Water itself shouldn't (theoretically) cause an odor.

Water left in the boot is "clean" water from the final rinse.

Water left in the dispensers is "fresh" from the household supply ... although any residual laundry product could eventually spoil.

Regards to your laundry habits ... do you wash primarily in COLD water? How often do you run a HOT wash? Liquid detergent or powder? Liquid fabric softener?

Run hot wash 90% of the time, liquid detergent, liquid softener and sometimes bleach.

My 11-month old FL washer has always had a smell --- it smells like a machine. We cannot use laundry products with perfumes, so there is no perfume odor to cover up any non-perfume odors.

Perhaps what you smell is merely that of 'machine'?

Try changing the environment, one parameter at a time so as to confirm what has an effect and what doesn't. Eliminate the softener for a couple months, or switch to powdered detergent. First one parameter, then the other, or both.

My Samsung FL gets a "residual soap" smell after a bit more than a week. (we use liquid All free and clear, sometimes highly diluted Down free/clean, and sometimes vinegar in lieu of Downy). I run the Pure Cycle (cleaning cycle) every 12 days. After that cycle has run, the washer has no odor at all (I have a sensitive sniffer. :) ) After a few washes, the soap residue smell will return. Today, my wife and I discussed the fact that not all soap is being removed from every wash load, so we are going to begin using even less All. We have been filling the All cap to Line #2. we are going to start filling only to Line #1. Maybe that will allow us to extend the times between Pure Cycles. Time will tell. This past week, for the first time, I detected a faint sour smell, so I added roughly a cup or so of liquid bleach to the Pure Cycle, and now the washer is right back to it's "odorless" state again. We always use a rag to dry the boot, soap dispenser cavity in the washer, turn the dispenser tray assembly upside down to remove excess water, and leave the door and tray open. So far, no mold has appeared on the boot. essentially the washer seems to be as pristine as the day we bought it ~6 months ago.

Thanks everyone. I also have very sensitive smell and maybe it is only a machine smell. It smells clean inside the drum and dispenser and there is no mold anywhere at all. I think I am just a little paranoid! I really love the washer. It gets my clothes clean and fresh and all I ever ask is that things do what they are supposed to and nothing more. I'm happy to report that it does! I just want to be a good steward of my new machines. The dryer is very nice as well. Thanks for the helpful tips and maybe it is just a new machine smell since it's not coming from inside the machine at all. It smells fresh in the areas that would be the likely offenders. Thanks so much again.

@dave1812 - Everyone I know believes we have hard water here, but in the whole scheme of things, it is rated "moderately hard" and more toward the 'soft' end of that spectrum.

Between that and the small amount of water our FL uses, I cannot use more than 1/4 the amount of HE detergent that is recommended for dosing. Really small loads take even less. Otherwise, I spend subsequent hours getting the visible suds out, even with All F&C liquid. The clothes come out clean, too.

cavimum, i have a water softener, so the water is always at zero grains hardness (fully soft). I hate when I go on vacation and have to use hard water to take showers in/wash my hair. LOL!

Agree zero-soft is superior. Water-using machines work better and last longer with it. Have to be aware of need to control the product dosages, though. For those switching from hard to soft for the first time the difference in dosage requirement in washers and DW's can be astonishing. And the cost-savings in product usage are significant, too.