Pinterest Household Cleaning Review: How to clean your washing machine

There's so many things that need cleaning around our house and one of the items we tend to not clean is the washing machine. I never knew that they needed to be clean until my HE washing machine started to smell like mold. I started leaving the door open after every use but the smell wouldn't go away and it was started to affect the clothes...gross!

 So I turned to Pinterest to see if there were any "how-to" guides that were both economical and natural...or at least as natural as you can get with bleach. I found a post by OneGoodThing which had tutorials for both top load washers and front load washers. I have an HE Whirlpool Duet front load washing machine (pictured) that is about 2 years old. Before last night I have never cleaned it before so I think my washer was a good candidate to try this eco-friendly cleaning solution.

Blogger, Jill recommends you do this once a month to keep your washer in tip top shape.
Front Load instructions:
Turn washer on and set water to "hot." If you have a "clean washer" option then use that.
Put 2 cups vinegar into the detergent cup and let the washer go through a cycle.  I used Heinz cleaning vinegar which is a 6% solution. Regular vinegar is 5% and I'm sure works just as well. When done, run another cycle but this time add 2 cups of bleach instead of the vinegar.
When done, you can do another cycle of just water to remove any leftover dirt still in the machine.
Wipe down the rubber lip on the inside to remove any mold that might be there.
Remove the detergent cups and let those dry out completely.

Your washing machine should be smelling fresh now.
Recommended that you do a full cleaning once a month and clean the rubber lip and let the detergent cups air dry after every use. Also, do leave the door open after every wash to allow the inside to completely dry.

For more detail and other "how to's" check out OneGoodThing and let me know if you find anything you've tried at home that you like.

Now to figure out how to eco-clean my dishwasher. Those dishwasher cleaners are expensive!