Do I Need to Leave My Washing Machine Door Open?

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If you’ve recently switched from a top-loading washing machine to a front-loading washing machine, here’s a new habit you might need to pick up: leaving the door ajar.

Top-loading washer lids don’t seal, so whatever small amount of liquid is still inside the drum chamber just evaporates between loads; the humidity inside the chamber typically never gets high enough to create problems with mold and mildew. You can’t go wrong leaving the lid up, just to play it safe, but it’s not really a big deal.

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Front-loading washers, however, do seal—a tight seal is a rather important design feature if you want the water in the horizontal drum and not all over the laundry room floor. The downside of that design is if you close the door when you’re done with the load, you’re sealing in the moisture. That sealed up environment is a perfect environment for mold and mildew to flourish (which isn’t so great for your health, and you’ll definitely end up with gnarly smelling clothing and towels).

In light of that, you won’t be surprised to know many people have had issues with mold and mildew in their washing machines. It’s such an issue, in fact, that over the last few years multiple class-action lawsuits have been lodged against a variety of appliance makers hinging on the argument that their machines are defective and prone to molding.

We’ll stay out of the debate over the engineering merits of various washing machine models. This simple fix works regardless of what kind of front-loading washing machine you have: Leave the door open.

That’s it. Although I’ve always left my front-loading machine wide open between uses (because my laundry room has adequate space to do so, and I have no reason not to), you really need to leave it cracked only a few inches to ensure the humid air can evacuate the machine.