ASKO Washer: Odor or Mold
A washer that smells is growing biofilm in the places that stay wet between washes — the door boot, the detergent drawer and the drain hose — and the smell is a maintenance problem rather than a fault. The ordering below is what makes this page worth reading on an Asko washer. These are heavily built machines, so wear-out ranks low and installation, water-path obstructions and load habits rank high. What ranks first here is something you can correct yourself in under an hour, which is the reason to work down the list in order rather than book a visit straight away.
What you are actually seeing
- Check your symptom against this list first. If none of it matches, the fault is on another page.
- A musty or sour smell when the door is opened.
- Laundry that smells damp within hours of coming out.
- Black or grey marks in the fold of the door boot.
- A slimy film inside the detergent drawer housing.
- Not this fault: If the smell is of burning rather than mould, stop using the machine and read the electrical-safety page.
Causes, in the order worth checking
- Ranked by how often each turns out to be the answer on an Asko washer. The order is the point: work down it and you will usually stop before the bottom.
- Biofilm in the door boot and the drum — Why: The fold of the boot holds water, lint and detergent residue after every wash, and that is exactly the environment mould needs. It is the first place to look and the easiest to correct. The machine will run a long time, which is exactly why the maintenance items are the ones that catch up with it first.
- Washing cold, and the door kept closed between loads — Why: Low temperatures do not clear residue, and a sealed drum stays damp for days. Together they are the two habits that produce almost every smelling washer.
- Too much detergent or fabric softener — Why: Residue that does not rinse away is food for the biofilm. Softener in particular leaves a waxy film in the drawer and hoses.
- Detergent drawer and its housing never cleaned — Why: The housing behind the drawer is out of sight and rarely washed, and it develops a thick residue that smells whenever water passes through it.
What to check, and in what order
- Each step eliminates the largest branch of the tree for the least effort, which is why they run in this order rather than the order of the list above.
- Pull the door boot fold open all the way round and look at what is in it. — Why: It is the most common source and it is visible without any tools.
- Remove the detergent drawer and look at the housing behind it. — Why: Second most common, equally visible, and takes two minutes.
- Open the pump filter. — Why: It confirms or eliminates the third reservoir, and it is due for cleaning anyway.
Checks you can safely do yourself
- Stop at the first step that would put a meter on live terminals.
- Pull the door boot fold open all the way round, remove debris, and clean it with a mould-safe cleaner and a cloth. — Tools: Cloth, mould-safe cleaner, gloves
About 25 min
- Remove the detergent drawer, wash it and scrub the housing behind it with warm water and a brush. — Tools: Brush, warm water
About 20 min
- Switch the machine off, open the pump filter over a tray, clean it and refit it fully. — Tools: Towels, tray
About 25 min
- Run the drum-clean cycle, or the hottest cycle with an empty drum and a proper machine cleaner. — Tools: Machine cleaner — Time: 1–2 hours
Before you touch anything
Safety
Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. — Id: unplug-before-service
Unplug the washer before opening the pump filter or any panel; a capacitor in the drive circuit holds a charge after the power is off. Never mix cleaning products, and in particular never mix bleach with any other cleaner — the gas that produces is dangerous in a small laundry room. Wear gloves and ventilate the room while cleaning mould.
Where the owner checks end
A condition, not a recommendation. Call a technician when one of these is true, and not before.
When the smell persists after the boot, drawer, filter and a hot clean cycle have all been done. When the boot is torn or the mould has penetrated the rubber and cannot be cleaned out. When the smell is of drains rather than mould, which points at the drain connection.
Sources
General guidance- 29 CFR 1910.147 — The Control of Hazardous Energy — US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, fetched 2026-09-06
Nearest pages of the same kind
What this page does not cover
Links down: - [Common ASKO Washer Problems](/blog/asko-washer-problems)
This page is generalized: it covers the Asko washer line as a whole and does not narrow to a family, a model number or a serial range. Service documentation exists for these machines but reaches you through the dealer or the authorised servicer, not from the open web, so a code on the display is worth reading out to the servicer verbatim rather than guessing at. The overview at asko-washer-problems lists every problem class for this machine and routes down to the page for each; any family- or model-specific page that exists beneath this one is linked from there.
Other faults on this machine
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
