Cleaning the washing machine...

[eblend]

So I tried some washing machine cleaners without success. To tell you the truth, I never knew that one is supposed to clean them, I'm a man, I don't do laundry, but wife recently started complaining of our washing machine sucking, and leaving streaks of white stuff, not washing very well, and most recently, some black flakes, like dried seaweed. We were all set to get a new unit, but then I remembered that we are about to drop 20k on a trip to Peru/Brazil, so we thought that perhaps we don't need to get a new set now, and we can just wash it. I bought the Tide Washing Machine cleaner, run it once, and it just unleashed more of the black stuff, and it just wouldn't go away, so I got adventurous and decide to see online how hard is it to take one of these things apart....not very hard at all, used this video as it seems to be of my exact oldschool washing machine.



So today, when I came home, I decided that time to see how dirty it is inside, and boy was I surprised.

Spoiler....Downy is EVIL! Apparently vinegar + baking soda do a much better job and cheaper, and doesn't leave this oily shit behind!

This is just underneath the fabric softner cup on the agitator....that bolt is pretty much disintegrated...surprised I got it out


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Underneath the agitator...


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Bottom of the inner tub...

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Outer tub..


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Took out the pressure washer and washed it all outside, and here are the results:


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Yay, clean water!!!

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[firebane]

People don't realize just how nasty these things can get.

Things like fabric softener and bounce dryer sheets actually coat our clothing with weird crap that you can see the remnants of it.

My girlfriend was just talking about this the other day as her clothes were coming out with a bunch of weird shit on them and when you looked at the top of the drum you could see all the dried lint and dirt and crap.

People also need to remember LEAVE your washer lid OPEN not closed to allow it to dry and breathe.

[Amysicle]

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[eblend]

Originally posted by Amysicle
Good job. That's so gross! How old was your washer/dryer? Were you the only owners?

House was built in 2006 and we bought it in 2011, but think they were probably here since the house was built

[benyl]

Yup, we don't use fabric softners and only use nelly's dryer balls in the dryer.

Fabric softner actually started molding in the dispenser cup. For detergent, we put it in with the clothes so that the only thing that goes in the dispenser is water.

We also run the tide washing machine cleaner through it once a month with steam.

[bleu]

I just washed the washer tonight - it was so nasty. Grimey, slimey sludge! Thanks for the post.

[guessboi]

Damn now you got me cleaning my front load washer.

[eblend]

Originally posted by guessboi
Damn now you got me cleaning my front load washer.

heard you have clean the front loads more often, any truth to that?

We are thinking of getting a fancy top load for our next set whenever we finally decide.

[jwslam]

Originally posted by eblend
We are thinking of getting a fancy top load for our next set whenever we finally decide.

MasonCGY says that the top load HE have a lot of complaints vs. tried and true conventional agitator.

[mr2mike]

With the front load, there's a tendancy to have the washer door closed after you do the wash. This breeds a mould and stench in the wet environment so I think that's why there's a tendancy to have to clean the front load washers more.

When I got the place, I tried baking soda inside the tumbler and let it sit, didn't do anything. Ran a cycle with bleach, nothing. Finally ran a vinegar cycle and it was stench free. Ran a second vinegar cycle and then everything was fine.

I leave the door open after I wash too, just so it dries up in there.

I've pulled top loads apart and repaired them, etc. With a front load, direct drive, I wouldn't know where to really start. It would be a weekend process not a weeknight 2 hr task.

[ZeroGravity]

Originally posted by eblend


We are thinking of getting a fancy top load for our next set whenever we finally decide.

Originally posted by jwslam

MasonCGY says that the top load HE have a lot of complaints vs. tried and true conventional agitator.

Duh, really? Hmm.. was just about to finally get rid of our old top load and replace it with one of the new top loads this coming thursday... Futureshop 20% off "select models" in their vip sale.