With more homeowners looking to save money and water, high-efficiency washers have gained in popularity. Those are the ones that load in the front, not from the top.

One of their drawbacks, however, is that they can get pretty smelly — kind of a mildew or dank or moldy odor — because they don't drain completely every time a load of laundry is done. At www.ehow.com, they compare it to a soda can. If you poke a hole in the bottom, and let it drain out, it will all drain out — like a top loader does. But if you turn it on its side and poke a hole, there will be a bit left over in the can, sort of like a front loader.

At Sears, the maintenance folks offer this advice: put about half a cup of vinegar in the washer without any clothes and then run it on the hottest cycle. But do it only once or twice a month because if you do it too much, the vinegar could cause the tub to rust.

You'll also get some help by running anywhere from half a cup to two cups of bleach through the washer, again without a load of laundry. Then run a clean water wash through either empty or with rags or something you won't mind getting residual bleach on.

There are some other easy ways to help keep odors down in your HE washer:

• Leave the door open whenever you're not using the washer to allow moisture to escape and air it out.

• Use HE or "high efficiency" detergent all the time. It's designed for these machines, doesn't churn out as many suds and contains less fragrance than regular detergents. Forget the old commercials about suds equaling clean. In this case, suds slow down the draining process and the fake fragrances can meet up with the mildew to create a funky mix.

• Get to know your washer better by rubbing a cloth over the inside of the washer after each load. If every load is too much to deal with, try to do this once a week. Keep a roll of paper towels nearby, and wipe down the glass on the inside of the door. Then, peel back the rubber door seal, and clean in there. You'll notice little grooves. Water sits here, collects and ... yep, you guessed it! Stinks. Just cover your finger with a paper or real towel, stick in the grooves, and spin the washer slowly. You'll notice there are two grooves. Clean both. Check out the gunk.

• Clean the drain pump filter about every two weeks. The drain pump filter gets slowed down, and fills up with stinky water along with lint and other stuff you'd rather not let sit around for months. The drain pump filter is usually at the front bottom of the washer. You should apparently have a bucket ready under the filter before you open it because water sometimes gushes out. After the flood recedes, pull the filter out, and clean it.

Other folks who've dealt with the smell problem remind everyone to check that their unit hasn't had a recall for problems with rubber seals. Apparently some models had faulty seals that were especially prone to mold.

There are a number of specialty cleaners for sale but they seem to have a mixed reaction so it seems to make more sense to opt for vinegar or bleach, which you might likely have in your home or be able to buy at the store for just a few dollars.