How to Clean Your Washing Mashine

How to Clean a Top-Loading Washing Machine

-Experts recommend cleaning your washing machine once a month. This helps to get rid of the mold, mildew, and bacteria that grow inside your machine- Yuk! Nothing like getting your clothes “clean” than washing them in a germ-infested machine, am I right? There are several things you can use to clean your machines. You can buy special washing machine cleaners, or you can use either white vinegar or bleach if you are cheap like me.

Step 1: Fill your machine with hot water.

Step2: Dispense 3-4 cups of bleach OR vinegar (do NOT combine!) into the dispenser. I used my favorite lavendar scented bleach. (Vinegar works very well if your washing machine has hard water build-up)

Step 3: Let it soak for up to an hour, but no less than 20 minutes.

Step 4: Continue the machine on wash cycle and let it complete.

Step 5: Using a rag and a gentle cleaner wipe out the machine to remove any last residue. Clean off the strip, dispensers and removable parts, all the nooks & crannies under the lid, as well as the outside of the machine.

Along with deep cleaning your washing machine regularly, here are a couple of other tips to help keep that dingy mildew smell from invading your washer:

-Don’t let your wet clothes sit in the washing machine for hours or days at a time. Life gets busy and we forget about laundry, but leaving wet clothes in your washer is a main contributor to mold and mildew build up. Also, your clothes will smell funny so you just wasted a whole load of laundry.

-Let your washer air out. Leave the lid open for an hour after your last load of laundry. Closing in a damp washer only promotes bacteria growth. If you have removable dispensers, place them in a nearby sink until they are dry. 

-Carrie