A few days ago, I almost dried my face with a moldy towel! Luckily, I could smell it before I got that far. Imagine getting dressed in your favorite outfit only to discover a pungent, moldy odor coming from your clothes.
After some time, all washing machines build up nasty goo in hidden areas. Mold is most common in front-loaders, in and around the gasket that seals the door. Mold also forms on the outside of the drum in all types of washing machines.
How Does The Washing Machine Get Moldy?
When soapy water washes over the drum of the washing machine, it leaves a thin layer of soap behind. That layer of soap grabs onto dirt and bacteria while you’re not using the machine, mold forms as a result. Hot wash cycles also assist with mold formation as the higher temperatures increase growth rates.
Font-loaders have rubber gaskets that also fill up with gunk quickly. The gasket keeps the water from escaping during a wash cycle, but it also has deep grooves where water, soap and dirt are trapped which leads to a moldy washing machine. Bacteria, dirt, and moisture, it’s the ideal environment for mold to thrive.
So here’s how to get rid of the smelly mess.
How To Clean A Moldy Washing Machine
We’re going to work our way from chemical solutions that don’t require any work on your part, all the way to completely dismantling and cleaning up the machine. But first, you need to wipe out the rubber door seal if you’re using a front-loader.
Clean The Gasket Out
You need to do this before any wash cycles with cleaning products. There’s so much gunk that can pile up in these things, and here’s how you get rid of it.
If you’re using a front-loader, you’ll find moldy slime building up in the gasket. That’s the rubber seal that makes the door watertight. The only problem is that the gasket has deep grooves that trap debris perfectly. A mixture of soap, lint, dirt, body oils, and mold.
The best way to remove this is by hand. (with rubber gloves, of course) Stick your fingers into the groove of the gasket and run your hand through it to pick up the bulk of the slime.
Now, use a wash rag and any of the cleaners below to wash off any remains.
Wash With Machine Cleaning Chemicals
From specialized, mass-produced cleaners to home made solutions. Here are a few of the best washing machine cleaners. These products will blast the mold away along with the horrible smell.
You should clean your washing machine with these chemicals at least once a month. But if your machine hasn’t had a cleaning for a while, repeat any of these methods two or three times to get all the dirt out.
OxiClean
This is a well known washing machine cleaner for standard and HE machines. It’s also safe to use in septic tanks. It eliminates mold and also blasts the foul odors away.
This is a good cleaner to use in your washing machine every month. One pouch of OxiClean per month will keep your machine fresh and mold-free.
Most retailers stock this product, here’s how it looks on Amazon.
Affresh Cleaner
Affresh is a popular cleaner in the form of tablets. This helps to make sure the chemicals are distributed evenly throughout the whole wash cycle.
Add it into the drum and set it for a full wash cycle as you would the other cleaners. Sit back and let it do all the work. The tablets will dissolve all the way through the wash cycle so that the chemicals are evenly distributed and remain effective from beginning to end.. This is how the product looks.
Tide
Tide washing machine cleaner wipes out mold and other sticky substances with its oxygenated bleach system. It freshens the washer, leaving a clean scent behind. It works on high and non-high efficiency machines.
Add one pouch of the cleaner to your detergent dispenser cup, set the wash cycle for a full, hot wash. If you have a tub-wash setting, you should use that.
Bleach It Clean
Clorox is a good example of a strong bleach that’ll clean out your machine. Add four cups of bleach into a top-loader or two cups into a front-loader and set it to the highest temperature. Once the water level is at its highest, pause the cycle and allow the bleach to soak for 30 minutes. Then resume the cycle to allow it to finish.
After the bleach cycle, set the machine to do another full wash on the highest temp but this time with no additives. This will wash away any remaining bleach.
Vinegar And Baking Soda
For a cheaper solution, you can use vinegar and baking soda.
- Mix 50% water and 50% vinegar and use a brush to wash off the inside of the drum.
- On front-loaders, you’ll find a lot hiding in the rubber gasket that seals the door.
- Add 2 to 3 cups of pure vinegar to the tub.
- Set the machine to a full cycle on the hottest setting.
Once the vinegar wash cycle is done, do another cycle with a half a cup of baking soda to remove any extra stubborn mold.
Finally, complete a wash cycle with no additives. Just normal water on the heist temp, time, and level to clean away any last traces of cleaning agents.
Take The Drum Out
In extreme cases, and once the warranty has expired, you can take your washing machine apart to clean it properly.
If a washing machine hasn’t been cleaned on a regular basis, it can build up plenty of mold and scum on the outside of the wash drum. So you’ll need to remove the wash drum from the washing machine housing to get to it. Then you can just wash it with the hose outside.
Every washing machine is different to take apart, and this method, along with all the others, is at your own risk.
This is how one man removed the drum from his washing machine to clean it.
How To Keep Your Washing Machine Clean
Regular cleaning
Besides using the cleaning agents listed above on a monthly basis, you need to use the right amount of detergent for your washing machine. Adding too much will cause mold problems. When there’s too much detergent, there isn’t enough water to wash it away before the cycle is done.
Clean out any filters that the machine may have. Clean out the lint collector as well.
It’s important to give your washing machine a tub cleaning cycle at least once a month.
Let it dry out
When you’re not using the machine, leave the door open so that moisture on the inside can evaporate. If there are windows in the laundry room, open them up to get some airflow in.
Don’t leave damp clothes in the washer overnight.
Conclusion
To avoid mold and slime all together, clean your washing machine regularly. An extensive cleaning routine would be after every 15 wash cycles. Especially if the clothes are very dirty from work or play.
The average household can get away with washing the machine after every 30 wash cycles, up to two months.
The gasket on front-loaders need more regular cleaning. Once every 5 wash cycles should keep it clean at all times.
Use the right amount of washing detergent in your machine as any extra will not help to wash the clothes, it will only add to grease and mold formation. Use high-efficient detergents for high-efficient machines.
Allow the machine to dry out between loads by leaving the door open.