Cleaning washing machine door seal.

We have a Meile washing machine that works well. Unfortunately the door seal has developed mould, despite my wife drying it each use. Is there anything that will remove this horrible staining black mould without damaging the rubber(?) seal?

Reply to
Moonraker
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I'll jump in first - angle grinder!

The dreaded black mould on rubber seems to be impervious even to proper chlorine bleach :-(

Reply to
Phil

If you close the door after every wash the mold will happen. A Hotpoint engineer told me that many years ago. Try plenty of Mr Muscle kitchen cleaner and one of those pan scrub things that is green on one side.

Reply to
Mr Pounder

Is this black mould the same black mould yuo get on damp walls, if it is maybe the ordinalry mould sprays will remove it, I had limited success on my fridge freeze door seal or maybe it was just the rubbing that removed it.

Reply to
whisky-dave

I was surprised at how effective Sainsbury's Basics Thin Bleach was at getting rid of black mould from the silicone seal around the bath. Wiping it on didn't do much good so I mashed a few yards of bog paper into something resembling a long section of dental wadding and packed it into the corners. I then trickled said bleach onto the wadding until it was saturated and left it to act for 24hrs.

It came up clean as new and hasn't succumbed to new black mould as easily as before, either.

I was willing to do this because, if it hadn't worked or if it had destroyed the seal, I'd have had to replace the silicone anyway. I'm sure the OP could do something similar with the door seal but I'd be worried that the bleach might shorten the life of the rubber.

Nick

Reply to
Nick Odell

Have you tried a boil wash?

Reply to
philipuk

One with 1 cup white vinegar and 1 cup washing soda suggested.

Might be an idea to precede this with an attack with a good kitchen surface cleaner on kitchen towels, wiping well into the folds and flaps.

Reply to
fred

bleach ain't bad..it wont do the rubber any good, but it wont destroy in inside a week or ten either.

I've used that a lot to clear black mould.

Rinse well afterwards. wear glasses if you are clumsy.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

so that the effect of one is totally nagted by teh other?

Neat. You should tell the coalition.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Using a green scourer will introduce scratches in the surface wich will make it more likely to get mould. Never use them on surfaces that have a shiny surface.

Reply to
DerbyBorn

Machines often warn against use of chlorine bleach because it weakens GRP which is what the outer drums are often made of, and might result in a later catastrophic failure during fast spin (high stress).

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

I find a boiling acid wash removes most crud overall. Citric or vinegar work fine.

NT

Reply to
NT

A green on one side plastic scourer will not damage rubber seals. Trust me; I know.

Reply to
Mr Pounder

I always just scrub the seal with a mixture of bleach and an abrasive cleaner such as Cif. Just make sure to wipe away any trace of bleach though as it will end up on clothes as you drag them out of the machine.

Reply to
Eugbug

Trouble is, I've seen conflicting advice on this: that the door should be shut to preserve the shape of the seal; that the door should be open to reduce the mold. I leave mine open and the seal is still functioning after

10 years.
Reply to
PeterC

There seems to be a 'threshold', in that there will be no damage below a certain pressure, then the green scritcher will 'bite'. I've some "non-scratch" white ones (Wilko, IIRC) that might be better for this sort of application. Note: the idea of a "non-scratch" scourer seems a bit wierd.

Reply to
PeterC

Me too. No mold.

Reply to
Mr Pounder

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