Cleaning Your Washing Machine

2013-02-01, isabellencm

If your washing machine smells and is dirty, this is one of the less obvious culprits. It requires a tad bit more work than throwing some bleach or washing machine cleaner into the clean cycle, but it can effectively eliminate the “gunk” at the root cause of the stench.

Typically, your washing machine’s instruction manual will tell you how, and how often, to clean under the agitator or the drain pump filter. Top and front loaders are different in the way they operate and drain, so there are different methods for both.

For a top loader, you’ll need to remove the agitator to get to the “gunk.” Usually, there is a top that can be popped off to expose a bolt in the agitator. Removing the bolt allows the agitator to be lifted up out of the washer. Once removed, clean in, under and around the agitator with a hot water and bleach solution.

A front loader washer does not always drain completely so they typically have a panel on the bottom, either exposed or hidden, that contains the drain pump filter. Removing the panel will expose a drain. Make sure you have a bucket and a towel handy as some water will come out when the drain is released. Once the water is drained, the filter can be removed and the “gunk” cleaned out. Most manufacturers recommend cleaning the filter once a month.