Why does my washing machine smell musty even with the door open?
Persistent mold and musty odors build up in washing machines and cannot be cleared simply by leaving the door open. This leaves people wondering if their clothes and machine are even safe to use.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Leaving the door open to air it out
- 2Running a tub clean or cleaning cycle using chlorine bleach per the manual
- 3Washing down the inside, seals, door, and dispenser with hot water and dishwashing liquid
- 4Running an empty wash cycle with baking soda, vinegar, bleach, detergent, washer cleaner, or citric acid
- 5Leaving the washing machine door open to let fumes evaporate
- 6Washing the gasoline-contaminated clothes again with a commercial degreaser or ammonia and hang drying them
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/CleaningTips2 people · September 2026
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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