No matter the age of your washing machine, you still need to take care of it to make sure it runs smoothly, effectively, and cleans your clothes as you should.
Washing machine experts agree you need to run a service wash to clean the inside of your appliance, or it will get dirty, and mould can build up, leading your clothes to smell bad. But another compartment which needs attention is where the detergent goes.
You might have noticed this compartment can start to develop mould – and one expert has explained the main reason he thinks this happens. According to an appliance service repair expert from Melbourne, Australia, (@ezywashingmachinerepair), using fabric softener can cause mould to build up in the compartment.
When visiting a client recently, the expert asked if she used fabric softener, because he could only see mould on the side of the compartment where you would put that product. “Sometimes, not very often,” she replied.
On TikTok, he claimed: “No matter what you buy, softeners are not good even the sensitive [ones].” He then demonstrated how the mould was only on the side of the softener bay – even when you take the drawer out.
Instead, the expert recommended using white vinegar, which costs around 35p at supermarkets like Aldi and Tesco. First, he recommended cleaning the drawer to get rid of the softer.
“[I’d] recommend instead of your softener, filling it up with white vinegar, natural essential oils, any smell you like, lavender, rose, whatever,” he said. Then, instead of putting a cup of softener, he said to replace it with the same amount of white vinegar, and then “two drops of essential oil”.
He continued: “Works like magic. Your clothes will become soft. They will have a bit of smell from the essential oil.”
In a separate video, where he discussed why he didn’t rate fabric softener, he claimed it’s “full of chemicals, causes mould in the machine and irritation on the skin”.
In the comments, it was clear that some people were worried the “vinegar acidity” damage the rubber or rust the metal on the machine. The expert answered this in a separate video, and said that “scientifically” it could cause corrosion.
However, when you put it in the detergent compartment, he explained it would go into the drum pretty quickly. “You would need to soak it in white vinegar to cause corrosion,” he claimed.
“When you put it in the washing machine it [goes] through the plastics, through the rubbers and it gets washed out by the end of the cycle. It’s not going to sit in the machine,” he added.
However, if it goes on the ‘body’ of the machine, it can cause corrosion over time, he warned.
According to washing brand Vileda, white vinegar is “entirely safe for use in most laundry situations”. On their website, they add: “Its mild acidic nature makes it gentle on fabrics while being a potent cleaning agent. However, always remember to dilute it and avoid direct contact with undiluted vinegar, particularly on delicate fabrics.”
However, according to cleaning expert Carol Harding at HomeAdviceGuide, white vinegar can cause damage to rubber seals, so it’s important to be careful.
