Sludge from front loader - help!!

9 years ago

Hi,

I moved into an apartment which has a Bosch front load washer. The exterior of the rubber gasket looks ok but the inside is all covered in mold. I wanted to do an initial disinfection before the technician comes with a new rubber gasket and ran the machine on maintenance mode with some baking soda and vinegar. After the cycle, all this brown sludge came up!! (Lower right photo) Do you think this is from another part of the drum that's not accessible or some mold dissolving from the inside of the gasket? It's gross. Thank you.

Featured Answer

dadoes

9 years ago

The outside surface of the inner drum, inside surface of the outer tub, and pump hose(s) are inaccessible without disassembly of the machine.

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Comments (10)

dadoes
9 years ago
To clarify ... those areas of course are exposed to the wash/rinse water when the machine is running a cycle, but they are not accessible without disassembly for hand-scrubbing to remove heavy residue.
a_nyc 100 thanked dadoes
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a_nyc 100
Original Author
9 years ago
So I guess I will need to run another disinfection cycle once the new rubber gasket is inserted to figure out if the problem is widespread? This is turning out to be more work than I anticipated
littlegreeny
9 years ago
Looks like it will take at least another half dozen maintenance cycles to get rid of all that sludge.
a_nyc 100 thanked littlegreeny
whirlpool_trainee
9 years ago
Here's a thread about a Maytag Neptune with the drum removed. You can see that there are many areas for gunk to accumulate.

http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?31662
a_nyc 100 thanked whirlpool_trainee
rococogurl
9 years ago
That looks similar to the gasket on my sister's Frigidaire f/l. That had to be switched out. I first ran two hot cycles with 1/2 cup Clorox in each one. Then I ran through a box of Affresh and a box of Kroger's version of Affresh (which I thought was better than the brand name product). I used gloves and kept wiping out the gunk with a microfiber towel. Enough of it came out in the end. So I'd keep at it.
a_nyc 100 thanked rococogurl
a_nyc 100
Original Author
9 years ago
For the sludge bits that are coming up I'm trying to wipe it out of the drum but some of it inadvertently gets disintegrated and pressed through the holes of the drum. Would these residual pieces eventually drain somewhere or just end up floating back out during another wash cycle?
whirlpool_trainee
9 years ago
The gunk gets drained out eventually. It won't hurt to check the trap at the bottom of the machine after each cleaning cycle, though.

Good luck :)
a_nyc 100 thanked whirlpool_trainee
livebetter
9 years ago
I think it will drain out eventually. The trick is getting off the surfaces it's stuck on. I think cold water washing contributes to this issue. Body oils etc form biofilm. Roccogirl suggestions are what I would do.
a_nyc 100 thanked livebetter
a_nyc 100
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks everyone that helped me out on this issue. I went through 3 packs of affresh which have 3 tablets each. Ran the machine on 3 consecutive cycles on maintenance mode each time. I also got the rubber gasket replaced. The odor has dissipated a lot and the water is no longer murky and filled with sludge. I will probably run another pack of affresh just to remove the minimal light floaties that came up during the last cycle.