Have you ever opened your washing machine only to be met with a foul, funky stench? Did you shrug and ignore it? Me too. But it got worse, didn’t it? Until eventually, your newly washed clothes smelled like mildew. We both had mould and bacteria growing in our washers and befouling our laundry. Luckily, it’s fairly simple to clean your washing machine and prevent the mould from growing back.

Mould loves moisture, and there are parts of your washing machine — gaskets, seals, hoses, dispensers, etc. — that get wet and never fully dry. Mould also feeds on leftover fabric softener and detergent traces left behind when you’ve finished washing your clothing.

While mould can grown in any washing machine, those in humid places, front-loading, and “high efficiency” washers are more prone to mould buildup than top loaders. When you close the door an HE machine, it seals, preventing air from circulating and leading to mould. But an even worse problem can come from the rubber seals that keep everything in an HE washer airtight. Mould builds up underneath them if you’re not meticulous about cleaning and drying them regularly.

In a word, yes. “Mould that grows in washing machines can be problematic even when the machine is not in use,” Melanie Carver, a spokesperson for the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, told Consumer Reports. “Mould can trigger allergic symptoms — including sneezing, itching, runny nose, and congestion — and can also be an irritant to the airways.”

Luckily, there are simple ways to clean the mould out of your washer, and prevent it from growing back.

To clean your washing machine of mould, first gather the following supplies:

There are commercial products designed to kill mould, but there are lots of things you probably already have that you can mix with water to destroy mould too — the tried-and-true is chlorine bleach. To make a bleach-based mould-killing solution:

If you don’t want to use bleach, you can try these alternative recipes:

Important: Do not mix bleach with any of these other ingredients, as it could create a deadly gas.

Mould can build up in the tubes and pipes of your machine, so first, we’re going to take care of that by following these steps:

Many washing machines have removable dispenser drawers for detergent and fabric softener.

Most washing machines have a lint filter or trap, and this is often a huge mould attractor. Check uour manual for how to remove it. Once you have:

Now that your washer is mould-free, there are some steps you can take to help prevent mould from forming again (or at least slow its growth).

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