How To Clean & Sanitize Your Washing Machine

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After I made my Homemade Laundry Detergent, I was washing all sorts of things to "try it out" and I still love it!!(that's was probably the only time I have ever done ALL the laundry and nothing else to wash! lol) It gets things really clean!
Well my husband was working on the cars here recently and he had some of his work rags that needed washed (he does throw the really nasty one away... he doesn't want to ruin the washer, or get grease on our clothes!) anyways after washing his rags there was a nice black ring in the washer (•̪●) so that was a perfect time to do a post on Cleaning the Washing Machine!

Ewww! Ring around the washer! Do you see the ring on the basket too?

Ewww  #2

I HAD to do something after seeing this in my washer! I couldn't let this go, sooooo.... I cleaned it.

What you need:
3 Cups Bleach
2 Cups White Distilled Vinegar
1/2 Cup of Homemade Laundry Detergent (optional)

Set your washer on longest wash cycle, fill washer with Hot water and 3 Cups of Bleach, once filled let it agitate for a minute, then turn it off and let it sit for 1 hour. Start washer after the hour is over (you can let it soak for longer if you would like) This is when I added the Laundry Detergent in mine. Let it run through the whole wash and rinse cycles until its done.
**(if you need to wipe it down, this would be the time)
Then...
On the longest wash cycle fill washer again with Hot water and add the 2 cups of vinegar,once full let it agitate for a minute then turn it off and let it sit for 1 hour. Again turn it back on and let it run through the wash and rinse cycles.

**If your washer is in bad shape you may have to do a little wiping down to get the extra grime off, between the bleach and vinegar cleaning.

While I was at it, during the bleach soaking, I detailed the rest of the machine with a toothbrush, a rag and a scrubby using the bleach water. I cleaned the front where all the knobs are and the inside lid where the lip is (that always gets dirt and dust in there!) also the rim around the basket. Pretty much where there was dirt and grime. I don't have any dispensers in my machine, but that would be a good time to clean them also. You might want to run some clean water through the dispensers after the bleach though.
My machine is all shiny clean now. I am confident that I have a clean washing machine, and not afraid to wash my whites!

You should have a clean and sanitized washer now. The bleach and vinegar will kill bacteria, it will clean soap scum, and if you have hard water, it helps break up any mineral deposits in your hoses and basket. It will also freshen any funky smells that you might have

That's it! Just clean..

Happy Washing! Ha!