Originally Posted by
Barb in Louisiana
I have had a front load washer for several years and have never had to clean it. Perhaps one of the reasons is, I never shut the door unless I am washing clothes, therefore the gasket dries out each time. Also, my husband has a sensitivity to soap left in clothes. The rashes aren't comfortable, so I rinse every load twice. I will say that you cannot soak clothes in a front load. Mine is very bad with bleach. You will get spots when the bleach is added to clothes. I gave up even buying bleach. Even the powdered bleach makes a mess.
I love my front loader stacked set.
Barb has the answer again. Never close the door. That is: don't latch it. You can't tell by looking that my door is not latched. (I leave the dryer door unlatched, also.) I've had mine for 4 years, never cleaned it, but this winter it started to smell like old laundry. I put chlorine bleach in my next load of whites on the "whitest whites" setting. That helped a lot. I really should get some A-Fresh and use that once.
Mine is a Whirlpool, and has a "Soak" cycle and a special place to put bleach; liquid or powdered. My soap bottle says to use 1/2 fl. oz. That's one Tablespoon. Too much soap causes a lot of problems.
My tenant uses it, too, so it gets a workout. I have my own well and septic system.