Does your top-loading washing machine smell? Could your front-loader do with a bit of a refresh? A washing machine is one of those household appliances you don’t immediately think to clean. After all, it’s designed to clean other things, so it must be clean already, right?
Alas, it doesn’t quite work that way! Even though you use your washing machine to clean your clothing, it still needs a little TLC of its own. Clothing fibers, food bits, dirt, germs, mineral deposits, and other yucky gunk can clog the mechanisms of your machine and downgrade its quality of cleaning. But don’t worry — cleaning a washing machine is pretty straightforward. We cover the best way to clean the inside of a washing machine and answer some commonly asked questions about proper washing machine care.