Why You Should Leave Your Washing Machine Lid Open After Every Wash

The laundry room was silent, apart from a faint sour odour that seemed permanently suspended in the air.

Emma bent over her washing machine, scowling as she sniffed inside the drum like a detective inspecting a crime scene. Her laundry emerged “clean”, but towels and T-shirts still carried that damp, changing-room smell. She had cleaned the drawer, put vinegar through hot washes and switched detergent twice. Nothing made a lasting difference.

Then, while visiting a friend one evening, she spotted something seemingly insignificant: their washing machine lid was always raised. Not occasionally, but constantly. “Oh, I leave it open so it doesn’t smell,” her friend said, as though it were completely obvious. Emma did the same at home. There were no new cleaning products or clever gadgets - only air and time.

Within a week, the odour had disappeared, as if somebody had silently opened a window inside the machine. That small, almost effortless action began to seem like a stroke of genius.

Why that persistent washing machine smell keeps returning

If opening your washer has ever greeted you with an odour somewhere between wet dog and an old gym bag, you are certainly not the only one. Many people assume their clothes were unusually dirty or that their detergent “isn’t strong enough”. Usually, though, the issue develops quietly in the gap between loads. The drum never has a proper chance to air out.

At the end of a wash, the drum remains wet, the rubber seal is damp, and small amounts of detergent and fabric conditioner stay in hidden corners. Closing the lid then traps warm, humid air inside. It creates exactly the sort of enclosed little environment where mould and bacteria can settle in, slowly and unnoticed.

Once established, they do not simply disappear during the next spin cycle. Odours penetrate the rubber gasket, filter and drawer. You may start doing more washes, choosing hotter programmes and adding extra products. Yet the machine is being pushed harder to tackle a problem largely caused by one straightforward habit: shutting it too quickly, too soon and too often.

Household hygiene researchers regularly identify the same trend: both front-loading and top-loading machines, particularly in homes with plenty of laundry, can develop microbial biofilms in their drums and seals. These biofilms are essentially sticky microscopic colonies that cling on through wash after wash. One study found that over half the machines tested contained bacteria associated with unpleasant smells, despite appearing spotless on the outside.

Picture a damp towel left overnight in a sports bag. It was not dramatically dirty; it was simply wet, scrunched up and deprived of air. A washing machine is really a bigger, shinier version of that bag. Once its lid is shut, the drum becomes an enclosed cave: warm, damp and ideal for microorganisms that flourish in darkness and stale moisture. Dry air is their greatest enemy, but we seldom allow enough of it inside.

When that smell takes hold, it spreads into everything. Towels never seem properly fresh, while black T-shirts can develop an odd smell halfway through the day. Some people even blame their own perspiration, when the real cause has been the sealed-up drum all along. Yet the simplest and least expensive “deodorant” for a washer is right in front of you: an open lid and a little patience.

The simple washing machine habit that lets it breathe again

The tiny change that makes all the difference is this: once the cycle has finished and the drum is empty, leave the door or lid open. Do not leave it half-open - open it properly. Treat it as you would opening a window after a steamy shower. That trapped moisture needs an escape route. Let the machine air for at least a few hours and, ideally, leave it open between washes.

If space is limited, or children and pets are a concern, leave it slightly ajar with a towel or small object so it cannot seal closed. There is no need for a fan, diffuser or specialist deodorising device. All that matters is enough airflow for the drum, rubber seals and internal corners to dry rather than remain clammy. Dry surfaces are much less appealing to mould and bacteria.

After several days of allowing the washer to air, most people spot two changes. Firstly, the faint marshy smell around the laundry area starts to disappear. Secondly, freshly washed items smell only of detergent again - with no odd “background note”. It can feel as though you have bought a new appliance, although all you have done is stop moisture being trapped in the old one.

Let’s be honest: hardly anyone manages this every day. We hurry from one job to the next, shut the door and forget it. That is how an irritating odour turns into something “normal” that you simply tolerate. On a hectic weekday morning, dressing the children or finding a clean shirt for a video call matters more than remembering the invisible climate inside a metal drum.

One reader I spoke to, Mark, does three to four loads daily in a small flat where the laundry nook has no window. He once bought scented beads, powerful fabric conditioners and even fragranced drawer liners in an attempt to beat the smell. The results never lasted. Then he made one change: each night, he began leaving the washing machine door slightly open, using a simple magnetic hook to prevent it swinging too far.

A week later, his towels no longer smelled as though they had been abandoned in a basement. He removed the “extras” from his shopping list and now uses a basic, fragrance-free detergent. The laundry corner still has no window and no elaborate ventilation, but the machine has stopped behaving like a swamp disguised as an appliance. One minor habit outperformed a basket full of products.

