They use less energy, they save you money and they get your clothes cleaner too. But many consumers who own those fancy front-loader washing machines are complaining about a bad odor coming from inside their machines. Some say it's even causing their clothes to smell.

Kristi Ingram says she bought her front loading washing machine for all the right reasons.

"We bought it because of it's water saving features, it's efficiency," Ingram said.

But after a few months of using it she says it started to smell. ‘”The smell was like a rotten towel that had been sitting in your bathroom for months, it was pretty gross," Ingram said.

After calling a repair man and doing some investigating on her own Kristi found out a gross reality. The smell inside her machine was actually coming from mold.

"It just progressively got worse," she said.

Appliance experts we talked to say smelly front loaders are actually a very common problem.

"It's really common, probably the number one complaint on these things," said Joe Jordan, Manager at Action Appliance in Colorado Springs. He took a look at a machine for us that had a smelly problem.

"The tub in there only fills up about a quarter of the way max with water so when it goes into the spin cycle and spins dirt and debris out of your clothes it sticks to the outer tub," Jordan said.

And that can cause mold and mildew to grow.

"At this point the best thing to do would be a complete tear down of the machine and clean-out and I think that would take care of the problem," Jordan said.

It didn't take long for Joe to find the mold plaguing the machine.

"That's what's actually causing the smell, that slim there," Jordan said.

There was a thick layer of gooey, slimy gunk on the inside of the gasket around the door and it was even worse inside.

"There's more of that brown stuff on the front there. That is odor causing," Jordan said as he took apart the inside of the machine.

A quick scrub in the bathtub can get rid of the nasty slime, but how do you prevent this from happening altogether? Jordan says more maintenance.

"It's just the design, part of the sacrifice for efficiency is that you have to do a little more work on maintaining it," he said.

There are some things that you can do to keep mold from building up inside your machine. One is to keep the door open between loads. It's also important to use special detergent made for high efficiency machines and if you are having an odor problem it’s recommended that you use a washing machine cleaner product at least once a month. There are several different brands that can be purchased in stores.

Kristi says when her front loader with the odor problem finally broke down, she still decided to buy another one. Thankfully with her new machine there’s no stench.

"Inside this seal they have added a series of holes so any water that would have stagnated in the bottom of the seal drains through," Kristi said.

Experts say many manufacturers have made changes to newer models to help remedy the problem, but all washing machines still have the potential to develop odor issues. These days most of us use less bleach, more fabric softener and cold water, all things that can increase the chances of mold.

Consumer Reports says they've received a lot a complaints about this problem. Some more tips they recommend. Use powered HE detergent instead of liquid and limit using cold water when you wash, it causes mold to spread.

They still recommend buying the machines because the water savings with front loaders is enormous. They only use about 16 gallons per load compared to a top loader that uses around 40 gallons.

For more information, click on the link below.