Deep cleaning a dirty front loader

Clean Cloth Nappies member Eloise outlines her process for deep cleaning an extremely dirty second-hand front loader.

Almost two years ago I was very kindly gifted a second-hand front loader. While I was incredibly thankful, the poor machine needed a lot of TLC. 

As you can see in the photos above, it had an extreme amount of mould and scum build-up. 

This build-up was a direct result of exclusively washing on cold and using generous doses of fabric softener. 

• The buildup was so thick I used a dessert spoon to scrape out all the pink sludge. The smell was horrific. 
• Once I had scraped out all I could, I put on a pair of gloves and soaked cleaning cloths in thick bleach (Domestos). I packed the cloths tightly the whole way around the gasket, then squirted even more bleach onto them. 
• I allowed them to sit for approximately an hour. 
• I then used a clean, damp cloth to give it a really good scrub and wipe. 
• I cleaned out the filter which was also pink and sludgy.
• All the bleach-soaked cloths then went into the drum, with a healthy squirt of bleach and I set it on a very long, 90°C wash. 
• The results were wonderful! The gasket was almost spotless! Save for some staining, but I was confident it was now clean enough for use. 

I now had a spotless, clean machine to wash my nappies and clothes in 😊 and all it cost was the price of a bottle of thick bleach, approximately $4! 

My takeaway from this is, don’t be afraid of a dirty machine, it can always be rectified. Don’t be afraid of bleach, as you see here, it made a world of difference to the gasket, that soap alone would not have achieved. And, always remember to clean your machine, at least once a month 😉