The reasoning is almost painfully straightforward. Mould, mildew and many smell-causing bacteria thrive in damp conditions. They feed on the remnants of detergent, fabric conditioner, skin cells and fibres left after every load. Shutting the lid immediately gives them a warm, dark and humid incubator. Leaving it open takes away the environment they need.

Consider the washing machine drum as an oversized drinking glass. Rinse a glass, leave some water inside and put it away in a cupboard. Given time, it will smell stale. Rinse that same glass and leave it on a draining rack in the open air, and it will remain neutral and ready for use. A drum is no different. It follows the same basic principle: dry surfaces smell less and support less growth. That is why airflow between washes is more effective than even the strongest “fresh linen” scent.

Making the “open lid” trick an effortless routine

The best habit is also the least glamorous: as soon as the washing is out, open the lid fully and leave it alone. There is no ritual or timer required. If you do laundry in the evening, make it the final small task before turning off the light in the kitchen or laundry room. Like brushing your teeth or locking the door, it can become a quiet end-of-day routine.

If other people in your home keep closing it after you, put a small note on top saying: “Leave me open to stay fresh.” It may sound a little silly, but it is effective. With front-loaders, occasionally wipe the rubber seal before keeping the door ajar with a basic doorstop or folded cloth. For top-loaders, simply raising the lid after every wash is often sufficient. The aim is not perfection; it is to have a dry drum more often than a wet one.

Many people feel a private sense of guilt about their washing machines. They think they “should” run a cleaning programme weekly, scrub the gasket, disinfect the drawer and clean the filter with a toothbrush. But everyday life does not always allow for that. Children become ill, work mounts up and laundry routines fall apart. The benefit of leaving the lid open is that it asks almost nothing of you while giving plenty in return.

A frequent mistake is shutting the washer as soon as it stops beeping, especially when time is short. Another is allowing wet laundry to sit in the drum for hours before drying it. That combination - stagnant clothes and a closed lid - is practically a lesson in creating odours that linger. If it happened to you this week, you are far from alone. On a practical human level, the open-lid habit is helpful because it is forgiving. Miss a deep clean but continue airing the drum, and you are already making progress against that stale, mouldy underlying smell.

Some appliance technicians put it just as plainly:

“Nine times out of ten, when someone complains that their washer stinks, the drum is basically living in a permanent sauna. Let it dry, and it stops complaining.”

To make it even simpler, keep this quick mental sticky note in mind:

• After every wash: empty the drum fully, then leave the door or lid open.
• Once a week: wipe the seal and detergent drawer using a damp cloth.
• Once a month: run an empty hot wash with a little white vinegar or washing machine cleaner.
• Whenever you notice a smell: check whether the lid has been shut for days.
• Any day you forget: simply begin again with the next load. No guilt, just air.

Following these steps does not make you a hygiene robot. It simply brings your home into line with the way moisture and microbes actually work. That alone can alter how your laundry smells and feels, and may even affect how long your machine lasts before it needs repairs.

Living with a fresher washing machine, one open lid at a time

After you have kept up the open-lid habit for a while, a subtle shift takes place. The laundry corner feels slightly less dreaded, and less like somewhere you wonder, “ugh, what died in here?”. You begin to trust that washed clothes will genuinely smell clean, even on the fifth wear of your favourite jumper. Friends can borrow a towel without returning it with the polite, strained smile that says, “Thanks, but also… what is that smell?”

Some homes see a small chain reaction. People stop relying on heavily perfumed products to conceal unpleasant odours. They run fewer empty hot cycles simply to “reset” the machine, saving water and energy without necessarily thinking about it. They start viewing the washer not as a sealed magical box, but as a damp object that needs air like any other wet surface. A little realism enters the picture, bringing less frustration with it.

There is also something comforting about getting control of these small, quiet habits. They rarely come up at dinner parties, but they shape the private details of home life: the scent of clean bedding at the end of a long week, the pleasure of pressing your face into a towel that is genuinely fresh rather than chemically disguised, and the relief of knowing that sour, murky odour has gone because you changed one small, familiar and stubborn part of your routine rather than buying something new.

Leaving the lid open will not fix every laundry issue. It will not fold shirts, separate tangled socks or prevent a teenager from cramming one enormous mixed load into the drum. Even so, this understated action changes how the machine exists between washes. It lets you work with the realities of moisture and air instead of against them. That may be the most overlooked household improvement you can make this year: a door left open, a drum allowed to breathe and clothes that finally smell like the life you want to live in them.