Are you tired of having a smelly washing machine and you want to keep it running at optimal and
peak performance levels? Well in this video, I'm going to share some tips and tricks on how
you can properly clean and deodorize your washing machine, regardless if it's a top loading or front
loading high efficiency machine like this one. And I'll also be sharing some maintenance tips
to avoid future maintenance costs! So guys, welcome to another episode of Pan The Organizer,
where I like to keep things clean and organized! When I first started my channel in 2016,
I did a tutorial on how to properly clean your washing machine, and that went viral with almost
4 million views at the time of this recording. And today, I'm basically giving you an updated version
of that with even better tips and tricks. You're going to see, it is very easy to do. All the
tools and products that I'll be talking about today, I'll drop links in the description under
the video for you guys to check them out, so all you have to do is sit back, relax, and enjoy the
show! When you wash your clothes, and especially on my channel, where I do a lot of car detailing,
I have a lot of microfiber towels that have a lot of dirt and grime,
and over time, when you wash that, you get some soap scum residue build up, you get dirt and grime
build up from your clothes, from your microfiber towels, and just your normal load that build up,
and eventually, well you can have some bacteria, some fungi, and some microbes or germs that create
all that odor because of that buildup, and you have to remove that! So we're not masking things,
we're properly going to do a deep clean. So the first order of business is you're gonna need a few
items, household items that you probably already have at home very simple stuff. So the first one
is just pure plain baking soda. Some regular white vinegar. So it can be cleaning vinegar,
that's a bit more potent, or just your regular white vinegar that you use to cook stuff with.
Essential oils, so either lavender or tea tree oil, and you're gonna need a measuring cup. And
for the maintenance towards the end we're gonna need a sprayer bottle, a microfiber towel, and
just a plain old toothbrush that you can use to do a bit of cleaning. By the way, before we
dig into the tips and tricks, make sure you share this video with your friends and family, that way
everybody learns how to take care of their washing machines! So we're first going to start with the
baking soda. So you're going to open your washer, and you're going to pour 2 cups of
baking soda directly into the tub. You're going to close your machine, and the key thing here is
to use either a normal cycle, select the hottest possible temperature, so make sure you're at the
hottest level, and run the cycle. Or, if like on modern machines, you have a tub cleaning option,
well you can select that as well. Normally those already have the hottest water temperatures, and
you're gonna let that rip! And that's pretty much it for the first cycle. So what basically baking
soda does, it's going to act as a mild abrasive so it's going to help to scrub the inner parts of
the tub and of course the tub itself, and it's going to also help to fight odors. The second,
part again these are all very simple steps, to perform is going to take your measuring cup,
you're going to pour 2 cups of white vinegar inside the measuring cup, and then you're going
to add 10 drops of essential oils. So either lavender or tea tree oil. So 10 drops directly
into your mixture using your old toothbrush mix that whole mixture up. You're going to open your
dispenser tray and you're going to pour that into the detergent tray and if you have too much you
can also put some in the pre-wash or liquid bleach or fabric softener trays as well. So basically,
fill all that dispensing tray with the two cups of the white vinegar as well as the essential
oils and then again, we're going to do the same thing. We're going to run a long hot cycle,
so either your tub clean option if you have that on your washer or select a normal cycle and again
the hottest temperature setting, and you're going to let that go. And that's pretty much it! So what
this vinegar combination with the essential oils is gonna do is not only help odors once again,
but it's gonna help to sanitize if you want. It's gonna have antimicrobial properties,
anti-fungal properties, antibacterial properties as well, and you're basically fighting the issue
at the core. So you're removing the odor causing bacteria, gunk, and scum.
And don't forget that the vinegar also helps to remove any soap scum and soap residue that's in
there, that accumulates over time. Now if you don't have these household items, if you don't
have any baking soda or white vinegar, or you want something even easier to do, well there are some
washer cleaner tablets that are available. This one here is one of my preferred ones from Affresh.
This by the way is not a sponsored video, so nobody paid for this video. I purchased these
on my own, but basically what Affresh does, and these are good for again top loader or front
loading machines, is there are these little tabs that come in these packets. You're going to pull
the tablet out, you're going to open your washer, you're going to put the tablet in the tub, close
it up, and then you're going to select either once again the normal cycle with the hot setting, or
if you have that option go to your tub clean and just let it rip for a full cycle and that's it!
