All Sears front loaders as well as similar machines sold/made by Whirlpool, Samsung, etc. that have a pull-out drawer have a defect in the design that creates mildew above the screen where the water is sprayed into the drawer. I have cut open this part after Sears replaced it and demonstrated to Sears that mildew develops above the screen in a sealed compartment that can not be cleaned. I have sent this information to the Consumer Products Safety Commission. Just take out the drawer and shine a flashlight inside and look at the screen and you will likely see pink and black midlew forming in the holes where the water sits. I would take out the drawer every day and try to keep this area clean - would spray bleach - but nothing ultimately prevents mildew from developing. I have recently bought Bosch machines which do not have the pull out drawer design.

anotherguy: Are you looking at the holes in the pull out compartment that are at the top of the compartment? I want to make sure I'm looking at the right thing because I pulled out my drawer and that's the only thing I see, lol.

I haven't had this problem *knock on wood* yet. I have had mildewy smelling clothes, but mostly from my neglecting to change out the load fast enough in 110 degree weather. I also leave my washer door open to let the inside air out and dry before closing. I'm not sure if this helps or not...

I'm going to go read your old thread, but I'm glad you got a replacement!

To sdflenner: Yes, the holes at the top of the compartment into which the drawer slides. It may take awhile for the mildew to develop, but unless you have A/C in your laundry room or extremely good ventilation to reduce the humidity, mildew will develop from the humidity and moisture. I suggest you take a paper towel every week and wipe the screen and if you see any pink on the paper towel - you have mildew and there is no way to get rid of it.

Susan,
Happy to hear Sears exchanged your washer. I'm confused though by what the problem actually was. When you say "not spinning out all the water and leaving mucky brown water in the pipes", do you mean the pump wasn't working? It's the pump that removes the water from the drum and sends it on its way. The spinning isn't going to do anything but extract moisture from the load so the pump can do its job.

Also, there are several threads that discuss incorrect positioning of the drain hose so that waste water is syphoned back into the tub, or at least sits in the line.

I've no doubt there was something mechanically wrong with your washer, but I think most mildew problems are the result of clothing left too long in a closed washer, not airing out the detergent drawer area and not running a sanitary cycle every couple of months. Granted, nowhere in the manual is the user warned of the consequences of not taking these precautions and I fault Sears for not providing this advice up front.

Just checked the holes discussed above in my 12 month old 4t: So far, so good. Squirted some bleach around for good measure and hope that the Cascade fumes continue to do their magic. That, plus the hot water that passes through when I run a hot wash, just might keep things clean.

I had the same problem with my Kenmore HE3T but the mildew was under the rubber gasket around the door. The water would never fully drain out of the gasket. It seemed to me that the drain holes were improperly placed. When I went back to Sears, a full year later - maybe more, they were very helpful and allowed me to switch the washer and dryer with any w/d I wanted. They were SO helpful I wondered if this might be a problem with others also. I switched back to a top loader. I'm not saying this problem is universal with front loaders, I just didn't want to take any chances.

susanandmarkw,

I have had my HE3t for 3 years now, with no such problem with mildew or a bad smell. It was the top of the line model at the time, and is more like the HE4t than the current HE3t.

I have never run a "cleaning" cycle with dishwashing detergent, but the washer is spotless inside. I do use bleach and hot cycles regularly, wipe down the gasket and door after the last load of the day, empty any residual water in the dispenser drawer, and leave the dispenser and door slightly ajar to air out. Once in a while I use Charlie's Soap, as it seems to remove an invisible build-up in the machine.

A couple of times a year I remove the dispenser drawer and spray a bathroom cleaner with bleach onto the dispenser cavity, and clean it with a toothbrush. I rinse it the best I can by spraying clear water in there and then running a quick cycle to be sure it is all rinsed out. A friend from Europe who grew up with FL washers suggested that to me, and it makes sense since it is an area that is usually always moist.

It sounds like there may have been a change to the HE4t that resulted in your problems. Hopefully your new machine will work flawlessly. I am constantly amazed at what my washer can get clean. Let us know how your new machine works out.

Joe

I don't know exactly what the repairperson meant by "not spinning out all the water," those were his words, not mine. He then showed us brown water that was sitting in the drain hose and washer pump area. Sears installed the washer, both times, along with the drain hose. Our laundry room is well-ventilated and air-conditioned (not make-shift; it was built to be laundry room), and I don't leave clothes sitting in the washer (and didn't in the previous machine either).

