What a wonderful invention the washing machine has proved to be in our everyday lives! Hopefully, your washing machine has always performed well up to now and you have had no issues....however, that is not to say that you couldn’t all of a sudden encounter a problem in the future at some point!
We can all sometimes be guilty of taking things for granted, and we no doubt do this with our household appliances from time to time - including the washing machine.
Well, in this video we are going to be telling you some top tips about how you can get the best out of your washing machine - helping to prevent the possibility of a breakdown, and will hopefully also give you some information on various issues that you could be experiencing with your washer.
These useful tips have been accumulated over many years from our engineers, who have dealt with common problems with customer appliances. So sit back and have a look at the type of things that you can do to help keep your trusty washing machine delivering the top performances that you have come to expect and rely on!
What You Will Need:
- Cleaning Brush
Step 1 - Switch Off Your Appliance
Safety First! Please ensure that you have disconnected the appliance from the mains before starting any repair.
The Detergent Drawer
One of the main problems with the detergent drawer is the conditioner not siphoning away. Here we will just take the drawer out to help demonstrate.
The conditioner not siphoning away may be due to some old and thick conditioner that is blocking the siphons, but it's actually more likely to be due to mould building up at the top of the detergent drawer.
Now that's very easy to deal with, just grab yourself a nice strong brush like this and give it a good scrub to release all that build up at the top.
It’s also a good idea at the end of each wash cycle to either remove the drawer completely from the machine, or to leave it fully out. This will stop the mould and bacteria from building up and allow the air to flow through the machine.
Smells In Your Washing Machine
You might be wondering why you are suddenly noticing some unwanted smells in your washing machine? Well, this is due to a bacteria build-up that can be caused by a lack of hot washes - or the drum remaining damp after washes.
Now you'll see a build-up bacteria and mould in the door seal as well, and luckily it is easy enough to clean. Proceed to give it a good scrub with the brush to get rid of all the loose material.
In order to get the mould and bacteria out of the rest machine, we recommend regularly using a washing machine cleaner - such as the eSpares Limescale & Detergent Remover.
You can learn how to use one of these in our “How to Cure a Smelly Washing Machine” video.
eSpares Top Tip: It is also very good idea to leave your door wide open after each wash until the drum is dry.
Detergents
It is totally up to you as to which detergent to use with your machine, it is all down to personal preference after all. However what many people do is use a single detergent for both whites and colours...but there's an important distinction between the two.
Powders and hard tablets that are not marked for colour use will contain bleach. The problem with this is that although bleach is great for making your whites look whiter, over time it will draw the colour away from your coloured items - leading to your reds looking pink and your blacks looking grey.
For this reason, it is a good idea to use a powder that is marked for colour use - or alternatively use a liquid detergent. The thing with liquid detergents, however, is that they don't contain bleach - so over time they can make your whites turn grey.
If the liquid detergent is marked for use with whites they will contain something called optical brighteners. These are microscopic particles that reflect light - which is what makes your whites seem whiter.
In summary then, it's a good idea to use a powder with bleach, or a bleach additive, for use with whites. While for your colour washes you should use a liquid detergent or a powder that is marked specifically for use with colour washes.
Vibrating Machine
Well, the first thing to check here is that the feet underneath the machine are adjusted correctly - and the machine does not rock when pushed. If that seems fine, but then when you put it on the spin cycle it still vibrates, it's likely that it's not the fault of the machine - it is likely to be due to an unbalanced load.
If you're putting heavy items in with lights items the machine finds it hard to balance the load and starts to vibrate. So if you washing things like jeans or towels it's a good idea to group these items together when washing - or put enough of them in to even out the load.
You can see more details and information on this problem by watching our “How to Prevent a Washing Machine Spinning Noisily” video.
Unwanted Objects In The Machine
Ok then everyone - eyes open for this last tip - for it is arguably the most important tip of all!
If when loading your machine you accidentally leave items in the pocket - such as matches, coins or hair grips - at best these will block the pump and stop the machine from draining. Now this is a bad enough problem to have, but you can get to these objects at the pump by removing the filter.
However blocking the pump is not the worst of issues that it can cause. Objects stuck in your washer can cause the machine to catch fire, or pierce the drum and cause your washing machine to flood. It's essential to make sure that all your pockets are empty when loading your machine.
Final Comment From eSpares
By passing on these tips we hope that you get the best out your machine and it helps you to reduce the breakdowns that you may have experienced in the past. But of course if you do need spares and accessories, these can be found on the espares website.
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