Secrets of cleaning the washing machine drum

washing machine drum cleaning During prolonged use of the washing machine, its drum can become significantly dirty, which in turn affects not only the laundry. An unpleasant odor may emanate from the drum, which is caused by mold growing on its walls. People faced with this problem have a question: how to clean the washing machine drum from dirt without harming the machine itself? Let's talk about this in detail within the framework of this article.

The main reasons for dirt getting into the washing machine

Dirt and foreign objects get into the drum and related parts of the washing machine in many ways. Most often with dirty laundry or poor quality water. The most destructive effect is caused by scale; its deposits can appear over time on the walls of the drum. This is an alarming signal, because it is not difficult to remove scale from the drum, but you need to take into account that the same deposit will be on the inner walls of the drum and on the heating element.

Important! Limescale can lead to failure of the heating element and destruction of the moving parts of the washing machine.

The main cause of scale deposits in the machine is water containing metal salts, the so-called “hard water”. Special compounds that are added along with the powder before each wash (for example, Calgon or Alfagon) will help soften low-quality water; however, experts do not recommend using them, since it turned out that the chemicals contained in their composition harm some parts of the machine. It is better to use special flow filters that will improve the composition of the inlet water.

Along with dirty laundry, sand, other solid particles, threads, lint, as well as foreign objects from pockets (changes, paper clips, pins, etc.) can get into the drum and tank of the machine. A deposit of grease and dirt can settle on the walls of the drum, forming fertile ground for the growth of bacteria and mold fungi. To prevent such dirt from getting into the drum for the most part, the tank and filters of the washing machine are necessary.

Before putting things into the drum of the washing machine, take everything out of their pockets.
Before washing, shake off large pieces of dirt and debris from items.
Wash things in a special bag (this protects machine parts, including from threads and lint).

How to clean the drum of an automatic machine?

You can clean the drum of an automatic machine from scale and dirt manually, or you can do it automatically, in any case, we will need chemicals. To do this, it is not at all necessary to buy expensive professional cleaning products, which are not always effective enough. First, let's try to use folk remedies. Among these means:

lemon acid;
white;
soda;
vinegar.

drum cleaners Citric acid is the most well-known and widespread substance that is used in households both for cleaning plumbing fixtures and for cleaning washing machines. The effect of citric acid dissolved in water rids the drum and other parts of scale, grease deposits, and mold. For one cleaning you need to take 200 g of dry citric acid powder. The main advantages of this tool:

low price;
Cleans automatically, without physical effort;
practically harmless to machine parts.

The disadvantages include the low effectiveness of the product if the drum has not been cleaned for many years and a thick coating of salts has accumulated on it and other parts. In this case, you need to either clean with citric acid several times in a row, or use another product.

To clean the machine drum from scale and dirt, use bleach or other types of chlorine bleach. For complete cleaning you will need 250 g of the substance. Main advantages:

low price;
very effective cleaning of the drum and other machine parts from scale and dirt;
cleans without any human effort.

The disadvantage of whiteness is that it, along with dirt, can also corrode the rubber parts of the washer, including the cuff and gaskets. Therefore, during cleaning, you should not exceed the dose of the substance and in general it is better not to clean more than once a year. During cleaning, chlorine bleach evaporates harmful substances that negatively affect human health.

Baking soda will also help clean the washing machine drum from dirt, but it will only cope with cleaning the walls of the drum; the tank and heating element cannot be cleaned with its help. To clean the drum walls you need about 150 g of the substance. Main advantages:

low price;
no harm to machine parts;
effective drum cleaning.

The disadvantages include the fact that using soda requires manual cleaning of the drum walls; in addition, it takes time for the substance to interact with the contamination.

Concentrated acetic acid is also used to clean the drum and machine parts. You need to take 50 ml of the substance and dilute it with 150 ml of water.Vinegar essence cannot be used undiluted. Advantages of the substance:

low price;
very effective cleaning of machine parts;
cleans without any human effort.

