You can clean out the odor in the dispenser fairly easily by raising the main top an disconnecting the large hose on back of the dispenser. With the hose removed, flush it out and brush the residue if necessary...this is what becomes of the detergent and fabric softener when used with too many cold washes. It lodges in the ribs on the dispenser hose and stays behind. The Affresh tablets will get behind the spinner and clean what you can't reach down below.