Washing Machine - Smelly rubber parts

I soaked the part which was caked in limescale in 1 part white vinegar to 2 parts water for around 18 hours and the limescale just brushed off (pic attached). Looking on eBay, most of these parts from used machines had thick limescale on them. I'm not in a hard water area (North West) so the majority of this limescale was likely to be there already. I dont think Calgon going forward will be of much benefit for me.

I've had the rubber parts soaking in soda crystals overnight to soften the gunk on the walls of the corrugated hoses - I dont have any brushes that fit in the hoses to agitate the dirt. They're already smelling better.

Reading what your saying and pump being 10 years old I think that maybe the trouble. Not enough force pumping water causes build up of crud that smells.
The drain hose from the pump to the outlet was one of the cleaner hoses so I don't think its the pump weakening, credible theory though.
The vent hose from the drain pump was slightly blocked so things weren't optimal in there, hopefully it will be better now. Not sure how it got blocked if its just for air?!

The hose with a U bend type shape from the detergent drawer to the drum was the worst smelling one so this was before the drain too. My theory is that the machine was left closed after a wash by the previous owner.

Will put it back together (hopefully it still works!! :LOL:) and report back if the cleaning of the hoses has worked.

There is still some funk coming from the drum so I'm going to run a boil wash with soda crystals (in hindsight I should have done this before taking the machine apart) to see if that clears the smell.

When running the boil wash, is it advisable to use the soak function on the machine so the hot water can sit in the drum for a while? I saw a video on YouTube where the guy topped up the water manually through the soap drawer with a watering can so the water was about 2-3 inches up the base of the door glass, should I do this too?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4264.jpg
    IMG_4264.jpg
    275.8 KB · Views: 56
Last edited:
Put it back together, ran a 90 degree wash with soda crystals and the funk is gone!

Hopefully it doesn't come back after a few days. The water in the drum was clear on the 90 degree wash so I didn't feel the need to run it again.
 
I dont think Calgon going forward will be of much benefit for me.
It's of no benefit to anyone.

While it may extend the life of a machine due to reducing limescale, paying for Calgon every wash over a 3-4 year period is the same as buying a new washing machine.
 
Filter is clear and the pump seems to be ok although it is 10 years old so could be slowing down a bit.

The vent hoses were blocked a bit so that could have been causing issues with draining but I didn’t have any drainage faults on the machine.

I’ve run the cleaning cycle many times - it clears the smell for a few days then it’s back again. The “Miele specific” cleaner did help for a bit longer but the smell came back not too long after.

Will look to use Calgon once the smell from the rubber parts is gone
I wouldn’t waste your money on calgon , washing machines only get tiny amounts of Limescale , never enough to cause failure .

 
Back
Top