It's only been two weeks and I've already had to run a sanitary cycle to eliminate the beginning of odor. I did take out the detergent drawer and shine a light back there. I didn't see anything, but I did spray some bleach/water solution to be safe. I have checked the door gasket (cleaned it completely on my last washer before the exchange and there was nothing there, mildew-wise, but I did see a bit of standing water).

Leaving the door open is not really a reasonable solution as our laundry room is a pass through-kind of mud room from our garage to our kitchen (and we usually come in via the garage, like most people). Leaving the door open would put it smack dab in the traffic path, due to the washer's placement.

I looked for the thread about drain placement, and couldn't find it via search. Does anyone have a link, as I'd like to look at it?

Leaving the door open is not really a reasonable solution

It need not be open very much, just a crack. What we do with our machine (not a Kenmore) is drape a terry rag (the same one we use for wiping the gasket) over the door, so it will not close all the way. - DR

Our laundry room is the main corridor to the back garden, and is the most commonly used passageway in the house. Dogs, kids running about, us simply going back and forth into the garden etc... The washer door is left open about an inch, and it has never got in the way in the year since we moved the washer and dryer there.

Jon

I just don't see it as a major problem among all FLs not just a Kenmore as long you just follow simple maintenances on it, such as just leave a minor small crack on the door and wash in hot and bleach as you normally would do on the whites. There's just honestly wayyyy too much HE4T's and the old HE3T's sold in the entire nation to not consistently hear about the issues, I know hearing 2 or 3 problems just among yourselfs and friends seems a lot to you but as someone who should hear it first hand, they're just quite few and in between.

We had purchased the first FL units, both washer & dryer. The washer has had the mildew problem, even though we put in the measures that were all mentioned before. We had a top loader before and never had any mildew problem. Why would Sears design a unit with such defects and then require the customer to put in all these ridiculous measures to reduce, but not eliminate them.

The dryer is now ruining clothes with burn or rust marks. These units are not that old. Poor engineering & quality.

I used to think Sears had good value, but now with this and an experience with a very poor lawnmower, I don't think their quality is anywhere what it should be. Also, their Customer Service is not even worth talking about.

We used to have a lot of Sears appliances because the house we bought was built by an employee of Sears. We had replaced some units with Sears units, but those replacements have not latest as long as they should have. The best replacement was the dishwasher. We placed it with a Bosch and it has lasted twice as long as the prior units and still going strong.

There are postings that I read that "don't see a problem". I anticipate those are coming from Sear's "plants".

I worked, as an engineer, for a supplier to the appliance industry so I am familiar with adequate design. The problem lies in the design and Sears will do anything to not admit it. Evidently the fix is more than the cost of the unit. Automotive plays the same game.

The only time Sears will "come to bat" for you is when you create a big enough issue.

My solution and recommendation is not to buy Sears.

If the problem is water sitting in the bottom of the unit, then I would assume that the drain pump does not run sufficiently at the end of the load to empty it out. (Or, maybe an anti-siphon valve needs to be put in place.) If this is the problem, Sears should be able to reflash the programming chip with a new program that runs the drain pump longer at the end of cycle. They should have allowed for this with some kind of JTAG interface on the control board.

I'm glad I bought an extended warranty!

We have the same issue of mildew on the gasket and mildew smell inside. I guess we are going to have to call Sears.

I've had an HE3 going on 3 years now. I figured out from the first two weeks that I had to leave the door slightly open because when I pulled back the rubber gasket there was mildew; which I cleaned with a bleach soaked paper towel. I also take the detergent drawer out and dump the excess water that stays in the bleach compartment and let it sit outside of the machine until it's dry. I no longer have to clean under the gasket. Also, I only use Tide with bleach because I don't like the smell of the Tide HE.

This is a wide spread problem with Kenmore and Whirlpool as well as many other front loaders. The problem is that, the water sits in the bottom of the machine and doesn't drain completely.
Here is a helpful site for you guys:
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf000711.tip.html
Good luck

Our (replaced) HE4t was a year old in August. This past week, the electronic door lock failed. No reason. No abuse. It worked one day and, the next, it didn't. Sears quoted us a 20 day (!) wait for a service call and told us the unit was "out of warranty." (According to them the entire unit, even the motor, has only a one-year warranty; for a $1,500+ product.) We called an outside "authorized service center," whose number we got from Sears. They came out the next day, replaced the door lock and it cost us almost $300, for a less-than 18-month old product! (The part alone was $150-plus.)

