So over the past few weeks, we've gotten our washing machine smell down to a managable odor. Around a 1 or 2 on the smell-o-meter. During that time we switched to non-HE regular powdered detergent. About two weeks ago, we ran out. We still had a Coscto vat of detergent that we stopped using in lieu of the powdered detergent after finding out that many online posts mentioned that after the switch to powdered, their odors went away. Well since we stopped, our odors went away as well but that was after all the cleaning that I had done. Since we ran out, we decided to finish the rest of the liquid detergent.
So after 2 weeks of using the liquid detergent, we have an odor again. Now we have been using powdered for about 3-4 weeks before this and leaving the door open to aerate. During this two week period we also left the door open to aerate. At this point, I have to suspect that the liquid detergent played a significant factor. However, I can't rule out the fact that there was still an odor in my washer prior to switching back. Thinking about this further, I don't know what a new washing machine never been used odor smells like. So the 1 on my meter might be clean or it might be still dirty, i just don't know. After all said and done, my washer now stinks and is on the 3-4 scale of smelliness. I'll definitely have a chance to re-apply some of the other cleaning techniques to see how well they work. I'll probably start with the SmellyWasher cleaning product.
