Front load VS Top load HE Washing machines : Mold Mildew

[Clarence Martin]

Got a Maytag front load washing machine. Had it for about 5 years now. Runs great. Made in West Germany. Only problem , is that there is black mold on the rubber seal where the door closes around. Tried everything get it off, but no luck. When I pressed that rubber seal over, I noticed A LOT of crud on the white plastic piece that goes all the way around the drum. That comes off with some scrubbing. There is a bit of a smell . Also, the soap dispenser is coated with iron stains. Can't seem to get them off the plastic..

How do those top load HE washers compare to the front loaders ? Pros? Cons ?

[Bruce King]

Got a Maytag front load washing machine. Had it for about 5 years now. Runs great. Made in West Germany. Only problem , is that there is black mold on the rubber seal where the door closes around. Tried everything get it off, but no luck. When I pressed that rubber seal over, I noticed A LOT of crud on the white plastic piece that goes all the way around the drum. That comes off with some scrubbing. There is a bit of a smell . Also, the soap dispenser is coated with iron stains. Can't seem to get them off the plastic..

How do those top load HE washers compare to the front loaders ? Pros? Cons ?


The fungi issue is common, only thing you can do is dry off the seal after each use.
The HE washers are all about saving water, our Samsung "weighs" the load during the first 15 sec to decide how much water to use so we have to dump a few gallons of water in with the clothes to get a decent amount of water to go in.
Some have a "clean cycle" for the machine described in the manual.
Iron stains are likely another issue that is related to the chemistry of the water.

[Larry Frank]

My wife leaves the door open on the front load washer when not in use. I get in big trouble if I forget.

I would try running a load with hot water and bleach.

We also make certain to pour extra water down the soap dispenser. We have very hard well water with iron but the water treatment equipment works.

[Shawn Pixley]

I don't know what to tell you. We just replaced our first front load HE after 17+ years (dryer died, and we wanted to stack the two). Neither did the first nor does our replacement have mildew or staining issues. I wonder why some brands seem to exemplify these traits and others not.

[Bruce Page]

We leave the door open after use and never had a mold problem. My wife also runs a cleaner product called Affresh through it ~ every 6 weeks. Tide also sells a washing machine cleaner but it stinks something awful.

[Mark Blatter]

We have a front load and the smell and mold are real issues. As others have said, we don't close the door unless the machine is in use. We don't add water, never really thought about it. However, the smell and mold come from the machine never really draining completely. The pump cannot get all of the water out so it is always moist inside the machine. Drying the seal off might help, but with constant standing water, I am not convinced it would make much difference.

For us, we have already made the decision that when this set goes, we will buy a top load replacement. Uses more water, but I think they do a better job and you don't get mold/smell.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

One version of the Maytag front load was dubbed the "stink-o-matic" by some owners and even caused lawsuits. They discontinued that model. I actually have one through the purchase of a house and I love it. It is very quiet and uses less water than my old machine. I had to replace the bearings in the dryer but given the (suspected) age of the machine that was no big deal.

It gets a little mildew on the seal, but no smell.

[Brian Elfert]

I got rid of my Maytag Neptune washer after about six years due to the vibration and it did have a lot of mold around the seal. My current Samsung seems to be better in that regard.

[Brad Adams]

I hate our Frigidaire front load washer with a passion. It too stinks and makes clothes stinky. The washing machine cleaner seems to be just a temporary solution. Even when washing clothes and taking them out right away and drying them doesn't help. The musty smell comes out in my t-shirts when I start sweating. Never happened until we got the front loader. We will be going back to the top loader when this one quits.

[Matt Meiser]

Ours is an Electrolux. We run the Tide or Affresh packs periodically and leave the door open at least a day or so after use. I think my wife occasionally wipes down the seal. No problems. We used to have more problems at our old house where it was harder to leave the door open (it opened into a passageway) and we didn't have city water. There the first time we got "the smell" it took two cycles of the cleaner packs over the course of a week to get it to stop and we'd run them again at the first whiff of trouble. I suspect a weekly empty run with a small amount of bleach would have been a huge improvement.