Now, every time we start a cycle (5-10 minutes in), the washer is telling us it's not getting water. ("F, H" or "P, H" error message flashes.) There is no problem with the hoses or water connection (we've checked, endlessly) and when you restart the cycle, everything works as normal and the cycle runs. (Because it was just the door lock that didn't work--and the service guy knew right away that was the issue--the unit wasn't even moved during service so who knows why this new problem started.) A huge annoyance, but I'm terrified about the cost if we call (yet another) service person.

This is, bar none, the worst washer we've ever had and I will NEVER buy another Kenmore product.

-Susan W.

It does sound like the OP may have experienced either a design or manufacturing defect with her HE4T. The whole point of the pump is to remove water from the machine, not leave it sitting there to go moldy!
However, I take issue with people who state that mold and mildew are inherent problems of FLs. I grew up with FLs in the UK; first a Philips-Whirlpool, then Hoover and finally Miele. My family never experienced problems with moldy washers, even in a house that got quite damp in the winter.
Now I own an LG steamwasher (bought right after I got the house) that lives in a tiny laundry room in my garage. In fact - to even open the washer door it has to be perfectly positioned in the laundry room doorway. Following every load, I take a clean rag and wipe any excess water from the gasket and washer door. I then leave the rag to dry over the open door. I seldom use bleach (and then only a 10-20% soln.), although I do run a sanitary cycle about twice a week. I have never had any mold or mildew in my washer. This is in a house that had so many mold problems when we bought it that I joked it should be called STACHYBOTRIS.
There was black mold in the laundry room, along the drywall in the garage as well as the ceiling. In fact the whole garage ceiling had to be torn down; revealing mold spores on the wooden beams. So although there is NO shortage of mold spores ready to colonize my machine this has not happened.

WHY?

1) The machine is kept as clean and dry as possible between loads.
2) The door is open as much as possible, but at least 1-2"
3) I run an extra hot sanitary cycle and extra rinses at least twice a week.
4) I dilute my fabric softener and use less just enough detergent (even if DH doesn't!)
5) I keep a dehumidifier in the garage/laundry area.
6) Every time I go near the laundry I use my $6.47 temp/humidity meter from Wal-Mart (in air filter aisle) to make sure relative humidity is less than 50%. If it gets to 50% or above, I turn up the dehumidifier (I reccommend Whirlpool - I gave up on LG!).

If I can keep my FL mold free in a house that was a mold hell-hole 18 months ago - I find it hard to believe ALL FLs have to suffer from mold/mildew. *This is not meant to detract from the OP, who seems to have a genuine complaint*

BTW - I do think that perhaps some American FLs have excessively large door gaskets compared to European FLs. Since there seemed to be a particularly American assumption that FLs always leaked (and diesel cars are all smelly and underpowered), I wonder if the new wave of US FLs (2000-present) were deliberately designed to have bigger gaskets. This could contribute to water being trapped, but for most people a few extra steps can prevent this becoming a mold issue. And believe me - I KNOW about mold (in the kitchen, bathrooms, closets, AC ducts, garage, walls, crawlspace.......) Thank goodness for dehumidifiers and may the previous owner of my house be cursed with black mold evermore for hiding ours with paint and trim!

of the people with the mold/mildew problem, do you use a fabric softener? I have a FL HE5t and never had a smell, do not leave the door open, very rarely use bleach, and wash at least 1 load per day....believe it or not the washer gasket is anti- bacterial /mold resistant....there is no way to prevent water from remaining on the gasket, it is a water tight compartment, unless there is a drying system to dry the seal.....most of the people i have spoke to at best buy, sears, home depot, lowes, and kmart have all said FL machines all have the mildew smell issue, but it depends on the laundry room venting conditions...there is really no need to all service, because changing the gasket does not clean out the smell in the unit...run 3 affresh tablets in your cycle...more if the problem has lingered for a very long time..and stop using fabric softener...it leaves a residue behind!

Can anyone advice on how they were able to convince Sears to give them a replacement machine? Sears has been very unhelpful and only offers that I should use bleach and other additives. My clothes stink and I have an infant so I cannot use a lot of additives.

The mold is a result of the detergent (liquid is worse) that is left behind under the bottom of the Door lip.

Clean under the Door lip after each load, or run a Tub Clean cycle, or run an empty load with the hotest water & bleach or use Afresh Tablets once in a while.