Here is a link to the Ascenta owner's manual. Link. Around here we all read instruction manuals so we can have command of the machines.

There appears to be 3 areas to clean. It illustrates how to do that. page 25

I tried my best to take a pic through the inlet. The fuzzy stuff you see is the insulation, not lint.

Thanks everyone for all your help. Yes, I wish they supplied a manual so the link to that is great for reference! Thanks also for the interior picture through the lower right panel - that's exactly what I saw and I thought the grey fuzzy items were mounds of lint. LOL. Ok, good to know that I won't have to attempt prying that panel off to clean it out.

My Miele ventless dryer...the panel on the bottom right does NOT come off either. I too tried once, like Whirlpool and it almost snapped. Luckily I sensed the impending doom, and stopped!!

a_nyc 100 and others. I'm in a similar situation with a bosch dryer (and washer) having not been taken care of and a sickly sweet fragrance has become embedded in the plastic/rubber parts. Worse yet is that my spouse is very allergic to many fragrances with a reduced immune system. I've used vinegar to chlorine, baking soda paste, replaced the front load rubber gasket on the washer (big pain and gross), repeated the above with alcohol, to try and avoid replacing the washer/drier.

Has anyone found a solution that really works to remove fragrance (not just cover it up with more fragrance)? I even scrubbed and repainted the wall behind the dryer because it too was embedded with this stuff marketing wants us the think is a 'clean, fresh smell'. (I happen to be a solid state chemist (not an organic who would specialize in commercial fragrance) and believe these synthetic fragrances are going to bite us some day, if they are not insidiously doing so already).

Someone used dryer sheets. There is no real way to remove it. It is a resin like product that coats the interior surface of the dryer. In a condensor dryer you can take the condenser cartridge out and wash with full hot tap water and a little dish soap. That should remove the resin from the cartridge.

The resin will still be coating any other interior surface/cavity of the dryer. You would have to disassemble the dryer and meticulously clean it to get all of the resin/smell out.

Its best to just never use dryer sheets. They offer no real benefit other than costing your clothes with chemicals/frangrance so you can smell like the soap aisle at the store when your wearing your clothes.

Residual moisture based sensor dryers will leave about 1% moisture in the clothes. This is just enough to avoid static cling while being dry enough to fold and put away right out of the dryer. This eliminates the need for dryer sheets.

I know you inherited this dryer so the best you can do is clean well. Wipe down all surfaces the best you can with light dishsoapy water and then with clean water. The smell should lessen over time (as the resin transfers to your clothes and then gets washed off).

Your reply is much appreciated. It sounds like you've been through this. I've been cleaning the whole system multiple times with more and more aggressive chemical options. It's definitely lightening the stink. The worst parts as one would expect are the rubber seals. Unfortunately, as you point out, the smell transfers to clothes but what's worse is that the condensation dryer vents into the house and has embedded in throw pillows, draperies, and other items not covered.

The washing machine has a similar problem but it's exposed to water so with my replacement of front load rubber gasket and other parts, it is clearing up. I think it too was doused on fabric softeners or detergents with heavy fragrance.

Although not built for it, I have a dryer vent to the outside so I think I'll be fashioning an adapter to use that system while the stink dissipates. It's really quite amazing how the marketing teams have led many of us to think of clean as smelling like perfume. The volatile organic compounds are anything but a definition of clean.

I've been tempted to test the original low/"no scent" Fabreze which claims to have a cyclic molecular structure to bond with fragrance resulting in a water soluble compound. At this point it probably can't hurt to try on a rubber part. Any experience with this or other similar products?

Thank you for your reply.

In the search for an answer to my problems with Bosch dryer, I stumbled upon your problem. Although you said you cleaned the whole system multiple times, I have to ask if you cleaned the compartment underneath the condenser unit?

First thing, unplug the dryer. When you pull out the condenser, at the bottom of the tunnel is a hatch door. Underneath that lid is a compartment for water. In case you don’t see it, just push your hand down the tunnel and you will be able to feel it. It can get really messy and green in that compartment underneath that lid.

The water pump is located on the left side of the tunnel. Steam goes through the condenser, and water gets in that hidden compartment and the pump pushes the water through the pipe, up in the condensate container. In my Bosch model, these are the parts that get in touch with water. Maybe your smell problem is there.

If you are going to clean that part I’ll advise you to take the left panel of the machine off. It is much easier to work like that.

Also at the back of the machine, when you take the smaller lid down (the one with a lot of screws, shaped like a foot) you will uncover the motor fan. Underneath the fan, in the plastic that surrounds the fan is a hole. Check that hole because green algae end up in there also. Clean the metal lid because it can get wet and full of lint.

Maybe you already have done all of this, in that case maybe this will help someone else.

Thank you for your reply. I did not discover the areas you describe. As I worked through the system, it became obvious I was not going to be able to get into all the potential smell sources without considerable disassembly, and likely new discoveries. Ultimately, I sold the washer and the drier to a company needing to wash very dirty clothing and would not mind the smells. I'll replace with similar system, the size is great and wash well, but take very good care from the start.

Actually it is meant to come off, Bosch just doesn’t want you to do it. Grab yourself a flashlight and an automotive prying tool. The clip on the is the easiest so start with that one, then the top two, and by that time you should be able to move the piece around enough for it to let go.