Washing machines deal with filth on a daily basis. Dirt, grime, sweat, germs, oil, and bodily fluids all get tossed into the washer without regard for the machine itself. Ironically, this means the very appliances we use to clean other things tend to be the dirtiest.
When it comes to cleaning the home, washing machines are one of the most neglected appliances in the house. They are often the nastiest thing we clean at @gocleanco. (Probably 80% of the washing machines we clean have mold and stink to high heaven.) Today we’re going to focus on how to get them sparkling so that your clothes aren’t soaking in a barrel of filth.
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Washing Machines
Front Loaders
Front-loading washing machines are often the worst offenders when it comes to their level of filth. Besides some machines just omitting an unpleasant odor, we often find mold. Before you start cleaning, grab some gloves and a mask. We’re using bleach, so you need to be extra cautious. Opening a window or turning on a fan is recommended. Also, be careful not to let bleach splash on your clothing or anything else nearby (wear crappy clothes just to be safe).
Rubber seal

Front-loaders have a rubber seal at the front of the drum that gathers hair, coins, socks and any other grime and debris that goes through the washing machine. It often collects a gross, slimy build-up of hair and dirt, and about half the time, there’s mold. To put it simply, front seals are usually freaking nasty.
Step 1: Before you begin, put down an old towel to protect the floor.
Step 2: Open the machine door and pull open the seal to really see what’s going on in there. Start by pulling out as much gunk as possible with a paper towel.
Step 3: Grab some bleach and a scrub brush, small enough to fit into the seal of your machine. Make sure your washing machine is empty, and pour about half a cup of bleach straight into the seal. Grab your scrub brush and begin scrubbing the inside. Scrub all around the seal, working your way around the circumference of the drum. (Make sure you pull the seal away from the drum, and you should see a plastic piece where more sludge is usually hiding. Hold back the seal while you scrub in there.)
Step 4: Once you’ve lifted as much mold and staining as possible, use a paper towel to wipe out the seal. Sadly, sometimes the mold will stain the rubber when left too long, but the bleach will disinfect and kill any active mold.
Detergent Drawer
After the seal, detergent drawers are the second most offensive part of a washing machine. Pull your drawer out, and you should see a little push tab near the back. Push down on the tab and pull the drawer out at the same time. Look into the slot where the drawer came out and scan for any mold or detergent buildup. The top is usually where we find the most mold. Grab your scrub brush with some bleach and water again and get scrubbing. Use a paper towel to wipe away the excess after you’ve lifted the mold.
The drawer you just removed can also accumulate mold, hard water deposits, and detergent build up. Take apart the inserts of the drawer in your sink and use bleach and a scrub brush to clean off any mold or filth. Rinse well. If it has hard water deposits, let it soak in vinegar for about a half-hour or as long as needed, then scrub with a brush. Make sure you thoroughly rinse and dry it off before putting the drawer back together and into its slot. If there are rust stains, you can use Iron Out on a cloth to remove them. Always leave your detergent drawer slightly open in between washes to allow airflow; this helps prevent mold growth.
Drum/Door

Once you’ve cleaned the seal and the detergent drawer, it’s time to clean the drum and door.
Some doors will build up with limescale or soap residue, leaving a white coating. Gently scrub inside the glass door with bleach and water. If this doesn’t lift everything, wipe off the bleach, grab powdered Tide® and water on a microfibre cloth and wipe to remove any remnants. If it’s still not entirely off, then the bleach cycle you’re about to do should leave it sparkling.
Fill the bleach dispenser in the drawer with bleach to the top line. Close the door, and set your machine to the longest and hottest cycle possible. The bleach cycle will clean not only the drum but also the glass and seal. Once the cycle is finished, your machine should be sparkling and smell clean. To keep up with the cleanliness of your machine, use Tide® washing machine cleaner and follow the instructions on the packaging. You typically use it once a month, but if your machine is horrible, use it every week for three weeks.
Pro tips: To maintain the clean smell and make sure the mold doesn’t come back, leave the door and detergent drawer slightly ajar between washes. We love the Door Doc® (Canada) (USA) for this!
Top Loader Washing Machines
At GoCleanCo, we LOVE top loaders. They are much easier to clean and don’t grow mold or hold onto dirt as easily as front loaders.
