How to clean the powder tray in the washing machine

An automatic washing machine is one of the most commonly used items of household appliances in a home. Along with a refrigerator, stove and microwave, it is an integral part of human life. But the trouble is, mercilessly exploiting their "home assistant", people often forget that they need to be looked after, in particular, among other things, to clean the tray of the machine from the remnants of powder and limescale. What would seem easier? But it is precisely this simple matter that often causes difficulties in people. Let’s talk about this in detail!

Physical cleaning

The tray of the washing machine is a rather dirty place, it is dirtier only in the tank, drain pipes and drain hose. Unlike the tank and drain pipes, which are more difficult to get to, the tray is much easier to clean, because it is visible. In fact, it turns out that many users of the washing machine do not know how the tray is pulled out and never thought about cleaning it.

In some cases, the tray becomes clogged with detergent so that water stops flowing into it and rinsing off the powder. The owners call the craftsmen to fix the washer, and they don’t repair anything upon arrival, they just wash the tray and take a lot of money for repairs.

Indeed, an inexperienced user of an automatic washing machine may encounter the fact that he will not be able to immediately pull out the powder tray, but meanwhile, this can be done in one motion, the main thing is to understand the principle. Most brands of washing machines have a simple straight tray with a tongue blocking it. This tongue partially covers the rinse aid compartment. Press your finger on this tongue, and then pull the tray toward you, and it will pull out very easily.

The container for the powder of the washing machine can also have an unusual design. There are not so many brands of machines with non-standard trays, but they are well known, it is not easy to remove the powder trays of such machines for the first time, but then things will go, the main thing is to understand the principle. How to remove the powder tray in an Indesit and Ariston washing machine, we talk about this in detail in the article of the same name, we will not dwell on this issue in detail.

Pulling out the tray, proceed to clean it. Physical cleaning comes down to banal rubbing and scraping of pieces of dried powder and limescale from the inner surfaces of the tray. It’s better to do this procedure like this.

1. If the powder container is not too dirty, then you can clean it without the use of special tools, and even more so without soaking. To start, just rinse the container with hot water.
2. We take a small, not too stiff brush, you need to clean all the dirt from the tray, and then rinse the container with water again.
3. Now we take a rag, you need to clean the remaining dirt, and then rinse the tray again.
4. We put the tray in place and continue to use the washing machine.

During physical cleaning of the powder tray, do not overdo it and do not use particularly hard brushes with rough abrasive surfaces, because there is a dispenser in the compartment for the air conditioner, the plastic marks of which can be easily erased with such brushes.

Dry cleaning

It may happen that limescale and petrified powder cannot be cleaned in the usual physical way, then chemical cleaning using special means will come to the rescue. For dry cleaning to be successful, you need to choose the right chemistry, which will allow you to clean even very persistent dirt. We will talk about it in the next paragraph, but for now we will go directly to the process. In a "pure" chemical way, it is impossible to clean the tray alone, it will be necessary to clean all the inside of the washing machine, but this is not bad, in the end, not only the tray needs cleaning.

• We take a dispenser for detergents or any other and measure out the required amount of cleaning chemistry. The dispenser is needed in order not to exceed the dose of chemistry and not to harm these parts of the washing machine.
• Open the powder tray, take the dispenser with the product and pour it into the tray, into the compartment for the main wash.
• We remove all dirty clothes from the drum of the washing machine and start washing at a temperature of 90-95⁰WITH.
• At the end of the program, we start a repeated rinse - the washing of the washing machine is over.

The disadvantage of this method of cleaning the tray of the washing machine is that with its help it is impossible to clean a heavily soiled container, since dirt impedes the penetration of water into the compartments.

If water does not enter the tray, then the detergent will not be washed out of it, which means that dry cleaning will not work either - a vicious circle. If the tray is contaminated with excess powder and lime deposits excessively, it is cleaned in a mixed way - chemical and physical. It is done like this

1. We take out the tray and put it in a basin with hot water.
2. We take the dispenser and measure out the required amount of cleaning agent.
3. Empty the dispenser by pouring the product into a basin with a tray.
4. Shake the product so that it dissolves in water.
5. We leave the tray soaked in water with the product for a couple of hours.
6. We take out the tray and clean it with a brush, and then with a rag.
7. We rinse the tray with clean warm water and put it in place.

Cleaning products

Finally, as promised, we list the cleaning products that housewives most often use in order to clean the powder tray of the washing machine. Let's start with the factory household chemicals, which allows you to clean the entire washer, not just the tray.

• Dr. TEN "Against bacteria." This product is intended for dry cleaning the inside of the washing machine, including the tray. It will help if the powder tray is not very dirty.
• Frisch Activ. A comprehensive tool for cleaning the washer, removing mold, limescale, detergent residues and soapy residue. Clean the tray only if it is not too dirty.
• Sandokkaebi. Remedy manufactured in South Korea. Perfectly cleans the tray of the washing machine, its nozzles and hoses. It is relatively inexpensive.

Now we give examples of the means in which you can soak the tray. Since in this case we don’t pour the product into the washing machine, we can use more aggressive chemistry. The following products are suitable for soaking:

1. Domestos;
2. Dressing duckling;
3. Silite;
4. Comets (liquid), etc.

We did not begin to characterize the above means, since they are already well known to everyone. It remains to talk about home remedies that allow you to clean the powder tray. In this case, acetic essence and citric acid are unrivaled.

Acetic essence is more suitable for soaking the powder container before physical cleaning, when citric acid can be useful for cleaning the inside of the washing machine as a whole.

In conclusion, we note that cleaning the tray for the washing machine powder is not difficult at all, the main thing is not to forget to do it, at least after every 10 washings and then your washing machine will definitely avoid some breakdowns. Good luck