I was a cleaner for 20 years — how to make washing machines mould-free

Washing machines are one of those things that can be a pain to clean, with mould and other dirty marks seemingly forming quite soon after you’ve got rid of them. The damp nature of these appliances makes them an ideal location for mould, which is less than ideal when it comes to washing your clothes.

Former cleaner Ann Russell, who was in the profession for two decades, has shared her top tips for solving this problem. The cleaning pro, has made a name for herself for sharing easy-to-follow tips with her followers on her TikTok page @annrussell03. She has now revealed her step-by-step method of cleaning a washing machine and removing any mould build-up.

How to clean your washing machine of mould

Ann’s first step is to pull out the drawer where the detergent goes and leave this to soak in a bowl of hot water. Then spray the rest of the machine, including the gap left by the removal of the drawer, with anti-bac or kitchen spray.

She said: “Making sure you don’t drop the cloth, for the love of God, don’t drop the cloth. I’ve actually been known to tie them to my wrists, and wipe them as far as you can see in the drawer.

“Get a toothbrush and go up the bit where the water comes down, give that a good scrub.”

Then it’s time to start on the rubber seal. Before explaining her method for this, Ann added: “Now, the mould stains, so it might still go black but you have got the mould off.”

She suggests using a toothbrush and some Cif when wiping and scrubbing the seal. Do this until wiping leads to the cloth coming away clean.

For this step you can also use a drop of bleach, but not too much as it can rot the rubber out.

After the drum has been cleaned, wipe down the glass door on both side, and clean the filter. Next use thin bleach, as it does not contain gelling agent.

Ann continued: “In the washing machine put a mug of bleach, try not to use thick bleach. Put it on a hot wash and run it. That will get water into every nook and cranny and crevice. It will kill the mould and it will go.

“The reason I say don’t use thick bleach is thick bleach has got a gelling agent in to make it thick and that’s what foams up. And if you use a mug of thick bleach, you may well find that the foam is coming up and all over and out of your machine.

“To be fair, it’s unlikely to do a massive amount of harm as long as it doesn’t get into the electrics.”