How to Disinfect a Washing Machine

It may seem strange because it always has soap and bleach swirling around inside it; but if you have an older washing machine, you may want to think about disinfecting it a couple times a year. Parts loosen up and can be havens for bacteria. First you'll need to clean it; then move to the disinfecting. Read on to learn how.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bleach or vinegar
• Baking soda
• Heavy old towel, bath mat or blanket (100 percent cotton is best)
• Lemon essential oil

How to Clean Your Washing Machine

1. Dissolve baking soda and borax with hot water.

2. Locate the stuck on detergent inside your washing machine. Don't forget to check the lid, too.

3. Gently scrub off all the caked-on soap using sponge and baking soda/borax mixture. Be sure to feel up underneath the the opening. This is an area that is often overlooked.

How to Disinfect Your Washing Machine

4. Add 2 cups of bleach or vinegar to the tub of the washing machine. Add 1 cup baking soda.

5. Add 1/4 cup of bleach to the fabric softener dispenser (if you have one).

6. Add 1 cup of bleach to the bleach dispenser (if you have one).

7. Run the machine on the hottest, heaviest cycle.

8. After the first cycle finishes, start the same cycle again. Add 40 to 50 drops of lemon essential oil to the tub. Place the heavy old towel, bath mat or blanket in the tub. Run again and use extra rinse cycle.

Tips & Warnings

• The lemon oil is a natural disinfectant.
• Using a heavy item in the second cycle helps remove any extra bleach and dirt from the machine. Cotton absorbs the most water and beats the washer walls the hardest.

[Berlyn]

on 3/5/2008 Very easy to follow article. If I'd known how easy it was to do I would have started years ago! *Runs off to disinfect washing mashine*