Hi, we have an old Frigidaire front loading washer (model: 417.39012891). I’ve always kept the door open and removed the soap dispenser when not in use. I’ve never smelled any mold or anything but recently I’ve had a problem with suds not rinsing out. There is no water left in the unit, just suds. We have a water softener and I’ve even diluted the soap and used a small dropper with, literally, 3 drops of liquid and still have a ton of suds left at the end of the spin cycle.



Sometimes I hook up a small hose to run from the water faucet into the machine during the spin cycles to try and rinse it out. It does work … eventually. The funny thing sometimes is I will wash 1 load and everything is fine, but the 2nd load has so much suds left that you would think I put half a bottle/box in!


Also, with the load that still has suds … if it’s too late (sometimes I’m working on 1 load for 2 hours!) I will just dry the clothes and rinse them through again the next day, with nothing added. The odd thing about this … no suds!


Other things we’ve tried …


- I’ve changed soap brands and also switched from liquid to powder. (All are “HE”, one is even a German low-residue brand designed specifically for front loaders)


- Ran a load with no soap and no clothes and guess what … no suds!


- Poured a whole gallon of vinegar in and ran long load with hot water, did this twice. This seemed to work so I now use vinegar instead of fabric softener.


- Found a recipe using dishwasher soap, salt, and vinegar to remove any mold or ‘gunk’ in the machine. Did this 4 times and even let it sit overnight. I also started the spin cycle in order to let some sit in the hose. This seemed to help because we did have a lot of ‘gunk’ come out.


Just a note … Other than this problem, the washer runs fine. It cycles correctly, fills, spins, doesn’t leak, etc. Nothing seems wrong other than this. Can't figure out of it's the machine, soap, water, or what!


Sorry for the lengthy post, but as you can see we are at our wits end! Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated! :)