Share your best tips for keeping your washing machine in tip-top shape with Fairy Non Bio - £300 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

Keeping your washing machine in good condition is vital step to having fresh, clean clothes...who knew?! Fairy Non Bio would like you to share all your methods and tips on how you keep your washing machine clean and in tip-top shape.

Here’s what Fairy have to say: “With the amount of washing we all do, we need to keep our faithful machines in tip top condition to keep it running for the long haul. Whether it is running a powder wash or a hot cycle every now and again, we would love to know your tips!”

Perhaps you give everything in the machine a wipe down after every wash? Do you have a schedule for how often you do an empty load? Or maybe you have some home remedies that you turn to that you think work brilliantly?

Whatever your methods are, share them on the thread below and you will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck.

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

I clean the door and seal every wash, take the detergent draw out weekly and give it a scrub to prevent build up. Regularly check the waste pipe and give the machine a soda crystal clean ever three months.

As we live in a hard water area, I do this to keep my machine lasting as long as possible.

As lots of other posters have mentioned, I find leaving the door open after use and giving it a 90 degree wash with vinegar and bicarbonate whenever I'm thinking about it does a lot of the work for me. I also use powder rather than liquid as I hate that awful slime which builds up in the drawer.

Use powder only (fairy non bio)
Also hot wash with white vinegar in it to clean the machine once a month.

I always leave the door open and wipe over the door and seals regularly.

I always leave the washing machine door open after a wash and occasionally do an empty cycle.
The outside of it gets a wipe over every so often too!!

I run the sanitize program every couple of months and wipe the seal with an antibacterial wipe

I've got a Bosch washing machine and it's one of those clever things that has a DrumClean with reminder function: programme for cleaning and maintaining the drum.

I’m a bit hap hazard with my washing machine cleaning. I put a limescale tablet in every few washes. I run an drum clean whenever it tells me to. Whenever I can remember I drain and empty the filter and clean the seal.

Once a month I do a 90degree wash with bleach.

Leave the door open after a wash to let it dry out

Run an empty hot wash regularly

Take out the detergent drawer and clean it regularly, it's amazing how grimy something that holds cleaning supplies can end up!

Regular 90• long wash with dettol machine cleaner works a treat! And remembering to leave the door ajar after a wash so it doesn’t get that damp smell.

I rarely use conditioner because I don't like the perfumed smell. My machine does not get mould or soap scum build up, nor has it ever smell. Had it three years. Hard water area.
I take out the drawer and clean it. Also clean the filter and drain regularly. Door always kept open and seals wiped after every wash. Every few months I put a Dr Beckman thingy through on a hot wash. I think the manual says not to use vinegar or bleach and also Dylon machine home dyes which can damage the stainless steel finish.

Once or twice a year do a towels load on the hottest cycle available, with powder detergent but no conditioner.

Fit a water softener or use water softening tabs if you live in a hard water are. No need to pay through the nose for calgon, supermarket own-brand just as good.

Clean the dump from time to time.

Leave the door open, especially if the machine won't be used for a few days.

Sump, not dump.

I run an empty boil wash every now and again and leave the door open between use.

After washing I give the drum and drawer a spray with an antibacterial spray which I use on my kitchen work surfaces, and then leave the door ajar til it is dry inside.

Every couple of months I run a maintenance cycle. I just don't remember to do it more often

once a week i do a hot wash with a cup of bicarb and a cup of white vinegar..clears out all the nasty whiffs and germs and leaves my machine like new

I use washing powder instead of liquid/tablets, leave the door open after each use, wipe round the door seal when I remember, and anything really dirty gets a pre-wash by hand before going through the machine.

I try to remember to do an empty hot wash once a month (realistically more like once every three months though...)

i leave door open to dry out and fortnightly do a drum wash with vinegar

Always do an empty wash at the highest temp on your machine atleast once every 3 months if not every month. Also leave the door open after every wash to air dry

door left open, hot wash now and then. Vinegar wash now and then. Wipe seals over when i can be bothered. Clean the drawer regularly.

Having recently discovered they joys if the maintenance wash I now do this! Along with avoiding liquid laundry gel as this blocks my machine up.

We have recently purchased a new machine, after our last one (after many years) started leaving grimy marks all over the laundry and leaving a nasty smell. The advice from the supplier was to leave the door ajar after each wash, and to spray antibacterial spray around the rubber seal a couple of times a week.
To early to say whether it makes a difference.