Day 106- Clean You Washer

My towels and clothes haven’t been as clean as they should be.  My washer kind of smells musty.  That smell has been getting onto my clothes. 

I saw this pin about cleaning your washer.  I never thought about doing that. Shouldn’t washers be self-cleaning?  I thought so, but apparently bacteria grow under the basket where you can’t see it.  I guess it makes sense. 

The pin calls for a quart of bleach and a quart of vinegar.  That seemed like a lot to me, so I just used a cup of each.

You fill the washer with hot water.  Add the bleach and let the machine agitate for a minute before letting it sit for one hour.  (My washer doesn’t stop like that, so I just let it complete the cycle normally.) After one hour, allow the washer to run through its longest wash and spin cycle.

Immediately fill the washer with HOT water again and add distilled white vinegar. Let agitate for a minute, and again, let it sit for one hour.  After one hour, all the washer to run through its longest wash cycle.

If your machine has built-in dispensers, clean those too.  My fabric softener one was disgusting.  My washer instructions said that the fabric softener dispenser would never need to be cleaned.  I beg to differ.  It was covered in black, thick gunk.   If your dispensers aren’t removable, warm 1 cup of white vinegar in the microwave or in a small saucepan. Pour it into the dispenser and allow it to sit for a few minutes to loosen any build up.

I was surprised at how clean my clothes were after this.  My towels don’t smell musty.  It’s nice to know my washer can still do it’s job.