How to Clean a Top Loading Washing Machine
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Learn how to clean a top loading washing machine with bleach and white vinegar in this easy step by step tutorial!
This post shows how to clean a top load wash, for a cleaning tutorial for front load washers, click here.
Do you need to clean a top load washer?
Short answer: yes!
I spend an enormous amount of time doing laundry. Between my husband and
With all of that use, detergent residue, mold, and grime can build up fast, like in the photo below.
I would always make a mental note to do something about it but I obviously never quite got around to it. (Our poor neglected appliances!)
Until this week.
Determined to break this cycle of yuck I researched and researched the best way to clean a washing machine and here’s what I came up with.
Step by step
MATERIALS
- chlorine bleach
- white vinegar
- sponge or microfiber cloth (affiliate link)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Clean the Washing Machine with Bleach Fill washer tub all the way up with HOT water. Not warm water, not cold, fill that baby with the hottest water setting as the setting will allow.
- Add one quart of bleach, set it on the longest cycle (for me this was the “whitest whites” cycle) and let the washer agitate for a few minutes, then let it sit one hour by pausing the cycle. After the hour let it complete the wash cycle. ***If you prefer not to use bleach you may substitute a quart of hydrogen peroxide in its place***
- Clean the Washing Machine with Vinegar Again fill the washer with HOT water but this time add one quart of white vinegar. Same routine-set on the longest cycle and let it agitate a few minutes then sit for one hour. After the hour complete the wash and rinse cycle.
- Wipe out the washing machine and clean detergent trays: Wipe down the entire inside and outside of the machine with 1 cup hot water and 1 cup vinegar mixture using a microfiber cloth (affiliate link).
Don’t forget to wipe the blades of the agitator inside the washer drum. If your detergent and fabric softener dispenser have soap scum built up in the nooks and crannies like mine did and they are removable soak in hot water with vinegar for ten minutes then wipe down. If they aren’t removable pour a cup of white vinegar (warmed in microwave) in them and then wipe clean after a few moments. You can also scrub with an old toothbrush and a water and baking soda paste for any stubborn spots, just wipe with a clean damp cloth to remove the residue afterward.
NOTES
You can substitute hydrogen peroxide for the bleach
FAQs
If your machine is not very dirty and doesn’t need a deep clean, you can maintain it by running an empty load with 1 cup of vinegar once a month.
If your top load washing machine has a lot of build up I recommend cleaning it thoroughly as described below, then maintaining it with monthly vinegar cycles. I try to run my maintenance vinegar cycles on the first of the month so I don’t forget to do it.
Even if you regularly clean your washer, it can still sometimes get a mildew smell to it. The solution to this is too easy-after running the machine, keep the lid open to allow it to dry out. Closing the lid when it is wet is a sure-fire way to get a stinky washer!
And there you have it-a sparkly, clean washing machine, free of build up and grime!
When you’re finished don’t forget to learn How to Clean a Dryer next!
So spill it-when is the last time you cleaned your washing machine? Did you know you’re supposed to do this at least twice a year, more if you have hard water?? Learn something new every day!
You might also like these cleaning tips:
- How to Clean Oven Glass
- How to Remove and Prevent Fingerprints on Stainless Steel
- How to Clean a Keurig
- How to Clean Windows
This post was originally published in May 2013 and updated with additional information in June 2020.
Sounds silly, but I throw the rinse container in the washing machine with the clothes. I’m pretty lazy and it cleans it up just fine. re. towels with spots…….Check, do you have a steel drum? .it might be rust?
Good idea Cait! ~Melissa
I wonder has anyone experienced lighter co
ored towels getting dingy spots all over them, after washing? Hoping cleaning the machine will help. Ruined so many beautiful towels. So frustrating. Will try your tips. Thanks!
Great idea…I have been wanting to do this for awhile… Hopefully, this will get me motivated. Not only that, I need to get the cobwebs and dust around my machines too. I will hopefully get to all that one day this week. Thanks for the inspiration.
You’re so welcome Jeannie, I’m glad it can help! ~Melissa
Trying this out now! Thanks for the tips!! Mine was starting to smell pretty badly so hopefully this gets rid of that!
This is awesome! I moved into a home with a washer and dryer, and the washer is disgusting. I don’t even know how it got to that point, but I don’t feel like washing my clothes in it would yield any positive results with the state it’s in. I’ll go out and get some white vinegar today, thanks for the advice!
Good luck, I hope it helps!!!
