In the next few weeks, a new washing machine will be purchased.
The old WM has been quite good but, like so many, ended up with the usual black mould round the door seal. Is there anything that can be done to a new machine to inhibit black mould for the rest of its life?
Run it for one cycle at 90deg C (or whatever its maximum temperature is) at least once a month. The problem is worse using "green" low temperature detergents which do not inhibit mould growth.
Leave the door open or ajar when not in use
Yes. And if not using a septic system, adding a bit of bleach to the boil wash. Also - don't shut the door when the machine is not in use.
As has been said twice already - leave the door open when not in use.
What black mould? I have never seen it on a washing machine.
Every couple of months run this hot cycle (possibly without a load) with a packet of washing soda - this gets rid of any smells by removing any build up of (human) fat and congealed detergent in the drum/pipes/pumps.
Guide price less than 1 GBP per kg in many supermarkets.
+1 to that.
I use the 90+C wash to deal with towels and teatowels.
Try taking out the detergent dispenser tray and then looking upwards to where the water enters to wash the detergent into the machine. You may not see too much if you normally put the detergent in to the drum.
A hand operated spray bottle filled with diluted bleach/vinegar and a old toothbrush can deal with the housing, followed by a quick rinse cycle. A soak in a bucket or a trip through the dish washer can deal with the drawer.
As my machine is not in the kitchen, a quick blast with the garden hose also works in removing the black deposites.
+1
The door is left as open as if can be given it is in the kitchen. Certainly never properly closed except when in use.
FWIW instructions with some Bosch washing machines include "DO NOT use chlorine bleach in this washing machine."
Over use can damage the rubbers - but occasional seems OK. The alternative is shove some bleaching agent that's rated for washing machines, eg Vanish, in.
One thing not yet mentioned is to do a hot wash now & then with acid, eg citric acid. This is to remove limescale, which provides a layer of scale/muck that mould likes to grow on/in.
NT
We are moving to an area with low hardness (current area is horribly hard). Hopefully that will help a bit. :-)
The operator of the spray bottle needs to have some of what used to be called mechanical sympathy in they way a machine is treated, i don't know of an updated term to encompass stuff with electronics. However my missus hasn't got it and proceeded to spray such a solution with wild enthusiasm and managed to get some into the electronic circuits some of which are mounted in the door the result being an inoperable machine and a display showing every option available.
Fortunatly it responded to a clean with IPA and gentle warmth from a hairdryer and has been OK for the 3 years since she did it.
G.Harman
Washing powder for whites has some bleaching agents which may be helpful here.
Well I always wipe it around, but I suppose the rubber itself, after a time gets roughened and makes it hard to keep clean, and the chemicals presumably do aid growth. I'd have though some kind of anti fungal agent would be put in the powder or liquid to hel with this. Brian
We keep a box of old-style powder for washing whites which does seem to help control the black stuff which thrives on 30 degree washes with colour protect liquid.
My W/D basically gets used on "cool synthetics" cycle for most clothes and "hot cotton" cycle for towels, this keeps the machine clean, or so I thought ...
I bought a non-iron cotton white shirt for a funeral, washed it on synthetics, no problem, line-dried it, unlike 70's drip-dry I decided I absolutely couldn't improve on the finish by ironing it, wore it, went to wash it again before putting it away and noticed it should have been washed as "wool" I don't think I've ever used the wool cycle before (I use blubber instead of jumpers) so anyway I washed it on wool, and it came out ABSOLUTELY caked in black fluff.
Turns out the wool programme is quite different from the normal washes; I expected it to be slower and shorter to be more delicate, but counter-intuitively it is a LOT faster, so centrifugal* force keeps the load pinned to the drum rather than letting it tumble and agitate. This action must have loosened 9 years worth of accumulated crud from between the fixed and rotating drums.
In fact, SO much crud that even after half a dozen washes on the wool cycle and boil cycle, some with a load, some empty, some with a dose of W/M cleaner, some with an extra gallon of boiling water added via the soap tray, the thing was still coating any clothes with black fluff.
Result? I washed the white shirt on synthetics and vowed never to use the wool cycle ever again.
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