In the modern rhythm of life, housework is facilitated by many household items. And one of these is an automatic washing machine. It allows you to wash clothes without being distracted from your affairs, which saves a lot of time compared to hand washing. The life of this kind of equipment is about 10 years, but the poor quality of tap water, unfortunately, can reduce this period.
Limescale is the most common reason why a washing machine fails. On a tubular electric heater accumulations of heavy salts (scale) are formed, and it simply stops working. How to clean the washing machine with vinegar or other effective means will be described in this article.
Surface cleaning
As a rule, people simply wipe the washing machine with an ordinary cloth, not paying attention to other, smaller details. After some time, the hostess notices that she will have to make every effort and time, since over time the remnants of the powder, conditioner and bleach form a dense layer. How to clean the washing machine with vinegar from the outside?
It is a good habit to wipe the machine and the powder tray after each wash, but if this does not happen, you can clean it using a regular toothbrush and dishwashing liquid with a small addition of 9% vinegar essence to the water. The product must be diluted in a ratio of 5: 1 and rubbed with a brush to the place of contamination, then rinse off the remaining foam with a sponge. Then wipe dry with a clean cloth.
Filter cleaning
Poor water circulation, unpleasant odors from the washing machine, or even worse - leakage - all these signs indicate a clogged filter. To eliminate it, you must first substitute the tank for draining water from the bottom of the washing machine, open the valve, drain the remaining water from the hose. Next, unscrew the filter, clean it well inside and out and install it back.
Drum cleaning
The unpleasant odors from the washing machine tells us that it is necessary to carry out a drum cleaning procedure. How to clean the washing machine drum with vinegar or other means? To do this, you need to pour one glass of any bleach into the drum of the washing machine and start washing without laundry at maximum temperature for several minutes. You can also use 9% vinegar for cleaning. A glass of vinegar solution is poured into the drum and a single wash is started.
Vinegar as a means of combating scale in a washing machine
Every housewife at least once wondered: “How to clean the washing machine from limescale scum?” Consider one of the options for cleansing with this tool. In a compartment for liquid powder, it is necessary to pour two glasses of 9% vinegar essence and start the cycle for a maximum time in boiling mode (95 degrees). You need to wait until the car draws water, and mix it with vinegar. Then stop the washing cycle and leave for an hour, during which time vinegar will begin to destroy scale on the inside of the washing machine. After an hour, restore the wash cycle and wait for it to finish.
How to clean a washing machine with vinegar? It turns out that this is not at all difficult and accessible to everyone. It is important that there is no laundry in the drum during cleaning. After the end of the boiling mode, you need to put the smallest washing cycle in order to wash the inside of the washing machine from scale and vinegar residues. If you use vinegar essence, the scale is mercilessly removed from the electric heater, the remnants of detergents from the drum, door and sealing gum are also cleaned, relieving the washing machine of germs and unpleasant odors. Vinegar can be replaced with any chlorine-based product, but it is more aggressive and toxic than vinegar essence. Many may be interested in how to clean a washing machine with a 70% vinegar machine. To do this, dilute 25 ml of essence with 180 ml of water - you get a glass of 9% vinegar.
After completing the cleaning procedure, wipe the machine with a cloth, after moistening it in vinegar diluted with water. Particular attention should be paid to the drum, sealing gum, because it is there that the remains of water and destroyed scale accumulate, because of which in the future an unpleasant smell appears. Finally, wipe dry with a clean, dry cloth.
Odor elimination
Vinegar does a great job with an unpleasant musty smell from the washing machine. The essence can be used not only for cleaning, but also for prophylactic treatment of scale formation. You can add a glass of vinegar essence while washing kitchen towels, this will not harm them in any way. Wanting to get the best effect, some are interested in how to clean the washing machine with vinegar and soda. To do this, periodically to prevent the formation of scale during washing, you can add these two products at the same time in small quantities.
This cleaning method is not recommended more often than once every six months. It is important that after each use wipe the machine dry and leave the powder compartment and the door slightly ajar so that evaporation of residual liquid occurs. Periodically, you need to clean the filter from dirt and other accumulations. Is it possible to clean the washing machine with vinegar, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of this method.
Acetic essence in the fight against scum. Pros and cons
Pros:
- Low price, vinegar is available for purchase to everyone.
- The unpleasant odor from the washing machine will no longer bother. How to clean the washing machine from the smell of vinegar is described above.
- Perfectly cleans the inside of the washing machine - automatic.
Cons of this method:
- Vinegar has a very pungent odor, so when cleaning with it, you should well ventilate the room where the washing machine is located.
