How To Clean Your NASTY Top-Loading Washing Machine

You wouldn't think you'd need to clean your washing machine, but you would be WRONG.

This picture doesn't even show how bad it was...

Yes, that is my washing machine. I never really thought about washing a washing machine until I started dating my now-husband. We'd been dating a few months when I thought, "Hey, what a nice gesture it would be to wash his mountain of laundry for him." I had no idea how nice a gesture it was, because y'all, he gets dirty. I mean, I knew he did. He works in construction, hunts, rides (well, rode) bulls, and fights fires. Obviously the man isn't afraid of dirt.

But when I take his clothes out of the hamper, there is a solid layer of red dirt left behind. And that's just what falls off his clothes in the hamper! Imagine how much stuff is in the washing machine.

Look at that red dirt!

Ok, I guess you don't have to imagine, huh? But the point of that story was to tell you that I now have to wash my washing machine on a regular basis. Like, every couple of months. The last time I did it was back on MLK Day when I was off work, but I can't always wait for a federal holiday to clean. So here's the scoop on how I turn that mess into a sparkling clean machine again. 

My process was inspired by the blog One Good Thing by Jillee. Her post was great, but my washing machine needed more TLC than was outlined there. So I've come up with my own system. Because just running bleach and vinegar through the machine did not cut it.

Just plain bleach and vinegar wouldn't touch this.

See? So here's how I did it:

First, make sure you have a quart of bleach and a quart of white vinegar on hand, as well as an old toothbrush and a Magic Eraser. Ready? Ok, fill the washer with HOT water, then pour in a quart of bleach. Let sit for one minute, then agitate one minute, then let sit one hour before running a long cycle.

This time I used the hour the bleach was sitting to run a white rag over the edge of the machine. That's when I noticed how disgusting things really were in there.  I dug out the old toothbrush and started trying to find the white underneath the dirt.

After the bleach cycle, repeat the hot cycle with a quart of vinegar.

I used this hour to go back over the machine with both the toothbrush and rag, but this time I actually thought to clean the area around the fabric softener dispenser. There was some serious coating on that sucker from when I used to use fabric softener, but the hot water and vinegar cleaned it up pretty well!

Now that you've gone through those steps, see what isn't quite clean yet. I noticed there was still some gunk hanging around on the sides. How could this washing machine really be so gross?! I had no idea, but just wiping a magic eraser around the machine got everything sparkling clean!

And now I know that my washing machine is finally clean. Of course, it won't stay that way long! I do try to keep it clean by periodically wiping down the barrel and various elements of the machine while it's filling up. It at least slows down the buildup, but I have to do this cleaning process every three months or so.

Did you like this post? Then would you mind doing me a quick favor and pinning it? Thanks!

How I Did It: DIY Wool Dryer Balls

There are many reasons to ditch dryer sheets - in fact, I have a guest post coming up that goes into detail about why dryer sheets are so bad for you (not to mention the environment) -  but today I'll explain how I made my own wool dryer balls. Until last year, I had never even heard of them. But at some point in the course of my crunchy reading, I stumbled upon a brief mention of them. So of course, I turned to Google for more. I ended up at Crunchy Betty's site, a place I'd visited quite a few times. In addition to explaining why you might want to use dryer balls, she had a great tutorial on making your own felted wool dryer balls. So I decided to give it a shot!

There are numerous DIY tutorials for these babies, but I liked the way Crunchy Betty's looked. See the photo above? That's my finished dryer balls. Aren't they a little pretty? Ok, maybe not pretty per se. But I did like the look of the felted wool balls, so that's what I went with. 

The tutorial called for wool roving. I'd never heard of wool roving before, and I wasn't sure where to get it. Crunchy Betty recommended a couple of Etsy sellers, so I did a little Etsy searching and ordered 4 ounces of undyed Romney Roving. I'm still not quite sure what that means, but I spent less than $10 and within two days I had way more wool than I needed!

DIY Wool Dryer Ball Supplies: wool sweater from Goodwill, wool roving, and hose

In theory, I could have made the dryer balls entirely out of the wool roving. But I loved Crunchy Betty's idea of using an old wool sweater as the inner ball and wrapping the pretty wool roving around it. So I stopped by Goodwill, found that lovely striped sweater for $2, and cut it into little pieces.

Now that I had all the necessary elements, I was ready to get started. I took several pieces of ugly sweater and wadded them up into a tight ball. I couldn't get it to tie up and stay, so I just held it tightly in my hand while I started wrapping the wool roving around it. The trick is to get the wool roving tight around the wool scraps while not pulling it so tight the wool separates much. I went around and around until the pile of wool started to resemble a ball, then kept going until it was about the size of a tennis ball. See the blurry picture below:

Sorry for the iPhone photos, but hey, you can tell it is sort of a ball, right?

