I have a front loading washer - have had for 8 years or so. Began smelling moldy smell - noted little stuff around the holes in the rubber seal around the door. Then I began to pull it back and found mold all around the hole under the seal. I have done a wash with bleach - which I never use. Didn't help. What to do? Can a repair person take the rubber seal off - looks like it needs a good cleaning? How to prevent in the future?

there may be some dirt or other things collecting in the drain boot attatch to the drain pump there is usually a plastic coin trap located inside the rubber boot his will cause a musty smell in the washer.as well as a moldy door boot seal.if the door boot is moldy it needs to be replaced.

You need to replace the rubber gasket around the front of the door. This gasket holds moisture and over time molds. Give us a call or email us and we;ll be sure to get the correct gasket out to you right away. We hope this helps and we hope to hear back from you real soon.

after wash wipe out door boot

are you useing he detergent? if not this is your problem the washer cannot get ride of the soap so what it does is leave a layer of film in your washer and odor causeing bacteria forms in it. There is a product called AFFRESH you can buy it at SEARS it is made specifically for this. Do you leave the door open ragularly? The reason I am asking is because your washer is like your bathroom if you do not ventilate it properly it will grow mold and it needs to be cleaned. By leaving the door closed all the time it is very easy for the bacteria to grow.
So my advice is to leave the door open, make sure you are useing the correct soap (HE) high efficiancy soap, clean the washer with no clothes hot water and bleach and use the affresh or washer magic. Since you can smell the smell you are going to have to keep cleaning it abouit 2-3 times a month till it goes away. Then once a month. This is not a machanical problem or a whirlpool problem and is very commen in ALL front loader if you do not clean it regularly.

moldy smell, may not be mold at all, in fact most "moldy musty" smells actually come from user not using proper detergents, you NEED to be using an HE detergent and little amounts of that even. cut back on fabric \softneer if using, www.affresh.com new product to help alleviate this issue

Wash on hottest and longest cycle with regular laundry soap and a bottle of vinegar. After cycle, wash again with soap on hottest/longest cycle. This will clean your washer like new.

www.affresh.com this will help with odors, also make sure you are using HE detergent and little bit at that(2-3 tablespoons)

Thanks for your suggestion about looking in the lip of the seal. I found one of my three year old granddaughters socks. Also, the seal for very dirty so I mixed a 50% solution and 50% solution of chlorox and used an old towel rag to wipe and wash throughly around the lip seal.

I noted that the aluminum ring inside the washer had also accumulated a lot of dirt. With one hand and fingers I held the wet cholorx towel inside the ring and with the other hand spun the tub around several turns until I had removed all the dirt and grime.

It did have a moldy smell. I'll let you know if this fixed the problem.

dundat45

Shepherd, Finkelman, Miller & Shah, LLC, is currently investigating defects and other problems in certain front-loading washing machines manufactured and/or sold by Whirlpool, Kenmore, and LG Electronics, including Kenmore Elite HE3 front load washers, Whirlpool Duet front load washers and LG Tromm, LG XL and other LG model front load washers, which result in the growth of mold/mildew in the machines and which can cause the staining of clothes and other problems.

On August 29, 2007, SFMS filed a Complaint against Sears Holding Corp. involving its Kenmore HE, HE2, HE3, HE4, HE5 and other front-loading automatic washers. If you own a front-loading washing machine that is manufactured by any of the above-mentioned companies and are experiencing the growth of mold/mildew in the machine, visit the following website: www.frontloadwasherclassaction.com

Run it a couple times on hot water with bleach in it. Should help. Also run through with dishwasher detergent in it. This helps clean too. I leave door ajar to allow air in washer. You can also purchase cleaner just for this at parts place.