How to Clean Your Front Loader Washing Machine

Did you know you needed to clean your washing machine? Well, we sure didn't-so embarrassing. We were noticing that our just-washed-laundry was smelling musty. We switched laundry detergent and that didn't help either. So when all else failed I looked at the owners manual to discover that we weren't properly maintaining our washer.

This is how much moisture there was 48 hours after doing a load of laundry. The high efficiency machines spin so much water out of the laundry that water sits inside the drum.

I pulled back the rubber seal inside the machine at the drum area...

...and found this MOLD! Yuck!!

I decided to give the entire washer a good cleaning.

I poured 2 cups of bleach into the dispenser...

And ran a cycle on "sanitize" which is our hottest cycle. Newer machines have a "clean" cycle.

Run another cycle using 2 cups of vinegar...

After you have done your laundry, be sure to leave your door ajar until it air dries.

We are happy to say there is no long a stale, musty odor in our washing machine! Good Luck!


More Cleaning Tips

For more ideas on keeping your washer sparkling, check out this tutorial on How to Use Lemon and Toothpaste to Clean a Washing Machine.

2 Bees in a Pod - Vicki and Jennifer
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Andrea Bethel Andrea Bethel on Sep 05, 2017

    what about top load washers?

  • Bev22223213 Bev22223213 on Sep 05, 2017

    My washer doesn't have a sanitize or clean cycle. Should I use the hot water and heavy soil setting?

  • NonnaDukes NonnaDukes on Sep 06, 2017

    I have used these ideas for my machine. I want to know how to unclog the rinse tray without taking apart the whole machine? Whenever I use cold water for rinse, the softener doesn't dissolve, and just sits in the tray. I had seen this in the laundromat too. This is the only reason I do not like front loaders....you cant keep trays clean/empty.

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