- After cleaning, you need to perform a few extra rinses to get rid of the smell of vinegar from the drum.
- It is also necessary to strictly observe the dosage, since vinegar essence has the ability to adversely affect the sealing gum, it can become hard, lose its properties and break.
Using vinegar to clean the washing machine was described in detail in the first part of the article. Other alternative cleaning methods are worth mentioning.
Citric acid as a descaling agent
Another tool that is familiar to everyone, perfectly helps to cope with scale in the washing machine, while not inferior in quality to expensive powders and liquids. This remedy is citric or dibasic carboxylic acid.
It is of two types:
- Household. Sold in any store. It is absolutely safe for use in everyday life.
- Specialized, used for cleaning complex mechanisms in the industrial sector.
It is important to know that the use of specialized citric acid must be correctly calculated based on the area of the processed parts. If its concentration exceeds 10%, then this can be detrimental not only for unwanted scale, but also for parts of the washing machine, which it simply corrodes, and if the concentration is less than 4%, then the tool will be ineffective.
Also, do not confuse lemon juice and citric acid. Lemon juice has no effect against scale - its use will be useless and pointless. When using citric acid, it is recommended to strictly adhere to the dosage, otherwise it will adversely affect the quality of the rubber parts of the washing machine.
Citric Acid Cleaning Process
Consider one of the safest options, which will help to forget about limescale forever, without harming the washing machine. It is first necessary to extract all the laundry from it. Dry the drum. Close the door tightly. Pour 3 tablespoons of citric acid or carboxylic acid into the powder compartment and start the boiling mode (95 degrees). The best way is to wash clothes made of cotton. For the best effect, you need to install a few extra rinses. Water will finally wash all the destroyed scale and clean the inside of the machine. In this case, there is no need to set the spin mode, since there is no laundry in the machine. After cleaning, do not forget to check the drain hose and sealing gum, where residues of scale could get. If it is found, remove them, wipe all visible parts with a dry cloth inside the machine. All the above procedures are recommended to be done with rubber gloves.
As a result of this cleaning method, you can get an excellent descaling result, as well as restore the washing machine's newness, and as a result, save a considerable amount of kilowatts of electricity. But it is important to know that more than 2 times a year such a procedure should not be carried out.
Subtleties of using citric acid
Citric acid has fairly mild properties with respect to the rubber parts of the washing machine and compared with various industrial oxidizing agents.
Do not clean the electric heater with citric or carboxylic acid more often than recommended, since an acidic environment can wash away the grease that is used for oil seals and some other parts of the washing machine, and this will not affect the operation of the washing machine in the best way - the machine.
Sometimes it happens that when the interaction of hot water and acid occurs, the temperature sensor may go astray.
During the cleaning process, along with citric acid, it is necessary to add special descaling agents that can be purchased at the hardware store to help remove the remnants of the descaled scale along with water.
The combination of chlorine and citric acid will also help get rid of the limescale electric heater. You should connect these two components in equal parts (for example, 1 glass) and do all the manipulations described above. After that, the washing machine will sparkle with cleanliness, and chlorine will help get rid of bacteria that settle in hard-to-reach parts of the machine, which in the future causes unpleasant odors. But it is also not worth abusing this method, once every 3 months it will be enough, since chlorine has a negative effect on the rubber components in the washing machine.
We fight mold with soda
It is necessary to carry out the procedure for getting rid of mold, no matter who says it, even if there are no obvious signs of mold. At the same time, one should not forget about preventive measures. To do this, wipe the internal parts and rubber components of the washing machine with a damp cloth soaked in a solution of baking soda and water, in a 1: 1 ratio and the mold will not bother you. Repeat the procedure weekly.
Chlorine bleaches
How to clean the washing machine with vinegar and citric acid is already known. Now you need to figure out how to use bleach with chlorine? Using chlorine bleach can also quickly get rid of scale. Ideal for this is the well-known tool "White". To do this, you need a measuring cup for washing powder. It is necessary to measure them a full cup and pour into the drum of the washing machine. Set a long wash cycle, the temperature of which is at least 60 degrees. After completion, rinse well and wipe dry with a clean cloth. This method is no less effective than those described above in the fight against scale and other contaminants on the internal elements of the washing machine. The main disadvantage of this method is only the unpleasant odor during the cleaning procedure. It is necessary to open the door and windows so that the smell disappears faster. Inhaling chlorine vapor is not recommended, as this negatively affects the general state of human health. This method can be used no more than 3 times a month.
After reading such a detailed description of how to clean the washing machine from scale with vinegar and other means, you should no longer have any questions about this.