Don’t refrain to open the door of your washing machine and breath friendly now.
In today’s busy life, washing machine is one of the most essential electrical appliances in every household. It is undoubtedly tough to manage work, home, kids and tons of clothes to wash every week, true? People dump in the basket of clothes in that helpful box and it solves half of your household worries. And hence, it is important that this machine has to be taken care of. Both the washing machine and dryer maintenance is equally important.
Why does the washing machine smell?
If you’ve notice at times your washing machine produces a bad smell. This can be caused by bacteria, slime, dew or soap scum that accumulates in the internals of the machine. This odour can also be a result of poor drainage from the washer which causes dirty water to get stagnant inside the washing machine allowing fungus and various types of bacteria to grow. This will end up in your clothes stinking which you don’t really want it to happen.
Where does the smell come from?
Scratching your head? Umm…! It is really important for us to know the origin so that we can target those wash areas directly and not waste much of our time identifying the problem areas.
The foul smell in your washing can come from any of its parts mainly:
- Drum
- Detergent drawer
- Sump hose
- Heating elements
- Door seal
- Filter
Follow this 3-step process to get rid of that odour:
- Scrub
You may use an old toothbrush or whatever is convenient to scrub the insides and use a pipe cleaner to clean the pipes. Don’t forget to clean the soap dispensers.
- Sanitize
Bleach is a great option to sanitize always for cluttering mold and mildew. For a top-load machine, 4 cups bleach should be good and for a front loader, 2 cups shall work well.
- Deodorize
The acidic quality of vinegar makes it the best solution to deodorize. The same measurement of 4 cups of plain white vinegar to top-load and 2 cups of plain white vinegar to front-loader should do good. Fill the entire tub and go for one wash cycle.
How to clean your washing machine?
Not a rocket science for sure. Simplest of remedies can turn into magic and these are not expensive but easily available handy. It is important for you to know the easiest ways to clean your washing machine.
- Change your detergent
If your washing machine starts to produce bad smell, remember that it is time to break up with your existing detergent and use a newer one. This might help get rid of the foul smell.
- Home treatment using Baking Soda
This easily available product can ease the smell to a greater extent. You can simply mix 1/4th cup of baking soda with same amount of water and add this mixture to your m machine’s detergent container.
- Use Vinegar
All you need to do is add 2 cups of white vinegar into the drum and run a normal cycle at high heat. Do not include any clothes while performing this process. This will help break any residue in the drum and also remove the foul smell.
Alternatively, you can combine ½ cup of baking soda to 2 cups of distilled vinegar and run the machine one complete cycle. This shall help wipe out any smell trapped within.
- Clean the problem parts
It is good to clean the rubber gasket around the door, the soap dispenser, the drum, filter, the entire exterior and other parts of the machine you think can cause deposits leading to odour.
Other Tips for cleaning washing machine to get rid of odour:
- Put in some bleach in the detergent section and run the machine for one cycle.
- Pour some eucalyptus oil in the water and run an empty wash. This will help remove and sludge deposits in the internals.
- Try putting half packet of soda crystals in the drum and washing with hot water at least once every month.
- Try changing detergents and fabric softeners & understand which suits your machine the best.
- Remember to remove wet clothes immediately after the cycle has stopped.
Make it a point to clean your washing machine every few weeks helping it last longer and maintain its reputed fragrance. If you are still facing difficulties in getting rid of bad smell, don’t hesitate to contact us and learn more. We shall be happy to help you in this journey.