Ask Jon Eakes

Last Updated: Sunday, December 23rd, 2001, Created: Sunday, December 23rd, 2001

Our washing machine smells.

Karen from Kingston, Ontario writes: "We have a washing machine on the second floor and have noticed the water from previous cycles does not always seem to drain completely away, as evidenced by a smell of grey water when the machine begins it's next cycle. Our upstairs plumbing is well vented with a 3 inch vent to the ceiling. Is there any way to get rid of this smell?"

The answer I had for Karen in 2001 is written below, but in 2003 I may have discovered a far more definitive answer related to Cold Water Washing.

We need to look somewhere else for the problem, because water never drains completely away from a washing machine. If you look at the photo you see the drain hose looped loosely into the standing pipe, which itself has a P trap at the bottom. This hose goes up as high as the top of the washing machine. This whole arrangement is made to precisely prevent a siphon action from draining the water out of the washing machine. A little water is always left to keep the pump gaskets from drying out. Since the water left is the last rinse water from the cycle it should be quite clean and not leave a grey water smell.

I can see three possible problems. If the laundry room is not well vented with an exhaust fan, you could have mould or mildew building up in corners or the back of closet space or under the washing machine because of the high humidity generally found in laundry rooms.

If you have pot lights in the ceiling, the dryer fan could be drawing a musty odour down from the attic through the pot lights. All pot lights in an insulated ceiling must be of the air tight type.

It is possible that there is an odour producing bacteria that has settled into the washing machine, and is kept alive by the presence of water. This would be a bit unusual as the use of bleach in the laundry should kill anything like that. But if you want to try, locate an enzyme cleaner (pet stores sell them) and run it through a cycle without any clothes, then let it sit over night, then run the rinse cycle again. If there are any odour causing bacteria in the machine, that will get rid of them.

Keywords: Exhaust Fans, Mold, Mould, Odours, Plumbing, Smell, Ventilation, Washing Machine

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