Once you have them the size you want, you are ready to stuff them in pantyhose. I actually used some weird knee high stocking things that I had laying around, which may have worked better than hose because two balls fit perfectly in each stocking. Now that the wool balls were encased in hosiery, I tied off the ends as best I could and began to worry that this project was going terribly wrong. They were lumpy and weird looking.

My husband (then fiancé) didn't know what to think of this project.

But I pressed onward, despite my concerns and washed these little things on HOT. You can do a load of laundry with them, but I don't wash any clothes on hot, so I let these wash by themselves and then threw them in the dryer (also on the high heat setting). When they came out the first time, they looked nothing like Crunchy Betty's and I just knew I'd messed up somewhere. I refused to take a picture of them at that stage because I didn't want to further document my failure. I decided to go ahead and run them through the hot wash/hot dry cycle one more time, just to see what would happen.

Imagine my excitement when they came out looking pretty perfect! They'd started to felt through the hose like CB said they would, so I excitedly cut them free from their pantyhose prison and set them up for a photo. (Why did I not use my DSLR? Who knows.)

At the end of the day, I had four wool dryer balls. I spent about an hour prepping them and less than $15 on supplies, and now I have an alternative to dryer sheets that will last three to five years! Plus I have enough leftover supplies to make at least four more, so really the total cost is less than $15.

Now I know what you are really wondering. Do they actually work?

Yes, yes they do! I've been using them exclusively for about 6 months now. To add a little scent to the laundry, I'll put a dab of lavender essential oil on one or two of the balls before tossing them in with the clothes. My husband doesn't seem to care for the lavender scent as much as I do, so I may try another scent on his clothes. (Maybe eucalyptus?) But I've been very happy with these dryer balls. I actually have a half empty box of Gain dryer sheets in a cabinet because I stopped using them as soon as I finished these. I'm going to use the dryer sheets to clean the baseboards so they don't go entirely to waste, but I don't plan on ever using them on my clothes again!

So, what do you think? Will you give these a try? And if you do, let me know how it goes!

How I Did It: Homemade Laundry Detergent (Lavender Fresh)

I've been making my own laundry detergent for a couple of years now. I don't remember exactly how or why I started - it was back in 2012. But I know I started with this recipe from the White Silk Purse. I've made a few tweaks here and there. Some people think I'm crazy, but some of you were actually interested in how I go about it. So here's my recipe:

You'll need:

• 1 box of 20 Mule Team Borax
• 1 box of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
• 6 bars of Fels Naptha.
• Lavender Essential Oil if desired (not pictured)
• Bucket or tub to mix items together

You can usually find all three ingredients in the laundry detergent aisle at most big box stores, but I had a really hard time finding washing soda this month. And yes, this is washing soda, which is not the same thing as baking soda. 

So once you have all the ingredients, grate the Fels Naptha bars. Yes, you can use a regular cheese grater - it is just soap, after all! After I grate one bar, I run it through the food processor until it is smooth, or at least as close to powder as you can get. Do this process with all 6 bars.

Now that the the Fels Naptha is a powder, mix with the entire box of Borax and the entire box of Washing Soda. It helps if you have a strong guy to help ;)

After the main ingredients have been mixed, add your essential oil. I used 15-20 drops in this batch initially because I didn't want to over do it. Decide how scented you want it and go from there. You can always add more - you can't take it out! Mix it up a little more to get the oil mixed in thoroughly.

Once you've done that, pour it into your storage of choice. I used mason jars. Once each mason jar was almost full, I put two more drops of lavender oil before putting the lid on and shaking it up. Again, this part is optional. I never needed this step before, but my husband's clothes tend to need some sort of additional fragrance to them! 

This batch made 5 quarts and 2 pints of detergent and took me about an hour to make. To use the detergent, simply put 2 teaspoons of the detergent into the washing machine. It's best to start the machine so water is flowing when you dump in the detergent. I also just use an average spoon instead of an exact measuring spoon - just find what works for you! This detergent is safe for high efficiency washing machines, for those of you wondering. The amount needed is the same as well. 

And that's pretty much it! This batch will probably last me the whole year, and I think it cost about $20. I also use wool dryer balls in the dryer now (DIY tutorial coming soon), so I don't have to spend money on dryer sheets either. That means that my laundry costs for 2014 will be $20 plus electricity and water. Not too shabby. Of course, there are other reasons for making my own. I'll be guest posting on another blog soon with details on why we should avoid conventional laundry detergents, so stay tuned for that!

Have you ever tried to make your own laundry detergent? What's your favorite recipe?