How To Keep Your Washing Machine Smelling Fresh and Clean

6/15/2021 (Permalink)

The mixture of baking soda and vinegar should eliminate the smell from your machine.

How To Keep Your Washing Machine Smelling Fresh and Clean

Have you ever unloaded your washing machine, only to be overwhelmed by a moldy, mildewy odor originating from your appliance? If so, you are not alone. Front-loading washers, while water-efficient and highly effective, are perfect breeding grounds for mold and mildew. This problem is related to the fact that the drum fills only halfway with water, typically not enough to rinse away the remaining detergent. Therefore, the residual soap scum traps dirt and lint under the gasket, producing an unpleasant and offensive odor. If you're looking for ways to keep your front-loader clean and smelling fresh, read on to learn some handy and helpful tricks.

Eliminate the Smell
While bleach is a powerful agent that can potentially disinfect your washer, natural, healthier solutions exist as well. To ban a mold smell in your front-loader, gather a few household items:

• Distilled white vinegar
  
• Baking soda
  
• Nylon brush
  
  

In St. Charles, MO, place one-fourth cup of baking soda and an equal amount of water in your washer's detergent container. Add two cups of white vinegar to the drum, and run an empty washer on a high-heat cycle. The mixture of these two ingredients should eliminate any foul smells coming from your machine.
If pesky spots remain following the cleaning cycle, attack them with a nylon brush and an extra squirt of vinegar. In extreme cases, professional mold remediation specialists can assist in stubborn mold and mildew removals.

Maintain Freshness
Once your front-loader is clean, make sure to maintain its freshness so that it can efficiently and dutifully clean your dirty laundry in the future.
First, make sure to use appropriate laundry detergent for your high-efficiency washing machine. If you attempt to use conventional detergent, it will produce too many suds, resulting in a stinky washer. Further, liquid detergent is a no-no for high-efficiency washers, so ditch it in favor of dryer sheets or fabric softener balls.
Finally, thoroughly dry the drum following each cleaning cycle. With no moisture or humidity present, mold and mildew will have nowhere to breed and multiply.
Keep your washing machine clean and mildew-free by following these helpful tips, and enjoy fresh-smelling laundry for years to come.