How often should you clean your washing machine?

Why bother

Clears the gunk that makes clothes smell. Standard upkeep. Dull and cheap, and a lot less dull than whatever it's quietly preventing.

What the job involves

1. Run a hot tub-clean cycle, empty, once a month or every 30 to 50 loads. Use the dedicated 'tub clean' setting if your machine has one, or the hottest normal cycle, with a washer cleaner or bleach. Whichever comes first, monthly or 50 loads, that's the one that counts.
2. Peel back the rubber door seal and wipe out what's hiding in the folds: water, hair, lint, the gray slime that builds up where you can't see it. On a top-loader, scrub the drum and the lid area instead.
3. Pull the detergent and softener drawer right out and rinse it. While you're at it, clear the lint or drain-pump filter if your machine has one. That's where the smell sets up shop.
4. Between washes, wipe the seal dry and leave the door and drawer open so the drum can air out. A closed door on a damp drum is how the mold gets comfortable.

Do it yourself, or pay someone?

Yourself, every time. A monthly clean is a hot cycle and a wipe-down, and stocking the whole caddy (vinegar, baking soda, bleach, or a washer tablet) runs under $25. Only call a tech when the smell won't quit despite cleaning, which usually means the gasket or drain pump needs work: about $50 to $150 an hour, and $230 to $400 for a new gasket.

What skipping it costs

$230 to $450 to replace the rubber door seal, the boot, once mold has got into it for good. Skip the monthly clean and detergent residue plus trapped moisture breed mildew in the drum and the seal. First it's the musty smell on clean laundry, which is bad enough. Then the mold eats the rubber itself, and once the boot's rotted no amount of scrubbing brings it back. Consumer Reports found 16% of front-load owners hit mold and odor trouble, and that the mold damages the gaskets. A monthly hot cycle costs you a tablet and an hour.

Signs it's overdue

• Clothes come out smelling musty or sour on a fresh wash, or the machine breathes mildew at you the moment you open the door.
• Black or pink slime, film, or spots on the rubber seal, in the detergent drawer, or around the drum.
• Standing water left in the seal's folds after a cycle, or a slick, slimy feel when you wipe it down.

When to start thinking about it

A few days' warning does it. Grumpty grumbles 2 days out, then leaves you alone. Mark it done and Grumpty sets the next one, every 3 months, so you can go back to forgetting it exists.

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