Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Smelly Front Loading Clothes Washer???

The other day I had a great conversation with the Maytag Repairman. He was called into our home for some maintenance on our Maytag dryer. I could not leave the poor guy alone to do his job in peace. You see, this was my opportunity to hit him with my best shot, shot of burning questions. Thankfully, he seemed happy to help. Here's a couple cool things I learned about keeping your front loader (washing machine) in great, not-so-smelly, shape.

1. After the final load of the day, take a few paper towels and genlty wipe down the rim or gasket around the opening of the door and the inside of the door itself. Make sure to leave the door slightly ajar to allow for further air drying of the washer. I removed the light on the door of my Maytag washer so the light would not stay on.

2. Perform a monthly wash/cleaning cycle. This rids the washer of a buildup of soap and scum. How?
-Add 1 Cup of automatic DISH washing detergent (powder form) and place inside the drum of the washer with no clothes. Yes inside the drum or tub of washer!
-Add 1 Cup bleach into the soap dispenser for your washing machine.
-Run empty machine (no clothes just bleach and dish detergent) with HOT water / Normal cycle.

3. Clean the dispenser routinely. This is where a bit of dirt, scum and basic yuk will congregate. The fabric softener dispenser is a real culprit of smelly stuff, so hit it hard and stay on top of it.


4. Less is best when it comes to laundry soap. He shared with me that you do not have to use HE detergents, you know, the low sudsing formula. It is true that front loaders need less suds, they use less water right? Regular formula works great though, simply cut down dramatically on the amount. He instructed me to use only 2 tablespoons of laundry detergent (non-HE) in my high efficiency front loading washer. Great news! We save $$ on less water and detergent while helping save the enviroment to boot.
Man I love those Maytag Repair People!

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