If you are thinking of getting one of these.....

Think again before you buy.  I'm talking about Front Loader washers here.  I got mine about two years ago and was so excited about the larger capacity and how easy it would be to use. 

Around the same time, I noticed something happening.  My towels were getting smelly.  No matter how many times I washed them or how much downey I used, or how much vinegar I rinsed them in, they still stunk, stinked, stank. 

They would come out of the dryer and I would think, "Oh yea, these smell sweet!"  And then I would use a dishcloth at the kitchen sink and here came the smell again.  You know how I am about smells.  It was driving me crazy. 

Then - the levis started to smell funny.  I was going out of my mind! 

Then for some reason, I Googled front loaders.  There, right before my eyes were about 1500 complaints of how people's front loaders made their clothes stink.

After a bunch more research, here is what I found:

Because of the way they are designed, something in the front band traps water inside and causes this.....are you ready?   Mold.  Yes, mold.  Stinky mold. 

You mean I have been drying my body and wiping my counters with a moldy towel?  My levis were moldy?
What kind of wife and mother am I to have my family's clothes be full of mold spores that stink?

So, here are the various remedies, all of which I have tried. 
*Run the washer on hot water with bleach in the rinse cycle.  (Every week)
*Use vinegar in the rinse cycle.
*Use the "sanitation" button if there is one.  We are programmed to save energy and conserve hot water when doing laundry, but that can't be the case with my front loader.  I now use hot on everything but darks and levis.  I use warm on them.  If I select a white load, it allows me to use the "sanitize" option, which I usually do.  Mine also had a "speed wash" selection.  I frequently used it because the regular loads were 1hour and 20 minutes long.  I have to use the longer loads to thoroughly wash things and allow the bleach/vinegar/fabric softener to work.
*I take a rag and run it around the exterior and interior of the black band and anywhere where water wants to pool up.
*I now use Downey and dryer sheets both.
The levis finally smelled fresh after a couple weeks of these efforts.  But the towels were another matter.  I threw most of them out and got new.  Now, when I smell the towels after I pull them out and then use them, they smell great.

So....ask about it if you are considering buying one of these because I probably wouldn't get one if I had it to do over again.  From my reading, it seemed like common knowledge that the front loaders have this problem but you don't hear about it from the salesmen, so pin them down!  Ask the hard questions!  See what they have to say.
Me, I'm just keeping the power company and all the products mentioned above in business with my constant and incessant use.

But it's worth it.