Maintaining and Cleaning Your Washer & Dryer
Who washes the washers? If you own laundry appliances, the answer should be you. Maintaining and cleaning your washer and dryer will help extend their life, keep your clothes coming out fresh, and even prevent fires. Consider taking the few minutes of effort needed to keep your washer and dryer in tip-top shape.
Why do you need to clean your washing machine?
Cleaning a washer may seem like an oxymoronic task. After all, if it’s doing such a swell job returning dirt-stained pants and sweat-crusted shirts to their soft, comfy state, shouldn’t it naturally clean itself, too?
Unfortunately, that’s not the case, and when your washing machine begins to get dirty, it’s easy to tell. Instead of the fresh laundry scent, the bouquet may offer something mustier.
Mold in a washing machine is a common problem, as the dark interior and lingering humidity creates an ideal breeding ground for a range of odor-inducing menaces, such as mold, mildew, and bacteria.
Additionally, soap scum — that nasty combination of body oils, soap, and the minerals in water — is often found inside washing machines. With enough build-up, you may find your clothes leaving the washer with the same chalky white stains you find in your shower and tub.
The issue here isn’t just one of ensuring your washing machine actually washes your clothes. If you don’t clean this appliance, you could find yourself paying for expensive repairs or a new washer.
Of course, preventing issues is always easier than curing them. So, it’s still worth cleaning your washer even if you aren’t dealing with musty or stained clothes.
How to Clean Your Washing Machine
Generally, consider cleaning your washer every week or two. However, if you’re an empty nester or live alone, you may only need to do it once a month.
You don’t need many new tools or equipment to start. In fact, you may only need a bottle of Wet & Forget Shower and Wet & Forget Indoor to clean, sanitize, and deodorize.
If you’re dealing with soap scum, try Wet & Forget Shower first. This product can clean and prevent soap scum and rid the interior of mold and mildew stains.
Simply spray Wet & Forget Shower wherever you notice soap scum. Pay particular attention to the washing machine’s plastic agitators, fabric softener dispensers, and, in front-load machines, around the door seals and window.
Let the spray sit overnight, then run a hot wash cycle the following morning. Try another wash cycle if the soap scum and grime aren’t entirely gone.
If your washing machine has a musty, stale, or foul odor, try Wet & Forget Indoor. This spray will sanitize, disinfect, and deodorize by inhibiting the growth of mold and mildew.
To use, spray Wet & Forget Indoor inside your washing machine, and thoroughly spray the rubber gasket on the door and its opening. Then, wait 10 minutes and wipe the area with a clean sponge or cloth.
The stains from mold and mildew may etch into the rubber gasket, but Wet & Forget Indoor will remove the mold and mildew growth completely from the surface.
Wet & Forget Indoor can also clean your washer’s exterior surface. Spray areas in need of cleaning, then let them air dry.
Additional Washing Machine Maintenance Tips
Beyond cleaning, there are several other things you can do with every load to help keep your washing machine running:
- Check all dirty clothes for loose change, hair accessories, and tissues. The only thing that should go in your washing machine is clothes.
- Follow the directions on your laundry detergent, and don’t use more than the recommended amount. Using too much detergent can invite mold and mildew growth.
- Keep the washing machine door open whenever possible, especially with front-loading ones. This lets the interior air out, and if there’s no moisture, there’s no mildew.
- Take your wet laundry out of the washing machine as soon as possible. Leaving it in there makes it more likely for mildew to grow.
- Wipe dry the gasket on the door on front-loading machines after every wash. This makes it less likely that moisture gets trapped in the rubber.
Why do you need to clean your dryer?
Dryers don’t typically deal with the same moisture-related issues as washers. That’s because dryers dry and washers wash.
However, that doesn’t mean you can be lax when cleaning your dryer. In fact, the consequences could be much direr when it comes to dirty, dusty, dryer interiors.
Dryers cause approximately 2,900 home fires annually in the United States, and the leading cause is dryer dirtiness. The results could be destructive and even deadly if you run your dryer when you’re not home or asleep.
Even if you avoid the worst-case scenario, a dirty dryer works inefficiently. The harder your dryer has to work to dry your clothes, the higher your energy bill will be, and the more likely you’ll have to pay for expensive repairs, replacement parts, or even a whole new machine.
So, whether your fear is a pricey utility bill or an uncontrolled fire, cleaning your dryer, lint filter, and exhaust vent is essential.
How to Clean Your Dryer
Before you take on any large-scale cleaning efforts, though, it’s essential to understand the things you should do after every load. Namely, you should always unclog the lint screen on your dryer after every use, and you should never run your dryer without a clean lint screen in place.
If you use dryer sheets, you may also want to wash the lint screen with soap and water, allowing it to dry thoroughly before returning it to its home. These steps ensure the lint screen works effectively and prevents dust or dirt from reaching a place it shouldn’t.
You’ll want to engage in deeper cleaning every few months or so. Use a vacuum with a brush attachment to suck up any tiny pieces of lint you can’t remove by hand.
You’ll also want to clean the exhaust hose and the dryer interior every three months. You can accomplish this in as little as 30 minutes and with only a few household tools.
First, unplug the dryer and remove the exhaust hose from the back. There will be plenty of lint and debris that is easily removable by hand.
Then use a bent metal clothes hanger to pull out additional clumps. Your vacuum can then handle any lingering lint or dust.
After cleaning the exhaust hose, remove the back panel of your dryer with a screwdriver. Again, vacuum any lint, dust, or debris.
Open your dryer door and use your vacuum to clean any lingering dust. Then you can use an all-purpose cleaner to spray down the dryer interior and a microfiber cloth to wipe the surfaces.
Reattach the exhaust hose, back panel, and lint screen when you finish.
At this point, all that’s left is the exterior dryer vent cleaning. The exterior vent is where your dryer deposits the hot air from the dryer after using it, and it’s typically found somewhere on your home’s outer wall.
You’ll need a pair of work gloves here, as sometimes rodents and other pests find the security and heat of the exterior vent a welcome place to set up a nest. A properly fitting screen, though, can prevent any unwelcome visitors.
The cleaning process is similar to the interior exhaust hose. First, take the exterior vent cover off, then use your gloved hands to clear out significant accumulations of lint.
Then use a vacuum to clean the rest and a microfiber cloth to wipe down any surfaces. Finally, reattach everything, and you’re done.
Consider hiring a professional dryer vent cleaner if this deeper cleaning seems too much. They should have all the tools and knowledge to give your dryer vent a thorough inspection and cleaning.
Additional Dryer Maintenance Tips
Cleaning your dryer’s lint trap after every use is typically all you need to do for regular, daily maintenance. However, proper dryer maintenance doesn’t stop there, and these tips can help you avoid inefficient operation:
- Consider replacing accordion-style exhaust hoses. These hoses have flexibility but also tend to sag, making it easy for lint to build up in those areas.
- Don’t put anything soiled with gas, oil, or other flammable chemicals in your dryer. Then, if a fire does occur, they’ll only help the flames grow bigger.
- Dry heavy fabrics, such as bedspreads or duvets, by placing them on a clothesline or drying rack. They require much more heat to dry than other loads of laundry and often contain a higher concentration of lint than your clothes.
- Reduce the number of dryer sheets you use. They can clog the lint trap, and they sometimes contain flammable chemicals.
- Use a lint brush to remove pet hair from clothes and fabrics before washing and drying them. This will make it easier for your washing machine to clean your clothes and prevent your lint screen from becoming clogged.
If you treat them right, your laundry appliances can be your best friends. So, instead of being the third wheel in their partnership, help out by maintaining and cleaning your washer and dryer.
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