How to Clean

How to get rid of that horrible moldy, rotten egg smell from a front load washing machine:

What is that awful smell? You know the smell that I am talking about emanating from your front load washing machine. It is a smell that will make you gag, make your eyes water, and turn your stomach.

It is a combination of rotten eggs, durian, mold, and mildew. It is a smell that makes death smell like a spring shower.

You are in trouble dude. When your girlfriend / wife gets home, and smells that horrible smell, she will kill you dead. Don't worry a fellow total loser is here to guide you out of this situation.

If you made the same fatal mistake that this total loser made my first time using a front end loading washing machine, than you know firsthand what that mistake was. Yes just like you, I closed the door after washing a load of clothes, and removing my clean clothes when they were finished.

I believe that it was 4 days later that I was ready to wash another load of clothes. The first thing that I did was open the door so that I could load that high efficiency front load washing machine with more soiled clothes to wash. That is when that horrible rotten smell hit me.

The smell quickly permeated my condo with a foul moldy rancid fragrance. I quickly closed the door to prevent more of that smell from escaping into my condo. My first thought was that I left an article of clothing inside of the machine.

After opening the door and discovering that it was empty inside, I knew the smell was coming from inside the machine itself. The objective now was to get it out of there as soon as possible, before she gets home, and the devil comes out from inside of her.

The smell emanating from my front load washing machine was caused by mold build up inside of the machine.

The moisture built up inside every hidden nook, cranny, and crevice combined with a warm machine and an airtight seal creates the perfect environment for the formation of mold and mildew bacteria.

There is a great product that many people already have in their kitchen that will help to kill the bacteria growing exponentially inside of their innocent washing machine.

That product is vinegar. The acid in vinegar will quickly kill the mold and bacteria growing inside of your front end washing machine.

If you do not have any vinegar than open the door of your front load washer, and pour gratuitous bleach into the drum. Then quickly close the door again.

Then you need to add more bleach to the slide out tray where you would normally add laundry detergent, and also the fabric softener compartment. Select a quick load on your machine and hit start. Now it is time to go shopping.

Don't panic, drive safe, but time is of the essence. You will need vinegar, a floor cleaner, and a window cleaner.

What you want is a gallon of cleaning vinegar. Cleaning vinegar has more acid in it then regular vinegar, and will kill the smell, and bacteria much more quickly.

Yes, it is more expensive, but your life is on the line here dude. I am trying to help you. Trust me on this, if you do it right your girlfriend / wife will be in the mood for a little afternoon delight, or hopefully evening delight as this may take a while.

If you do it wrong you will be sleeping on the couch alone for a few nights. Which do you prefer? Don't think about it dude just do it.

Get a gallon of vinegar, some floor cleaner, such as Mr. Clean Spring Fresh, and a window cleaner. You might want to grab a six pack of beer too. It is always good to have some cold beers to drink while fixing a major screw up.

When you get home throw 5 beers in the refrigerator, and one in the freezer so you will have an ice cold one to suck down soon.

By the time you get home your load should be finished. You need to prepare for the next step by soaking a hand towel in vinegar, and filling a large cup with vinegar as well.

When you open the door, be ready for a slightly less repugnant, but still eye watering smell to hit you. After you open the door splash some vinegar against the top inside of the washer, and use the hand towel soaked in vinegar to thoroughly clean that section of the front end loading washer.

Rotate the drum slightly, and splash some more vinegar inside against the top so that the vinegar falls down and coats the bottom of the drum with vinegar as well. Keep up the process until the whole drum has been wiped down firmly with vinegar.

Next you need to clean the door of your washing machine. Wipe down the inside of the door starting with the outside perimeter of the door, and slowly working your way in until you get to the large glass section that is in the middle. Give the glass section extra care, and don’t forget the metal latch area as well.

It is very important to clean the rubber gasket around the inside of the machine. You will need two hands to do this important job properly.

With your free hand you need to grab ahold of the rubber gasket and pull it forward so that you can get behind it, and wipe it down with vinegar.

The area around this gasket is the perfect breeding ground for mold, and bacteria. This is a very important area to get clean. So much so in fact that it would be a good idea to clean around the gasket twice to make sure that you didn’t miss any of it.

Now all of the inside of your washing machine should have a good rub down with vinegar.

Pour a few cups of vinegar into the drum of your washing machine. Leave the vinegar soaked hand towel inside of the washer, and close the door. Don’t forget to add vinegar to the soap dispenser tray as well as the fabric softener tray, and start a quick load.

Now it is time to grab a beer out of the freezer before starting the next phase. You are going to have to neutralize the smell inside of the house.

Cleaning the windows is next. The ammonia in the window cleaner will help mask any lingering moldy aroma in that area. Leave the windows open when you are done to help air it out.

The floor is a large surface area, cleaning it with a spring fresh cleaner will help mask the smell, and remove any of the aroma that may have permeated into it.

Check the washer again with the sniff test. The cleaning process most likely will have to be repeated. That is why you got a gallon of cleaning vinegar. Clean the outside of your washer too to kill any bacteria, and aroma.

Don't forget to clean up the evidence. Get rid of the paper towels you used to clean with, and put the cleaning products away. Remember to check the freezer to make sure you didn't leave a beer bottle inside.

Hopefully for your sake you got finished before she got home. If you did, then she came home to a fresh smelling clean house that you spent all afternoon working on. She will love you for it.

Never forget this lesson. Do not close the door on your front load washing machine.

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