Mum discovers her wet washing always smells ‘musty’ because of the ‘mouldy’ rubber seal – here’s how to clean it

A MUM was horrified when she discovered her “musty” laundry smell was caused by a hidden area of mould in the washing machine.

Most of us never scrub the washing machine, thinking of it as ‘self-cleaning’ but there are a couple of areas where grime builds up – and one mum-of-two said it “was so disgusting it nearly made me vomit”.

“I had noticed my washing smelt a bit musty when I took it out of the machine but couldn’t work out what it was,” .

“My ex husband asked me if I had checked the rubber seal around the machine – I pulled apart the seal and it was full of brown sludge.

“It was so disgusting it nearly made me vomit.

“I was horrified that I had been washing mine and my children’s clothes in mould. I had no idea you had to clean out that part of the washing machine.”

Mel was obviously keen to clean the grime away as soon as possible, but found herself struggling to get rid of it all.

She tried babies wipes, to no avail, and ended up putting bleach in the detergent section with an empty load – which got rid of the smell, but left the stain.

After sharing her story on social media, lots of mums told Mel they were affected too, although apparently certain brands get more build-up of water than others.

“Mine looks the same,” one of her friends said.

“Some brands collect it, some don’t. I once had a washing machine that resembled a Florida swamp after about a week but the current one doesn’t get like this,” another added.

Have you noticed a similar issue in your machine? Here’s how to clean it, with help from the…

1. Wipe down the inner seal with a white towel soaked in a 50/50 mixture of bleach and warm water (make sure you’re wearing rubber gloves).
2. If it’s hard to get off, soak another towel in the bleach mixture and leave it inside for half an hour.
3. After soaking, scrub at the area with an old toothbrush.
4. Wipe down with a clean, dry cloth until all the reside is gone.
5. Place all the towels in the washing machine and run for a full wash and rinse cycle, on the hottest setting.
6. Run another complete cycle, on the hottest setting, with two cups of vinegar (never mix this with bleach). You may need to add some towels, if you’ve been advised not to run an empty load.
7. Remove the detergent dispensers and wash with water and vinegar.
8. Wipe down the inside of the machine. Et voila! Squeaky clean once again.

If you’re after more life hacks, here’s how you can save a spoiled bottle of wine using a single penny.

While here’s how to wrap the most awkward of Christmas gifts.

And we’ve been putting our bras on all WRONG – here’s the correct way to do it.