posted on
August 08, 2009 at 03:57PM
Smells from clothes left in a washer are from bacteria growing in the clothes. Clothes should be dried as soon as possible after washing. Whirlpool's new front-load washers have a new feature called "TumbleFresh" that keeps the clothes moving every once in a while to prevent stagnation, which prevents bacterial growth. This problem happens in all washing machines.
A more general bit of advice: do not leave your washer closed after you're finished. Trapping moisture in a dark warm place will assuredly result in bacterial growth, mold, and mildew, regardless of the type of washer you have. Leave the washer open to dry, and maintain it with a product like Washer Magic or Affresh to eliminate detergent residues (or, use Oxi-Clean or similar products regularly).