You use your washing machine to clean your clothes countless times, but did you know that you should clean your washing machine too? When was the last time you cleaned your washing machine and not just the lint collector?! Check out our article on how to clean your washing machine.

One of the most basic household chores is doing laundry. You already do some basic upkeep on the lint collector and try to use the proper load weights when you wash your clothes, but you will have grime left behind in your machine. This can become a problem over time and cause your machine to run poorly. Your clothes will begin to not smell as fresh and may have residue left behind from laundry detergents. Since this will become an issue over time you will need to do some basic upkeep and cleaning of your machine from time to time.

Before you try to clean the machine you should make sure to remove any obvious leftover lint. You can empty the collection net and make sure it is free from debris leftover from your previous washes. This will go a long way in keeping your machine working correctly for a long time.  

Thing You Will Need

Now you just need to get the items needed to do a full deep cleaning of your machine. You will need a fish net to help gather anything that will float to the top of the water. If you don’t have a net you can use a rag, but it will make the cleaning process take longer. Next, you need sodium percarbonate. The easiest one to find is Oxyclean. You can find it at most stores and it is a relatively inexpensive detergent to find. Once you have these two items you are ready to begin cleaning your machine.

Cleaning your Machine

First, you need to turn on the machine and begin a wash with no clothes. Let the drum fill up with hot water and pour the Oxyclean into the drum. Once it has mixed properly you can close the lid leave the machine to soak for about 10 hours total. For the best results, you should not try to clean it out before that time as you may not have a fully clean drum. Once you have let it sit for the appropriate amount of time you can open the lid and see just how dirty it was.

Next, you need to use the net to clean up all the grime and gunk that was floating at the top of the drum. Be sure to get anything else that is floating around in the water. Once you are confident that any floating debris has been removed you can run the machine again to let it clean and drain the remaining water. Check for any remaining dirt or grime that may have been left behind and you can bask in the fact that you have a fully clean washing machine again.

Deep cleaning your washing machine isn’t something that you will have to do often as it only needs to be done once every few months. You won’t build up enough dirt to get visible results so you can hold off on cleaning it for a while. Once you buy the materials needed you will have enough for a few cleanings as well. This is a good way to ensure your machine will last longer and your clothes will continue to be clean.