz123 · r/appliancerepair · 1 upvotes

“I’m trying to clean the mold and scum and whatnot from the drum today and I don’t want to break it”source ↗

ejfitz123 · r/appliancerepair

Where this came up

r/appliancerepairr/CleaningTipsr/HomeMaintenanceappliance maintenanceappliance repairappliancescleaninghome maintenancelaundrymaintenancemoldmold removal

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