To clean a top loader, start by pouring some bleach into a bowl and grab a scrub brush. Dip your brush into the bleach, then scrub the seal around the top and the softener dispenser in the middle of the machine. Sometimes the dispenser comes apart so you can scrub them in the sink. Don’t forget to scrub or wipe the inside of the door and where the door rests. Pull out any grime with a paper towel, then pour one cup of bleach into the washer tub. Set your machine to the hottest, longest cycle and hit start. Top loaders don’t stink up as quickly as front loaders, so you shouldn’t have to do a bleach cycle often. Use Tide Washing Machine Cleaner monthly to keep your machine fresh and clean!
Outside of Washer

Before you wipe down the machine, make sure to vacuum behind and under. (Pull it away from the wall if you can, but watch your floors!) If you can’t move your machines, grab a Swiffer® (Canada) (USA) and glide it under them to pull out any lint and debris. Now, grab your Tide and water mixture with a clean rag. Wipe the sides, front and top of the machine thoroughly. For the finishing touch, use Windex® to polish both sides of the glass door and, of course, the machine’s exterior.
After your machine is clean, you will feel so much better knowing your clothes are genuinely getting clean! Now click here for all things dryers.
Clean Your Entire Home the GoCleanCo Way
At GoCleanCo, our team spends thousands of hours per year professionally deep cleaning every square inch of homes. If you’d like to learn the same tricks, methods, and recipes that we use to deliver pristine results, look no further than Basic Training.
The GoCleanCo Basic Training course is a 75-minute interactive resource that shows you how to clean every room in your house from top to bottom. Click here to enroll today!
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gocleanco
Mar 25
Spring cleaning isn’t over until we clean the windows. Sparkling windows make all the difference, you can actually see outside and let the sunshine in! I have a Spring Cleaning offer with @oceansalesltd up in my stories, it is a package deal with the AquaBLADE and the Carbon Tuff Cloths. Check it out! #sponsored
gocleanco
Mar 23
Carpet Cleaner Fight Club 👊🏻 coming at you 3.23.23 get your 🍿 and pull up a 🪑 *Carpets were harmed in the making of this video* #springcleaning
gocleanco
Mar 19
Remember to change your mop head every once in awhile 😎 @hairhouseyeg #shorthair
gocleanco
Mar 18
How am I related to these people… #springcleaning
gocleanco
Mar 17
Spring Cleaning all my @ruggable rugs today! I like to wash my @ruggable rugs in the spring and fall and also anytime someone spills something on them. You can also spot treat your Ruggable, they have a stain guard on them for fast emergency clean up! The Ruggable spring sale is running right now and you can use code SPRING23 for 15% off sitewide and up to 20% off the spring collection but it’s only for a limited time so don’t miss out! #sponsored #ruggablepartner
gocleanco
Mar 13
Are you ready for bathroom week? My tub is so gross I have been pleasure delaying cleaning it just for you. #springcleaning
gocleanco
Mar 10
Does your washing machine smell like a swamp? Well, we have a solution for that…..Plus, @target currently has a Circle offer for $2.00 Tide Washing Machine Cleaner in the Target App! Tide Washing Machine Cleaner should be used once a month to help maintain your machine from build up and odours, it works on both front and top loaders to help maintain your machine so you don’t have to pay someone else to. *Coupon expires April 3, 2023 #sponsored @tidewashingmachinecleaner Certain trademarks used under license from the Proctor & Gamble Company or its affiliates.