I have done this in the past, but had let buildup get past me during an illness that sapped my strength. Feeling better at last & believe me my picture would have been much worse than yours in all the same places. My problem before & since the cleaning is small black flakes showing up on clothes coming out of the wash. Today I tried cleaning under the upper lip, not the top of the tub, but the frame overhanging that level. A lot of paint & rust flaked off and I am going to try another small load & see what happens, but do you have any ideas on how to prevent this residue from continuing to fall into the tub? Or anything to paint//coat it to seal off any more degradation of that area?
While trying to rinse the top edge of the tub I think I splashed too much water into the cavity between the tub & frame causing a leak that revealed wet lint bunnies all over the floor. So whole half of laundry room is getting a cleaning now too! At least we decided it was not a machine leak, just over ambitious cleaning! Ha Ha
Thanks for all the information. For some wondering how to let the water soak – leaving my lid up stops the [rinse] cycle. This lets the cycle sit & soak for as long as you want.
Pretty! This has been a really wonderful post. Thank you for providing this information.
omg!!! Tried this. Washer is gleaming! I’m more than a little embarrassed, though, at how much yuck came out of it
I think we all get grossed out by how fast the gunk builds up Kristy! Glad it helped!
How do I do this for a front loading washer? Once the load starts – once it fills with water – the door locks.
I’m sorry Susan I haven’t had a front loader yet so I can’t offer any help on that front!
Nice post. I learn something totally new and challenging on websites I stumbleupon on a daily basis.
It’s always helpful to read articles from other authors and use a little something from other sites.
Also, wipe it down every time you use, or when yor done with the last wash of the day. I wipe down my faucets in the kitchen and bathroom every time they get wet, that prevents water stains.
Great tip Celia! Thanks for stopping by! ~Melissa
To keep fixtures spotless, spray a cloth with furniture polish and wipe fixtures. Water beeds up for a long time. To remove built up lime deposits, use woolite. Dip a toothbrush in woolite and brush it on lime and calcium deposits and walk away. By the end of the day deposits will come off easily. Use tooth brush and water to scrub the deposits. Works wonders,
How do you get the guk off the outside of drum
I’m my experience, spray Greesed lighting all around the bowl, sides, and agitator. Run half a cycle, then wash a load of towels, problem solved. And with hard or well water use Greased Lighting and some CLR, ventilate, same, every other week. Also, world’s with dishwashers, better than jet dry.
Great tip Alicia! Thanks for stopping by! ~Melissa
Vinegar usually does the trick for me Phyllis! Thanks for stopping by! ~Melissa
I haf recently moved in with my boyfriend and I was afraid to use his washer cause of how disgusting it was. There was mold inside the fabric softener spot. Thank you so much for the tips on how to clean it. Now the washing machine is all sparkly clean. It pretty much looks new. 🙂
Yay! So glad it helped Bethany!!
When you say to fill with hot water do you fill it up your self or let the cycle run on hot water?
Let the Cycle run on hot water Kacee but stop it after it fills to let it sit for a bit!
I clean my pretty regular with just the vinegar cycle. I have done bleach before also but not like this. The problem with mine is no matter how many times I run these cleaning cycles my washer smells. It smells musty like I have left wet clothes in there for days. The clothes you take out don’t smell like this though. I don’t know what it is but it drives me crazy!
Do you keep it open when not in use Terri? I know I had that problem when I used to keep it shut all the time.
As a part of my nesting for baby # 4…I’m cleaning my washer right now! Up next, the dishwasher! Thanks for the tutorials!!!
I cleaned my washer about a month ago but yesterday I put some sheets with hydrogen peroxide and water to bleach them, you are supposed to leave them overnight, in the morning they smelled really bad, do you think that the washer release anything struck by inside?
You explain very nice and easily to understand that how to clean top load washer.
The build-up on mine is extremely thick, and I have been wanting to clean it but didn’t know how . Can’t wait to try this. Thanks Melissa!
You’re very welcome Lesia, I hope it works as well for you as it did for me!
I would do this…but my top loader is one that has no center agitator and it locks once it starts. Any suggestions?
Does it not have an option to stop the cycle once it starts Nicole? If not I guess the best option would be to set it on a “soak” cycle or just the longest cycle it has. I don’t think the lack of the center agitator will affect anything.
I also have the same washer. I can’t set the water level. It goes by what’s in the washer. I get the largest towel and I get it wet so it’s heavy and tricks the washer into thinking it’s more. I use vinegar, in all the places. Bleach, soap, softner. And then I let it run on the deep clean cycle, with all the options. Fabric softner, extra rinse….
Great tip Shandi!!
Thanks Shandi. I have that same washer that is programed but has a clean cycle for washer only.