Thank you, George! I am glad to know it isn't the products. I should be more vigilant about maintenance and will do so in the future.

I see this a lot with fabric softener residue in the detergent drawer.

I have a Miele 4840, similar to the 4842. I never leave the detergent drawer open because of space constraint. The inside of the drawer is always wet, but has never gotten moldy. Hard water deposits yes, but no mold. In this machine I use only powder detergent, and no fabric softener. While I can't say your problem is due to product usage, you do have a problem, and it isn't obvious that wiping down the drawer will solve it completely. What about the machine internals that you can't reach?

One easy measure to take, if you aren't already doing it, is to run the longest and hottest cycle, which is Sanitize program at Sanitize temperature, on a regular basis. I do it every two weeks, to clean the household cleaning rags used by our cleaning service. I first run a Quick Rinse on them to clear out the Mr. Clean or Spic n Span or whatever.

My granny has the same Jell-O in the drawer housing of her Miele, yet she only uses powders. But... she also uses softener, which I think is to blame.

When you are done with washing, at the end of the day.....if you REMOVE the tray and flush ALL compartments with HOT water, you will never, never, never had mold, Jell-O (LOL) or any buildup.

Funny enough, I don't use fabric softener. Never have. That's why I thought it's either the Tide or my dosing. But maybe it's my lack of maintenance!!

Larsi, when you say flush the compartments, you are just referring to the detergent drawer compartments, yes? What about the compartment housing? That's where the jello gunk is.

I assume I just need to wipe it out like George said.

I have a 4842 too and get some black/red mold if I'm not diligent. If I remove drawer completely when not in use it never happens.

After I remove the entire Miele soap tray (or any brand washer), I flush all compartments, including the fabric softener area with crazy HOT water. I leave the tray in the laundry room sink. I DO NOT leave the soap tray installed, when the washer is not in use!

I take a small hand towel, and I stuff it inside the area where the soap tray goes. I dry it out.

Washer door stays OPEN with the machine is not in use. Soap/softener tray stays OUT of the machine when not in use!!

Here are pics of my machine. I use a TON of liquid fabric softener, and the few times over the years I have needed Service, the Techs could not believe how 100% perfect my machines were. No build up anywhere!!!

Wow, Larsi!!! That is sooo clean! Amazing. "I take a small hand towel, and I stuff it inside the area where the soap tray goes. I dry it out." This, or just wiping it out, will probably be the most helpful.

Suburban, if you believe it, I run two Sanitize cycles a week! One of the cleaning rags and one of the kitchen rags. But you are right - there is a problem. That I think I may have solved...

After running the clean machine today, the detergent release flap on the back of the drawer was off - it fell off during the cycle and was sitting in the back of the drawer housing. I realized today that I remember from a couple of years ago that the spring hinge on the flap came apart when I was cleaning it but I just put it back together and thought it was fine. When I was cleaning out the housing today of all the mold, the flap was in the back of the housing. I didn't realize yesterday when I removed the drawer that it was missing. So, I think my flap is faulty and my detergent is running amok! I hope that is it. I am going to call Miele tomorrow and see if I can just get a new flap. I tried searching online for it (ebay and Miele parts places) but only see the whole drawer listed.

Thank you all for your help! I will let you know what transpires. Even if I have to get a new drawer, it will be worth it.

I do what Larsi does with my Duet, he actually was my clean washer teacher. After a year my machine is spotlessly clean and as sweet smelling as when new.

Glad to hear that your problem is confined to the detergent drawer. My detergent release flap had a different problem, getting stuck from hard water deposits. I cleaned up the drawer by soaking in citric acid solution. The flap isn't necessary with powder detergent.

Thanks, suburban! I hope this is the answer. I just got off the phone with Miele. I was able to order the flap assembly for $18. I also got a new drawer brake. I remember a convo on here that if your drawer pops out a little that it is the brake. Mine always has popped out a little bit, but nothing that wasn't manageable. I figured since I was ordering and it was only $4, I might as well.

I will update once the assembly comes. Thank you to everyone who responded!

I had a Miele W4840 and two W4842 washers. On both W4842 units, I ended up removing the drawer detergent flap.

As Suburban said, it is not needed with powder detergent, and when I use liquid detergents...I dose in a soft, silicone cap and just throw the cap directly in the wash drum with the clothes.

I DO NOT put liquid detergents in the detergent dispenser. I think this is the problem people have with build up.

Good to know (and makes sense) that the flap isn't needed with powder. My powder supply arrives tomorrow so I can try it out.

Larsi, so many tips and tricks!! Thank you!

Update: Miele parts were delivered yesterday and I did my first load of laundry last night. The new flap worked (yay!) but now my softener drawer is filling with water. In addition to replacing the detergent flap, I also put on a new drawer brake - my softener drawer used to fill with about a teaspoon of water, so I thought this would solve that. Obviously it made it worse! Any thoughts?

I have the W 4842 Washer. I have always just left the main door open and the dispenser drawer pulled out after each use. Never had a problem with mold. I only use liquid detergent and I fairly regularly follow all cleaning and sanitizing parts. The flap on the back of the dispenser drawer broke. It had 4 ridiculously tiny clips that snapped on the body. Called Miele, found the part number on the diagram, was advised I needed to order the superseded number. I did and it is the same physical shape but the spring mechanism on the original drawer has been replaced with a snap-type closure which does not fit. Called Miele and while they were nice, I was basically told "tough luck." So, $30+ bucks shot. Lesson learned. I've been using it without the stupid flap and it works just fine. I believe I read in this thread that someone else said the flap was not necessary. This is an old thread so I have no idea if anyone will see this. Oh, if anyone does do you have any idea why on express cycle it stops at 7 minutes and you have to press start again for it to finish. Started this about 2 months ago. Other than the inconvenience of finding seven minutes left it works fine. I doubt I will purchase another Miele product, a washer most definitely not.

I faithfully take out the detergent drawer when the machine is finished, so that everything can dry out. Our Miele W4842 had that same flap. Our new Speed Queen FF7 does not have a flap, so maybe one less thing to break? I don't know how other brands are built; this SQ is only my second FL washer.