Black sludge in washing machine help

When a wash has finished I always put some folded kitchen roll inside the rubber seal at the base to soak up excess water. That helps a bit

 

Have you tried a bicarb paste John?

 

Don't get similar marks but if the drum starts to smell a bit stale we do a high temp wash with a bit of household / toilet bleach added in and let it go though all the rinse cycles, seems to do the job.

If yours is gunging up so badly, might be worth checking you drain pump filter / assembly, it might be full of gunk etc .

Agree with @Bluejayway , dry off the bottom of the inside of the door seal where if you open up the seals rubber folds a bit you will see a little drain hole which should be clear and dry.
After we have finished the washes ,we leave to door and dispenser tray fully open , usually overnight to ensure it dries out fully.

 

Vanish oxi action powder in a quick wash should sort it out. Remove the dispenser tray if there is one and wash it in the same stuff. It should also clean the duvet cover too.

 

Forgot to mention, with the dispenser tray removed, check the roof of that compartment where the water comes through, it often gets covered in black algae, Carefully using some bleach or similar on an old toothbrush soon clears it.

 

Or if you don’t like bleach you could use some mould and mildew killer from the greenhouse

 

I just checked the rubber seal around the door on mine.
I found 5p.

 

It's a good idea to run a very hot wash occasionally. On my machine there's a 95C program (which is as near as it can get to a boil wash) and I use it now and then for a load of teatowels, white cotton pillowcases that I use underneath the ones that match the duvet cover, or anything else that won't shrink in a hot wash.
Now that OH has retired it's become his job to take the dispenser drawer out and clean it from time to time. It's one those jobs that I don't get to as often as I should (in my defense, I'm not retired yet and I'd rather do gardening in my free time )