Get ready, because here come some pretty candid photos. Not only are the candid, they are disgusting. I'm embarrassed to show you these, but I'm going to do it anyway.
In my defense, I do wipe down my machine. I have to. I have a fuzzy husband. I wipe down the inside, run my finger inside the lid & run my rag along the top of the basket. That gets really dirty. But obviously, I haven't been cleaning inside my machine like I should. My clothes are presorted the minute they enter my laundry room. Meaning, I'm a busy mom. When I need to do a load, I walk in, pick up the (presorted) basket, adjust my settings (I only adjust two settings, even though my machine has many - the water level & the temperature - very seldom do I use any other settings), turn on the machine, add my amazing detergent, a scoop of Borax (no idea why I add Borax - but I've done it for years & years now) & add my Nature Bright, if needed. I then toss in my clothes, shut the lid & leave. I actually love doing laundry. I take such pride in my family. I enjoy taking care of their clothes & having them look nice.
So lets get started.
One day a few weeks ago, I went to throw in a load. This time, for whatever reason, I had my glasses on. Typically, I never, ever do, but that's another blog post. Anyway, I opened my machine to load & noticed, well, some grime on the basket. A LOT of grime. Ew!! I have never noticed that before. Probably because a.) the lighting in there isn't the best & b.) I don't usually have my glasses on. My machine is almost 10 years old (I only buy Whirlpool for this very reason! They last & last for me!) & I will tell you right now, I have NEVER cleaned that grime! Wanna see?
Yuck! Here's another:
It was also on my agitator.
Time to get cleaning & get rid of that filth! So I filled a bucket with hot (as hot as I could stand it) water & Basic H, grabbed my rag & got cleaning.
(Check it. I started using that $10 bottle of Basic H on May 25th. Of last year. LOL I use it for everything & I still have quite a bit left!)
I wiped down my entire machine & then went to work on the grime. Well let me tell you. I guess that crap had been there so long, it wasn't budging! Ok. Time to pull out ol' faithful. Time for Scour Off!
Worked like a charm, as I knew it would. Scour Off is a thick, heavy duty scouring paste (replaces toxic Ajax/Comet/Bar Keepers powders - Scour Off sticks where you put it, no powder, no fumes, no toxins, no gross smells. It's made with cherry pits & smells like cherries!). I put some on the end of my scouring brush, added some hot, plain, clean water which I had now put in my bucket, & scrubbed. Effortlessly, the grime came right off.
Look at that. Perfect, just perfect. You'd never know my machine had grime build-up for almost 10 years! I am just tickled with the results. My machine looks almost brand new!
To get in the tight areas, I used a q-tip. I'll have this information in another post where I show you how I clean tiny spaces, but for now, I wanted to remove all dirt off & out of my machine. When I still had hot water & Basic H in my bucket, I dipped the q-tip in the hot, soapy water & went around the edges.
Yes, it works. Works every time, no matter what I'm cleaning. See? Ick.
So, after all the labor (haha), which took me a whopping 20 minutes at the most, my machine looks fab. And grime free! I'm a happy camper. Isn't that purdy?
(Pardon the dirt on the floor in front of my machine. My husband had done yard work & then he came in & tossed his filthy socks on the floor. Sweet.)
Now put your glasses on & go peek in your machine. You never know what's been hiding in there!
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