A washing machine cleans everything except itself, which is why it needs its own maintenance routine. Cool washes, liquid detergent, and fabric softener — genuinely normal modern laundry habits — leave residue that a hot maintenance wash is specifically designed to clear, and skipping it is the single biggest reason machines start to smell or perform worse over time.
The core routine
- Run a hot maintenance wash monthly
Empty machine, hottest setting available, with either a proprietary washing machine cleaner, around 200g of soda crystals, or 500ml of white vinegar in the drum. This single habit does more for a machine’s cleanliness and smell than anything else on this list, because it is the only step that reaches inside the tub, the heating element and the drain hose rather than just the visible surfaces.
- Clean the door seal fold
Wipe right into the rubber fold with a cloth and hot soapy water, weekly if the machine gets heavy use. This is where mould shows first and where the majority of washing machine odour actually originates.
- Clean the detergent drawer
Pull it fully out — most release with a catch — and wash it along with scrubbing the roof of the empty housing, where a sludge layer builds up unseen.
- Clean the pump filter
Behind the flap at the bottom front, this traps debris and needs clearing every couple of months as routine, not only when the machine stops draining properly.
- Leave the door and drawer open between washes
A closed, damp drum is exactly the environment mould needs. Leaving both ajar after each wash lets the machine dry out and prevents most odour problems before they start.
The door seal deserves special attention
On front-loading machines specifically, the door seal fold traps water, hair, small debris and detergent residue with every single wash, and it does not fully dry between uses the way the rest of the drum does. If you clean nothing else weekly, clean this — our washing machine smells guide covers the full detail of why this specific area causes most odour complaints.
The detergent drawer
A detergent drawer that has never been removed and cleaned develops a surprising build-up of dried detergent and fabric softener residue, which restricts flow into the machine and can itself start to smell. This takes about two minutes and is easy to fold into a monthly routine alongside the maintenance wash.
The pump filter
Beyond preventing smells, a clean pump filter is also the main defence against the machine failing to drain properly — coins, hair grips, buttons and general debris collect here and, left long enough, will eventually stop the pump working at all rather than just accumulating harmlessly.
The filter housing always holds some water. Have a shallow tray and towel ready, and drain what you can through the small drain tube beside the filter first if your model has one.
How often to do each part
| Task | Suggested frequency |
|---|---|
| Hot maintenance wash | Monthly |
| Door seal cleaning | Weekly, or whenever you notice residue |
| Detergent drawer clean | Monthly, alongside the maintenance wash |
| Pump filter clean | Every 2–3 months |
| Leave door/drawer ajar | After every single wash |
