90 Reviews of Cleaning Your Washer

From: Pets'R'us

On Jun 8, 2003

Fantastic!!!!! Bev I'm sorry I haunted you with all my questions, I did not understand the steps because my machine locks automaticly (a safety feature) when you select a programme and cannot be opened after the cycle is finished.Thats why I could not let it fill with water and then add the bleach. This is what I did: 1 Emptied a bottle of bleach in the machine. 2 Selected the longest programme and the hottest temperature 3 Switched on. Did the same for the vinegar wash.I have a beautiful clean machine and the musty smell is gone. Years of trying to clean it with little success by myself, it is now done by the machine itself with an incredible result. One thing I should mention is that when I checked halfway on the bleach wash there was foam pouring out of the machine, it must have been the years of soap build-up, I cleaned it and did not panic about it, also don't think it will happen next time. This morning I did a wash and it came out beautiful and fresh smelling like it should! Many, many thanks for posting this Bev!!!

From: Braunda

On Jun 12, 2003

A Five Star all the way...with Shannon and family living here that thing sure had a bad smell for some reason? I know it works because my towels came out with the best smell ...Thank You so very much Bev...That is one thing I no longer have to worry about. Have a good day. Hugs

From: 4Susan

On Oct 4, 2006

This worked great in my washing machine. I love getting all the old scum out of it. For those who need to know - 4 Cups = 1 quart.

From: Loves2Teach

On Jun 13, 2003

Thanks so much for sharing this with us!!! I had no idea how great this simple "recipe" would work! Now my washer is clean and fresh. i can not open mine once it starts- so i just let it run a full cycle with the bleach, and then and full cycle with the vinigar. Thank you so very much! So quick and easy!!

From: Kookaburra

On Feb 7, 2004

If your washing machine repairman has ever had to remove the bowl from your machine you'll understand the deep embarrassment you feel when you see the disgusting, grey, slimy muck on the outside of the bowl. I had to take ours downstairs and scrub it before we'd allow it to be put back in our machine. Since then, we've wondered HOW we can clean something we can't get to. THIS IS THE SOLUTION. I filled the machine with hot water. Added a 1.2 litre bottle of White King bleach and let it wash and pump out. Because we have a septic system I stuck the hose out the window so the bleach didn't go into the system. When the bleach water had pumped out, I reset to 'wash' again, filled the machine with hot water, added 6 cups of white vinegar and let it run through a whole cycle. Checked the water during the wash cycle and could see all those yukky, slimy flakes floating around in the water, so I KNEW it was working. There were some flakes still left at the bottom of the machine at the end of the cycle but these were easily wiped up. AND the machine now smells clean instead of musty. A GREAT tip which I'll be passing on to my friends and rellies. Thanks Bev!

From: Pumpkie

On Jun 11, 2003

this was sooooooo easy and so great, I had a funky smell in my washer, every wash smelled like it sat over night, the washer was clean to look at but couldn't get rid of it, this worked like a charm thank you thank you thank you!

From: Geema

On Jun 6, 2003

What a helpful suggestion and recipe! I had NO IDEA that I was getting a slimy build up in my wonderful new Maytag washer, but it does make a lot of sense to me. I'm off to the store to get the ingredients this morning. I would normally wait until after the treatment, but since I can't actually see inside of the machine or perhaps even tell the difference, I'm just giving you 5 stars for the very helpful suggestion, Bev. Thanks!

From: Cindy Lynn

On Jun 15, 2003

Thank you for sharing this recipe Bev, as well as answering all of my questions. I did run a tub of rinse water through between the bleach cycle and the white vinegar cycle 'cause I read that bleach and white vinegar let off toxic fumes. There probably wouldn't be many toxic fumes, but I decided I'd prefer no toxic fumes to even a trace. Two days later and my washer still smells so fresh. Even though I couldn't see sludge, I knew there had to be buildup inside the pump, agitator and hoses. Now I feel comforatable that this has been removed!

From: Kasha

On Aug 10, 2003

This is fantastic! I had a mildewy, musty smelling washer and nothing I tried really solved the problem at all. Now my washer is cleaner looking and smells great. I'll be doing this at least every 6 months and maybe get some extra time out of an aging washer. I also have a Euopean washer, so did two complete hot cycles, one with bleach, the other with vinegar and it worked great. Thanks a bunch!

From: JaydensMommy22

On Jun 10, 2003

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I have been trying to get my washer clean for months!! This is the answer to my prayers. Although I did use these two products to try and clean it in the past, I just didn't use it like this!! What a surprise to see how much "yuck" comes out of your machine! Thanks again for posting this. It is a life-saver.