How to clean rubber ring on front load washer.
Get rid of mold and permanent grime you can’t get out any other way.
First of all, I PURPOSELY let my washer get that nasty just so I could test cleaning methods.I do NOT normally let my washer get that nasty.
That disclaimer aside, it’s actually fairly easy to clean out a dirty/moldy front-load washer despite how stubborn that mold can be. On my first attempt, I just used regular cleaner. It didn’t matter how hard I scrubbed, the mold didn’t go anywhere. I swear, I could have taken a knife to it to scrape, and I would have had to remove the rubber to remove the mold. But….I found a method that works! I already knew bleach was going to be necessary. But “Clean and Scentsible” showed me the towel idea.
Thus, I present….how to a clean a front load washer with a minimum of effort.
Note this is not effortless….just doesn’t require a lot of effort. The key to getting that nasty mold out is soaking. And how do you soak a washer, you might ask? Isn’t it always wet?
(If you like this content, check out the Cleaning & Hacks page for a few other little tricks.)
First appreciate my before and after pics, then I’ll tell you how it works; I took them in different lighting, hence the different shades. And I did this post a long time ago, before I knew how to Lightroom photos to fix the white balance. And they were taken in the wrong format.
How to clean rubber ring on front load washer
Supplies you’re going to need:
- 5 gallon bucket
- Large white bath towel
- Smaller white clothes for cleaning
- 1 large bottle bleach
- 3 C. vinegar
1. We’re going to start with the bleach. In the 5 gallon bucket dump the bleach and an equal amount of HOT water. (You will probably want to wear gloves). Use smaller white cloths and scrub up what easily comes up. (Don’t forget the door!). Put some effort into it, but don’t break your arm trying to force off what isn’t going to come off.
2. Then, soak the large white bath towel in the bucket. Pull it out, and wring it out slightly. Lengthwise- put half of the towel under the gasket seal, and drape the remaining half over the outside part.
I must credit the towel idea to blogger “Clean and Scentsible.“ She does the whole process a bit differently, but please pop on over, say ‘hi,’ and tell her I sent you! I would not have thought of this. I had thought of soaking the area for 30 min to and hour, but had some up blank on how to do so (except for soaking paper towels and then taping them…wasn’t fond of, but it might have worked).
3. Let sit 30 minutes. Pull out and quick scrub again. The situation should be much improved. If need be, re-soak the bath towel, put it back in gasket (and over outside part) and let sit another 30 minutes. With as nasty as I let mine get, I did have to let it soak twice. Quick scrub again.
4. Here’s my personal trick and it worked great! Put all the towels you’ve used in the washer.Dump the remaining bleach and water from the bucket in the washer (the part where you put the clothes!). Run through a complete cycle on the hottest setting. All that bleach and hot water will clean up any last bits of “mold” as well as getting some impossible to reach places. As you can see, some slight discoloration on the gasket might be permanent. But trust me, it’s completely clean.
5. After the cycle is done, pull out the towels. Shake a little. Toss the towels back in, pour 3 cups vinegar in the washer, and run through another cycle on the hottest setting. Done!
While my advice is good for that rubber ring around a front-load washing machine, you might have more questions. Here is an EXCELLENT ARTICLE on everything about how to clean a washing machine: How to Clean Your Washing Machine. It goes into cleaning each part, what to use, and more!
And…after pictures!
Do you have any cleaning tricks?
While I don’t do a lot of cleaning stuff on my website, I do have some. With that in mind, do you have any cleaning tips or tricks you would like to share? Comment below letting me know!
Thank you for this post! Why didn’t I think of towels–what a brilliant idea! I am dealing with some stubborn mold on my rubber gasket. It’s probably half of what your gasket looked like in the before picture but still very, very, very stubborn. Somewhere else I read that hydrogen peroxide is a better antifungal agent than bleach because it’s better at penetrating porous surfaces like rubber and doesn’t kill all the good bacteria that eats mold. So that’s what I used. I heard borax is great too but I think borax might be illegal in my country due to it being commonly abused in small food businesses.
Yep, the towel idea is genius! I got it from someone else and about smacked my own head thinking “why didn’t I think of that!?”. Hydrogen peroxide might work…the bleach worked so well I didn’t get around to doing other testing. (Unlike when I was getting long-term microwave stains out…I think I tried 12 solutions for that before I found one that worked.)
But I absolutely have to ask…why is borax abused by food businesses?
Thank you so much! I wish I had taken before and after pictures, but believe me my washer ring was disgusting….and now it looks brand new! I had tried several products to get the black mold and stain off but nothing worked. The towel was crazy easy and amazing! After soaking the ring..twice…there was still some black stain left, but I was soo happy….THEN I put the towel in with added bleach and ran it through a normal cycle with hot water…..WOW!!!! My washing machine looks brand new!
I know, the towel was the secret. And I think I mentioned in the post I got the idea elsewhere. I couldn’t believe the difference it made. I do know we’ll never buy another front-load washing machine.