gocleanco
Mar 6
Spring Cleaning Challenge 2023 is live on the website! Download the challenge and that is your entry into the contest to win a free house clean from @gocleanco in Fall 2023! Plus we will have other amazing weekly prizes of all my favourite things. Stay Classy San Diego, we had so much fun✌🏻 Now let’s do this Cleaning Army, we only have 4 weeks so we have to stay focused and on task. Follow along with me and your house will sparkle ✨ Full rules listed on our website. #springcleaning
gocleanco
Mar 4
Good Morning San Diego! Well it’s nearly the afternoon and I have only cleaned half a fridge and sprayed an oven but all good things take time and patience. This place is gonna shine up like💎 #springcleaning
gocleanco
Mar 3
@drpimplepopper but for your fridge #springcleaningisherebabyanditsmytimetoshine
gocleanco
Mar 1
#ad Cleaning some stubborn carpet stains with the @bissellclean Little Green® ProHeat® Portable Carpet Cleaner and the amazing @febreze Spot & Stain Formula . It has Heatwave Technology® to help maintain water temperature as you clean, the tools are all included, My fav thing about is (besides it obvious cleaning power and compact design) is that it even has a handy dandy HydroRinse ™ Self Cleaning tool which rinse out the hose when you are done with your dirty work..…finally someone is thinking about cleaning the cleaning tools…my work here may officially be done. *Certain trademarks used under license from The Procter & Gamble Company @bissellcan @bissellclean @febreze #BISSELL
gocleanco
Feb 24
Spring Cleaning Pain Points: What can’t you get clean and you feel like you have tried *eVeRyTHinG* under the sun? Drop it in the comments and I will take ✍🏻 and try to help ya! #springcleaning
gocleanco
Feb 23
I am excited to be partnering on an IG live next week with P&G laundry scientist, Jennifer Ahoni, to discuss their newest laundry innovation, Downy Rinse & Refresh. It’s a fantastic solution to solve your stinkiest laundry issues and we’re going to deep dive into why this is the perfect complement to our favorite laundry detergent. #ad #downypartner #odorisnttheend @downy
gocleanco
Feb 17
What’s your least favourite chore? Mines the never ending cycle of laundry. Like even when it’s done…you still have the clothes you are wearing on while you do the laundry so it’s never actually over…I have been know to rip socks off people if I’m putting in a load of whites to *feel like* I am beating the system 😵💫 I actually don’t mind sorting it, washing it, putting it in the dryer but the party stops there. I hate folding and putting it away. I feel like there should be a robot for this by now—it’s 2023! Now this the AI I can get behind.
gocleanco
Feb 1
Dishwasher Filter 101 🤮 Whose ready for spring cleaning?! I’m gonna start psyching y’all up so you are READY FOR COMBAT. #springcleaning
gocleanco
Jan 19
How often to you mop your floors? Be honest cause I’ll come over and check if you are lying. #cleaningmotivation
gocleanco
Jan 18
Fancy New product Alert: Downy Rinse & Refresh is @downy ‘s biggest innovation in the last 30 years. Now, listen up because this isn’t like regular Downy, it is actually not a fabric softener, even though it goes in the fabric softener drawer! Rinse & Refresh helps with mega stubborn STINKY laundry by removing residue that traps in odour. It’s the perfect compliment to everyday smelly laundry like gym clothes, hockey clothes or that load of towels you left sitting in the washer overnight and actually removes odour three times better than laundry detergent alone. Come watch my stories today — I rounded up my teenage nephews hockey gear 😷and we will put it through the ringer. (Pun intended). What is your stinkiest laundry problem? Let me know in the comments and we can get researching 👩🏼🔬 #DownyPartner
gocleanco
Jan 12
Bleach, Pray, Love (and a little elbow grease) 💕 #cleaningmotivation
gocleanco
Dec 31
Wishing you a Tide-ey New Year. Fun fact about me: I live for Mondays. A fresh new week laid before me gives me motivation to get shit done. And January is the BIGGEST Monday of them all. Many people like to reflect on the last year but I like to look ahead and set some realistic and serious goals for myself. Take a deep breath and wake up from your Christmas haze and write down 5 things you want to get done in 2023…(or make a lock screen saver vision board like I do every year!) You don’t always have to join a gym you know. Maybe you want to clean your attic. Or take more naps. Be more present for your kids. Make your bed each morning. These goals can be small but impactful and have a domino effect throughout your life. Start small. The big stuff will follow. Thank you for sticking with me on this wild ride. We have so much in store for the #cleaningarmy in 2023 so buckle up! P.S. Lets pretend this photo was taken today cause I’m currently in my house coat cleaning everyone’s AirPods. 📸 cred @substanceyyc 💕
gocleanco
Dec 29
Are you team Boxing Day Christmas decor tear down or Team January tear down? I took mine down before we left and I’m currently feeling like it was hands down, my most genius idea of 2022. Now to tackle the worlds largest pile of laundry and prep my life for 2023 🎉 #christmascleanup