A Leaking LG Washer and a Smell That Turned Out to Be the Same Problem in Pasadena

Two complaints, one cause

When the homeowner in Pasadena described the problem with their LG washer, they listed two things. Water was leaking out from the bottom of the machine while it ran. And the water had a very unpleasant odor, strong enough that it was noticeable well beyond the laundry area.

They came across as separate issues. A leak is mechanical. A smell is hygiene. Most people would assume you have one problem with the plumbing and another problem with cleaning habits, and would treat them independently.

They were the same problem. This is one of our favorite kinds of job, because fixing one thing fixed both, and the customer had been braced for two repairs.

The rubber ring that does more work than anyone realizes

If you have a front loading washer, look at the flexible rubber boot that runs around the inside of the door opening. That component is called the door boot gasket, and it is doing a genuinely difficult job.

It has to form a watertight seal against the door while a drum full of water spins at high speed a few inches away. It has to flex constantly without tearing. It has to survive detergent, bleach, fabric softener, hot water, and whatever comes out of the clothes going through it, for years, without hardening or cracking.

It also has a design characteristic that causes most of the trouble. The boot has folds in it. Those folds are structurally necessary, but they are also a place where water sits after every single load. Every cycle leaves a small amount of water, lint, hair, and detergent residue in that channel, and unless the door is left open to dry, it never fully evaporates.

Where the smell comes from

That trapped mixture is a nearly perfect environment for mold and bacteria. It is dark, it is warm, it stays damp, and it is continuously resupplied with organic material. Over enough time a biofilm establishes itself in the folds of the boot and in the surrounding areas the water reaches.

That is the odor. It is not the drain, and it is not the clothes, and it is not the detergent, all of which people usually suspect first. It is a living colony inside the seal, and it is why the smell keeps coming back after cleaning the drum. Running a tub clean cycle sends hot water through the drum, but it does not scrub out the folded channel where the actual problem lives.

It is also why the smell transfers to laundry. Clothes pass directly across that boot going in and out of the machine, and they come into contact with whatever is growing on it.

Where the leak comes from

Now the second half. The same accumulation that produces the odor also destroys the seal.

Debris in the folds keeps the gasket from sitting flat against the door. Mold growth degrades the rubber over time, making it stiff in places and soft in others. The constant damp accelerates aging. Eventually the boot has small tears, or has lost enough flexibility that it no longer makes continuous contact all the way around.

Water finds those gaps. During a wash cycle, water is being thrown against the entire circumference of the boot, so a compromised seal lets it escape. It runs down the inside of the front panel and appears at the bottom of the machine, which is why the homeowner described it as leaking from underneath rather than from the door. By the time you see it, it has already traveled.

So the same neglected component was producing both symptoms. The odor and the leak were two readings of one failure.

What we replaced

Our technician replaced the door boot gasket and installed a new filter. Replacing the boot on a front loader is more involved than it appears from the outside, since it is retained by spring clamps at the outer and inner edges and has to be seated correctly all the way around to seal properly, but it is a well-understood job.

The filter matters here too. On a front load washer, the drain pump filter catches lint, coins, hair ties, and everything else that comes out of pockets. When it clogs, the machine drains slowly, which means water sits in the system longer after every cycle. That contributes directly to the smell, and standing water puts more pressure on every seal in the machine. Cleaning or replacing it removes one of the conditions that caused the boot to fail in the first place.

With both done, the leak stopped and the odor went with it.

How to keep it from happening again

Front loaders are more efficient than top loaders and they are gentler on clothes, but they ask for a habit that top loaders never did. The habit is simple: leave the door open between loads.

That one change does more than any product you can buy. An open door lets the boot dry out, and a dry boot does not grow anything. If you have small children or pets and cannot leave it wide open, even propping it slightly is far better than latching it shut.

Beyond that, wipe the boot dry every week or so, and actually pull back the folds to reach the channel underneath. That is where the problem lives and it is the part people skip. Use less detergent than you think you need, because excess suds leave residue that feeds the growth. Run a hot tub clean cycle monthly. And clean the drain pump filter a few times a year, which on most LG machines is behind a small access panel at the bottom front.

Do those things and a boot gasket lasts many years. Skip them and it becomes a repair.

Washer repair across Pasadena

We waived the service call fee since the customer moved forward with the repair, and gave them the price upfront before any parts went in. The work is covered by our repair warranty.

If your front loader in Pasadena, South Pasadena, San Marino, or the surrounding area has developed a smell you cannot get rid of, do not wait for it to start leaking. The odor is the early warning for the seal failure, and dealing with it at that stage is easier and cheaper than after water has been running down the inside of the cabinet. We offer same-day service when we can get to you.