[Kev Williams]

I couple of years ago I bought the wife a low-frills Whirlpool set. The HE thing bothered me at first, where's the water?? But my clothes are clean, never soapy, so we're not about to add extra water!

My favorite head-scratcher: how the wife can wash 4 or 5 heavy rubber backed rugs in the thing (or anything else actually) and I can balance a nickel on the machine while it does a 1200 rpm spin dry! I wish the tire shop could get my big truck tires that balanced!

The wife does a quick wipe of the gasket and leaves the door open when she's done. Complete zero issues with smells or scuzz or operation. I could probably sell them as "used one time" ;)

[Charles Wiggins]

Got a Maytag front load washing machine. Had it for about 5 years now. Runs great. Made in West Germany. Only problem , is that there is black mold on the rubber seal where the door closes around. Tried everything get it off, but no luck. When I pressed that rubber seal over, I noticed A LOT of crud on the white plastic piece that goes all the way around the drum. That comes off with some scrubbing. There is a bit of a smell . Also, the soap dispenser is coated with iron stains. Can't seem to get them off the plastic..

How do those top load HE washers compare to the front loaders ? Pros? Cons ?

We used to have a Kenmore Calypso, which is a top-load HE washer.
Pros: It did a great job cleaning, used a lot less water and detergent
Cons: Repair cost. The reason we don't have it anymore is that the computer made it difficult to diagnose and repair.

We now have a front-load Maytag and I will never own another top-loader.
As for mold/odor problems, as others have said, we just leave the door open to dry out for a day or so after the last load. We've had it for two years and had no problems along those lines.

[Mike Cutler]

I don't know what to tell you. We just replaced our first front load HE after 17+ years (dryer died, and we wanted to stack the two). Neither did the first nor does our replacement have mildew or staining issues. I wonder why some brands seem to exemplify these traits and others not.

I t has to do with the dsign of the suspension system, and sealing the floating drum. Some manufacturers have a single door, some a door within a door. The single doors usually have a rubber boot to create a water tight environment, and are subject to getting water trapped in that boot seal arrangement. Easiest fix is to put an old towel in the boot seal space after use and remove any standing water, then keep the door open.

I've had an ASKO front loader now for almost twenty years. It is designed with no boot seal, so it has never been a problem.
We too leave the front door open, per instruction manual when not in use.

[Tim Offutt]

I think the mildew problem is possible with any of the front loaders. We used to have a Whirlpool Duet, bought it when they first came out. Whirlpool was a customer and we got a great discount, over 50% off. After a couple years it began to smell. We replaced it after 7-8 years with a LG model. I gave the Duets to my daughter and the smell went away after a couple washings.

After a year or so the LG started to smell. We have the same exact LG washer at our cabin in Wisconsin and it doesn't smell. Bought them at the same time, exact same model. Smells in Indiana, not in Wisconsin. I think it is bacteria in the well water. If I chlorinate the well the smell goes away for a few months. We've had the water tested and the results were within normal ranges. But I still think it is a well water thing for us. The wife drains the tub every load through the small drain hose, just like we were winterizing it.

[Larry Browning]

I don't know, just call me an old codger, You guys can keep all those fancy high dollar washing machines. I'll take an old fashioned top loader any day of the week. No problems with mold, mildew and stink. My current 15 year old Kenmore works fine. When it dies in a few years, I will head down to the used appliance store and pick out another one for $100.

[Scott Hearn]

When I replace my Samsung FL it will be with an old fashioned TL for this reason and others. They (FLs) have their advantages but they're just not worth the hassles or extra cost.

[Steve Peterson]

I think that all front loaders are susceptible to mildew because of the physical characteristics of the design. Front loaders use very little water and will always leave a wet surface above the drum that includes anything that was flung off the last load. There is no water agitation to help rinse this surface. Top loaders leave wet side walls, but effectively rinse the surface down after every wash.

