Top Tips on How To Clean Your Washing Machine 

Have you ever taken your laundry out of your washing machine, discovered it’s covered in detergent or pod gunk streaks and had to put it straight back in to wash again? Or worse, only noticed after it’s dry?

If you haven’t, it’s either just a matter of time, or maybe you’re already using Melt laundry detergent strips.

Why do washing machines get so dirty?

 Undissolved, old-fashioned detergent basically

Traditional laundry detergents contain numerous ingredients. From builders, foam regulators, and optical brighteners to artificial fragrances, dyes, and bleach, many of these ingredients are unnecessary and toxic to the environment. They can lead to gunk in your washing machine and residues on your laundry. 

Many of the supposedly more ‘convenient’ products, like laundry pods, don’t always dissolve properly in the low water in HE Eco+ machine cycles and are particularly guilty of creating a gunky, dirty, harmful environment. Although you’d be forgiven for thinking a washing machine washes itself every time it’s used, dirt, bacteria, mould, and odours can quickly build up.   

What’s the best way to clean a washing machine?

With natural cleaning products

Experts recommend leaving the door open when the machine’s not in use and cleaning it once a month. The drum, door seals, drawer, and filter all need attention.

The door seals are where you’ll find the gunk that sometimes ends up on your clothes. The filter is generally at the base of the washing machine but check your manual for advice on how to access and clean it. The rest is pretty straightforward. So, here’s how to get your washing machine back to sparkling in the most eco-friendly ways!

 

 

• For all cleaning specific wash cycles run your machine empty.
• Running the hottest wash you can, for the longest duration available, will go a long way to cleaning your machine if you don’t want to add any chemicals.
• Clean the areas in and around the door seals after your cleaning wash: the extra-hot, long wash will make it easier to remove gunk build-up. Use a damp cloth and if necessary, a toothbrush too, but don’t add chemicals or abrasive action as you could damage the plastic.
• If you don’t add powder or liquid via the drawer, it shouldn’t be in too bad a state. Mould and dirt build-up in the drawer can be tackled with a soft cloth and a toothbrush.
• You can add various combinations of products to your cleaning wash that shouldn’t adversely affect the environment. These include white vinegar, bicarbonate of soda, citric acid (vitamin C), ascorbic acid, soda crystals (hydrated sodium carbonate), and Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate). Just don’t confuse soda crystals with caustic soda! 

 

1. 500g soda crystals added to the drum, or
2. a cup of Epsom salts and half a cup of white vinegar to the drum, or
3. 200 g ascorbic acid (vitamin c) and 100g citric acid dissolved in boiling water and added to the drum, or
4. pour 450ml white vinegar into the drawer for one hot cycle, followed by half a cup of bicarbonate of soda in the drum for a second hot cycle.

There’s one more option (we’re ignoring bleach completely) and that’s to add a dishwasher tablet to your hot clean only wash (no clothes!) It will clean your washing machine but the jury’s still out on whether it can harm it.

Now the machine is clean, what’s next?

Subscribe to super-fast-dissolving Melt Laundry strips

Once you’ve got your washing machine looking and smelling as good as new again the best thing you can do for you and your machine is to repeat the cleaning process every month or two and you'll be amazed how much fresher your clothes can be...without needing artificial, toxic fragrances to mask the odours.

Without any of the unnecessary or toxic ingredients traditional laundry detergents contain and using the power of nano surfactants and natural enzymes and fragrances, Melt laundry strips are the future of laundry. Say goodbye to gunk and hello to Melt!

Click the Melt boxes or logo below to try Melt 60 washes from just 20p a wash!