So that's a one step cleaning. So what it does is it penetrates inside, it's going to remove and
kill all that grime dirt and residue and whatever buildup that's in there, and it's going to help
fight the odors. Again if you ask me for that basic clean, how often do you have to do this?
If you use your washer often, so if you're a family with children and you do multiple loads
a week, well I'd recommend doing this cleaning once a month, including the Affresh. Affresh
recommends once a month if you're using the washer tablets. But if you're a single person,
or just a couple with no kids, and you do say one load a week, well then you can do this cleaning
procedure once every three to four months and that should be good, or as needed of course. So it's
always depending on the amount of use that you're doing with this machine. For the maintenance tips,
I'm going to share three different maintenance tips. So what you're going to do is take a
sprayer bottle. So you're going to prep a solution ahead of time. So in there, you're going to have
an equal amount of dishwashing liquid and white vinegar, so a 50/50 mix, and you're also going to
add 10 drops of essential oils, once again either tea tree or lavender, so your choice of either or,
so 10 drops in there, you're gonna mix that up to have this solution in your spray bottle ready,
and when you're done for each load, you're going to open the door, and then you're going to spray
some on this glass portion of the door, you're going to take a microfiber towel,
and you're going to wipe that very quickly. So that's the first order of business.
And then you have this gasket portion right? So if you look when you open your front loader, this is
a tip for front loading machines, you always have this rubber gasket that goes all around here. Well
that accumulates a lot of dirt and grime over time as well. So you're going to spray that solution on
that rubber gasket. You're going to take a sponge or your microfiber towel and you're going to rub
and wipe all around there, to make sure you don't have any gunk or dirt or residue or any kind of
nastiness that's on there. So that's the second part. And then the third part is also to open your
dispenser tray. And you can usually remove those very easily. So there's usually a push tab like
this. So you can pull your tray out, you're going to spray your solution that you just made inside
there, or at the bare minimum use some warm soapy water, and you're gonna use an old toothbrush
right, and you're just going to brush all of that up. You're going to thoroughly rinse that,
and then dry it up with your microfiber towel. So that should be free and clean of any gunk
or grime and once this tray is fully clean, well you can just wipe it down with a microfiber towel.
So you're basically reducing also chances of moisture accumulation after each load. And then,
also quick tip, when you're done with the load, leave your door open, that front loading door,
and also the dispenser tray open, so what you're going to promote is air circulation. You're going
to get less of that humidity and moisture buildup and you're not going to create that odor causing
grime and dirt to build up over time. Last but not least, we're going to talk about the filter.
That's in the bottom portion of your front loading washer, and how you can maintain that as well.
So guys, on the bottom of your front loading machines, you're often going to find this trap
door that has a filter inside it. So there's a rubber tube. You can pull that tube out. You're
going to take just a plastic container to drain the water. So pull the plug out
and you're going to drain the water. If there's any water to be had, and as you can tell
in this one we're already not only removing some water, but let me show you closely here, there's
also a bit of grime in there! Look at that! So that's what the filter catches over time. So
you have to remove that dirt grime and gunk. Let all that water drip. When there's nothing left,
you can put the cap back on there, can fit the tube in there correctly. And now, you can unscrew
the filter itself by turning counterclockwise. Put a microfiber towel on the bottom there to catch
any residual water that might be in there. That's why it's important. And once you pull that out,
look at this, I mean, and this is done regularly once a month right? Well you're still getting
a lot of dirt, grime, and fibers, and hair, and all sorts of gunk. So what you're going to do is
remove all of that dirt, grime, and gunk. You're going to take the solution that we made right,
with dishwashing liquid and vinegar, you're going to spray that all over this filter,
you're going to brush with an old toothbrush, and once you're done, you're going to fully rinse it
out. And once it's clean and dry, then you can reattach it inside by turning it clockwise,
make sure it's secure. And then clean that trap door and then you can close the trap door.
And you're done! You do this once a month. So guys, now you know how to clean, deodorize, and
maintain your washing machine! I hope you enjoyed the video! Show me your support by smashing that
LIKE button! Also, make sure you SHARE this video with all your friends and family! That
way everybody learns these tips and tricks. And also, take a second and click the SUBSCRIBE button
that's found under this video, and that way you'll subscribe to my channel and never miss my future
videos. So guys don't forget, keep it tight, keep it clean, and I'll see you on the next one!