How to Clean a Washing Machine and Dryer in 3 Easy Steps

To keep your machine cleaning your clothes effectively, you need to keep its cleaning up to date. Yes, you’re cleaning your clothes when you run it, but it’s not cleaning itself.

Items you’ll need when to clean your washing machine & dryer:

• bleach
• Affresh washing machine cleaner (optional)- 12 mo. supply.
• towel
• scrub brush
• toothbrush for cleaning
• vacuum cleaner

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Clean Dryer Lint Trap

First, start with the dyer. Why? So you don’t dump more dust on your clean washer and have to wipe it down again like I did, lol!

Remove the lint tray from the dryer’s lint trap. Wipe any excess lint, dirt, and paper (or is that just my dryer because my son left paper in his pocket?!). Use your vacuum cleaner’s extension to vacuum out the lint trap.

Vacuum Out Vent & Inside Vents

Before we get to cleaning off dust, let’s go ahead and knock some loose. Open the dryer and vacuum out the vents in the back of the drum. If you’re like me, you lose hair everywhere, so there’s bound to be some in there! I’m missing my vacuum attachment with the brush, but if you have yours, go ahead and use it.

Wipe Out the Dryer Drum

Next, I wiped the inside of the dryer door and the drum with the damp towel. You can add 1/2 cup of white vinegar to your soapy water if you have a buildup. I didn’t use the vinegar. The safety instructions say to keep the dryer unplugged while doing this. Shame on me, I didn’t, but I have to recommend it for you. You won’t believe my hair that was on top of the drum! There were also some black lines on the back of the drum. I thought it was scuff marks, but it wiped out with the towel. You can see them in the middle photo above the vent.

Wipe Down the Top of the Washing Machine & Dryer

I used Mr. Clean Clean Freak on the outside of my dryer: the top, outside of the door, etc.

Clean Out Washing Machine Drawers and Dispensers

I have a top loading washing machine, so my bleach dispenser is inside the top. My fabric softener dispenses from the center of the agitator. Remove drawers or dispensers and clean them.

Clean the Washing Machine Tub

Finally, it’s time to clean the washing machine itself. Almost all washing machines made in the last 10 to 15 years have a self-cleaning cycle.

You will need to use a washing machine cleaning product like Affresh or straight bleach to clean your washing machine. Some people recommend white vinegar, but that will only remove dirt. It does not kill bacteria, and that’s what you want to do. Fill your machine’s bleach dispenser to the max line with bleach or place the Affresh tablet in the tub.

That’s it! Your washing machine and dryer is now clean!

What do you think of my clean washing machine and dryer? This has given me the unction to do a little makeover to my laundry area, so stay tuned to see that! I hate seeing that little cut-out area where the water hook-ups are. I’ll be creating a solution to that you won’t want to miss!

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