The secrets of cleaning the drum of a washing machine

During prolonged use of the washing machine, its drum may become significantly dirty, which in turn is reflected not only on the laundry. An unpleasant odor can come from the drum, which gives rise to the mold that forms on its walls. People faced with this problem, the question arises: how to clean the drum of the washing machine from dirt, without harming the machine itself? Let's talk about this in detail in the framework of this article.

The main causes of dirt getting into the car

Dirt and foreign objects get into the drum and related parts of the washing machine in many ways. Most often with dirty linen or poor-quality water. The most devastating effect is scale, its plaque may 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 it must be borne in mind that the same coating will be on the inner walls of the drum and on the heating element.

Important! Scale can lead to failure of the heating element and the 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 add together with the powder before each washing (for example, Calgon or Alfagon) will help to soften poor-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.

Together with dirty laundry, sand, other solid particles, threads, pile, as well as foreign objects from pockets (trifle, paper clips, pins, etc.) can get into the drum and tank of the machine. Plaque of grease and dirt can settle on the walls of the drum, forming fertile soil 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, pull out all of their pockets.
• To wash large pieces of dirt and garbage from clothes before washing.
• 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 the automatic machine from scale and dirt manually, or you can also in automatic mode, in any case, we need chemicals. It is not necessary to buy expensive professional cleaning products that are not always effective enough. First, let's try to do with folk remedies. Among such means:

• lemon acid;
• white;
• soda;
• vinegar.

Citric acid is the most famous and common substance that is used in the household both for cleaning plumbing and for cleaning washing machines. Exposure to citric acid dissolved in water eliminates scum, other parts from scale, grease, and mold. For one cleaning, you need to take 200 g of dry citric acid powder. The main advantages of this tool:

1. low price;
2. makes cleaning automatically, without physical effort;
3. almost harmless to machine parts.

The disadvantages are 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 details. In this case, you need to either clean with citric acid several times in a row, or use another agent.

To clean the drum of the machine from scale and dirt, whiteness or other types of chlorine bleach is used. For complete cleaning, 250 g of substance is required. Main advantages:

• low price;
• very effective cleaning of the drum and other machine parts from scale and dirt;
• makes cleaning effortlessly by humans.

The lack of whiteness is considered to be that it, along with dirt, can corrode the rubber parts of the “washing machine”, including the cuff and gaskets. Therefore, during cleaning, do not exceed the dose of the substance and generally it is better not to clean more than 1 time per year. Chlorine bleach during cleaning evaporates harmful substances that adversely affect human health.

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

1. low price;
2. the absence of any harm to machine parts;
3. effective drum cleaning.

As disadvantages, it can be noted that with the help of soda it is necessary to clean the walls of the drum manually, in addition, it takes time for the substance to interact with contamination.

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

• low price;
• very effective cleaning of machine parts;
• makes cleaning effortlessly by humans.

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

Among professional substances for cleaning the drum of a washing machine, Frisch activ stands out. A very effective tool developed by German experts. With it, you can clean the details of the washing machine from scale and dirt at least every week. The main advantages of the tool:

1. very effectively cleans the drum and other parts of the machine from any dirt;
2. does not harm the washing machine;
3. leaves a pleasant smell;
4. economically consumed.

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

How to clean: detailed instructions

Any of the above funds must be used correctly, otherwise there can be no talk of effective and safe cleaning of scale and dirt. Whiteness, citric acid and a solution of vinegar 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 double rinse, to remove residual material from the drum and tank of the machine. After this procedure, there will be no trace of scale or dirt.

Baking soda should be used differently.

• Pour a little substance directly onto a cloth and begin to clean the drum walls manually.
• We clean until the dirt begins to recede.
• We interrupt the cleaning of the drum and wait about 30 minutes for the substance to interact with the dirt.
• We continue to intensively rub the drum walls with a cloth until the dirt is completely removed.

Note! To enhance the effect of cleaning the drum with soda, you must first slightly moisten its walls. It is impossible to moisten with plenty of water!

Frisch activ washing machine cleaner is used as follows:

1. pour ½ cap of the product into the powder cuvette;
2. pour the second half of the cap into the drum of the washing machine;
3. we start idle washing at high temperature (it is better to choose the maximum possible);
4. put on pause (so that the old scale dries in the water with the product);
5. restart rinse mode.

Some models of washing machines, as a rule, from the middle and high price categories have a special program for automatic drum cleaning.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 execute.

True, it must be borne in mind that this mode does not clean the drum, tank walls, and the heating element from scale. An 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 parts of the machine need to be cleaned?

The drum is not the only part of the washing machine that needs to be periodically cleaned of 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 inside this scale is also present in a considerable amount. What parts of the washing machine, except the drum, need to be cleaned?

• Drain filter.
• Cuff of the hatch.
• The inner surface of the tank.
• Pulley.
• A heating element.

The drain filter must be cleaned very often, literally after each wash. The instruction manual for the washing machine requires it, and this is absolutely correct. After all, it is in the drain filter that all solid debris is washed, washed from the laundry, but not left with dirty water through the drain hose. Read more about how to clean the washing machine filter. Filter cleaning.

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

The inner surface of the tank, the pulley and the heating element can be physically cleaned, only disassembling the washing machine. In some cases, the removal of dirt and scale can be done using chemistry (as described above), but in the most advanced cases, any chemistry, 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 must-have procedure that must be done at least once a year, and better often. Only in this case the details of the machine will always shine with purity, and exude a pleasant smell. To carry out cleaning, you need to know some secrets, which we talked about in the article.