The main disadvantage: vinegar harms the rubber parts of the washing machine. In addition, it is quite difficult to wash it out of the tank and drum.

drum cleaner

Among the professional cleaning agents for washing machine drums, Frisch activ stands out. A very effective product developed by German specialists. With its help, you can clean the parts of your washing machine from scale and dirt at least every week. The main advantages of the product:

very effectively cleans the drum and other machine parts from any contaminants;
does not harm the washing machine;
leaves behind a pleasant smell;
It is used sparingly.

The disadvantage is the rather high price, about 15 USD. for a container of 250 ml. Provided that the bottle is enough for about 10 cleanings, although, of course, it’s up to the consumer to decide.

How to clean: detailed instructions

Any of the above products must be used correctly, otherwise effective and safe cleaning of scale and dirt is out of the question. Whiteness, citric acid and vinegar solution must be poured directly into the drum of the washing machine, then set the washing program (for 1 hour or more) at a temperature of at least 60 ⁰C. After the program is completed, it is necessary to perform a double rinse to remove any remaining substance from the drum and tank of the machine. After this procedure, there will be no trace of scale and dirt left.

washing machine drum cleaning

Baking soda should be used differently.

We pour a little substance directly onto a cloth and begin to clean the walls of the drum by hand.
We clean until the dirt begins to come off.
We interrupt cleaning the drum and wait about 30 minutes for the substance to interact with the dirt.
We continue to intensively rub the walls of the drum with a cloth until the dirt is completely removed.

Note! To enhance the effect of cleaning the drum with soda, you need to slightly moisten its walls first. Do not wet it with excess water!

Frisch activ washing machine cleaner is used as follows:

pour ½ cap of the product into the powder cuvette;
pour the second half of the cap into the drum of the washing machine;
run a single wash at high temperature (it is better to choose the highest possible);
pause (so that the old scale soaks in water with the product);
restart the rinse mode.

Some models of washing machines, usually from the middle and high price categories, have a special automatic drum cleaning program. For example, on Samsung washing machines it is called “Eco drum cleaning”. In such machines, to perform cleaning, it is enough to activate this mode and wait for the program to complete.

However, you need to take into account that this mode does not clean the drum, tank walls, and heating element from scale. The automatic cleaning program can only remove greasy deposits and mold from the walls of the drum, although no one forbids you to use it along with a chemical cleaner.

What other machine parts need to be cleaned?

The drum is not the only part of the washing machine that needs to be periodically cleaned to remove scale and dirt. Let's say more - the walls of the drum are a kind of indicator by which you can approximately understand the degree of contamination of the internal parts of the machine.Simply put, if scale deposits are present on the walls of the drum, then this deposit is also present inside in considerable quantities. What parts of the washing machine, besides the drum, need to be cleaned?

Drain filter.
Hatch cuff.
The inner surface of the tank.
Pulley.
A heating element.

The drain filter needs to be cleaned very often, literally after every wash. This is required by the operating instructions for the washing machine, and this is absolutely correct. After all, it is in the drain filter that all the solid debris that is washed from the laundry accumulates, but is not removed along with the dirty water through the drain hose. Read more about how to clean the washing machine filter in the article. Cleaning the filter.

You also need to remove moisture from the rubber cuff of the hatch after each wash; excess moisture is a potential breeding ground for mold and germs. If mold has already formed in the cuff recess, apply a small amount of copper sulfate solution to a cloth and thoroughly wipe the mold areas with it. You can pour a little of this substance into the recess of the cuff and let it sit for a couple of hours, then rinse the cuff with warm water and wipe with a dry cloth.

The inner surface of the tank, pulley and heating element can be physically cleaned only dismantling the washing machine. In some cases, dirt and scale can be removed using chemicals (as described above), but in the most advanced cases, any chemical except the most aggressive is powerless. And you need to disassemble the machine and clean its parts manually, and if necessary, change them.

To summarize, we note Cleaning the drum of an automatic washing machine is a mandatory procedure that must be done at least once a year, or better yet, more often.Only in this case will the washing machine parts always shine clean and emit a pleasant smell. To carry out cleaning you need to know some secrets, which we talked about in the article.