There is a product called smelly washer (.com) that supposedly helps rinse off the surfaces of the front loader. I wonder if it is similar to Affresh? It appears to be significantly cheaper, or at least you get many more usages per purchase.

Steve

[Chris Phelps]

We had an LG front loader for about 10 years and replaced it when it failed with a may tag top loader. The front loader always had a smell and mold which is partly due to our well water supply but mostly because it never drained fully. We always left it open when it wasn't in use. While it did use less water, it also didn't get clothes very clean. Performance is noticeably better with the inexpensive top load machine vs. the high dollar front loader.

[Rich Enders]

We live in Arizona and we leave the door open on our Kenmore HE3 front loader to help increase our humidity. We haven't had mildew/odor problems perhaps because of our generally low humidity, or because of keeping the washer door open. Prior to reading this thread I never thought about such issues. This front load unit is so much quieter, and (I am told) uses so much less water, and so much less detergent that I hope to never to go back. (Larry: You paint yourself as an old codger, and maybe you are, but water saving is important for the planet and it is time for everyone get on board. One source projects that the worlds water supply will grow 3% while the worlds population will grow 27% by the end of this century).

I just checked the large door seal on our unit, and it feels and smells like flexible PVC. Flexible PVC is plasticized (made flexible) with phthalates which feed fungal growth. Anti-fungal agents can be added to flexible PVC compounds prior to molding, but raise the cost. So..................

[Charles Wiggins]

I don't know, just call me an old codger, You guys can keep all those fancy high dollar washing machines. I'll take an old fashioned top loader any day of the week. No problems with mold, mildew and stink. My current 15 year old Kenmore works fine. When it dies in a few years, I will head down to the used appliance store and pick out another one for $100.

Larry,

It's hard to argue with your logic, but we went with HE machines because they use less water. City water where I live is expensive, so my more expensive machine is really paying for itself in water and detergent savings.

[Mike Null]

We've been using Frigidaire (Electrolux) front loaders for 20 years with no mold problems. We bought the new larger deluxe version about a year ago even though or 18 year old model was still working. I do understand that mold can be an issue but we haven't run into it.

Besides using much less water front loaders use less detergent and are significantly easier on clothes and other fabrics. There are some eye opening statistics that will verify this. (I am a product marketing retiree from Frigidaire)

[Curt Harms]

We have a Kenmore front loader bought in 2008, replacing another front loading washer. I notice the drain pump runs long after there's no noticeable water and it spins longer and faster than the older one. No smell issues and saves drying time(gas) because the clothes are already pretty dry. SWMBO has preferred front loaders since at least the mid '80s.

[Bill Gugel]

Purchased a Speed Queen top loader for my new house and love it. I can set the water level and the clothes are clean and don't smell. I'm leaving a FL Whirlpool which is awful, it looks like wet clothes slapping against each other with no visible water.
If the EPA is worried about saving water they should stay away from washers and toilets and look at lawn watering.

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

We've had a lower end ($500) front load Whirlpool for several years now, and it's been outstanding. No smell or mold/mildew at all.

[Matt Meiser]

Are the current top loaders even any good? A few years ago I was reading they were horrible as they had new mandates for water usage that had really affected them negatively. I read about one test on a no-frills machine they found the clothes were actually dirtier coming out than going in. That's why we bought a front loader, and spent extra to get a top notch set.

[Jim Becker]

I prefer front load and we just do regular cleaning/maintenance to avoid mold, mildew and clogged filters. No issues with ours because of that.

[Larry Browning]

Are the current top loaders even any good? A few years ago I was reading they were horrible as they had new mandates for water usage that had really affected them negatively. I read about one test on a no-frills machine they found the clothes were actually dirtier coming out than going in. That's why we bought a front loader, and spent extra to get a top notch set.

I don't know about the new ones too much, but I am sticking with those good old fashioned top loaders from the 90s and older. There are still plenty of them available at used appliance stores. Look for ones that have been refurbished and guaranteed by the store. Really nice ones can be had for around $200. They will more than likely outlast 2 or 3 of the new energy efficient models, and will probably get your clothes cleaner. Just sayin!