Berghaus / Repairhaus + Patagonia + Lowe + Rab + Montane

[Mr Gus]

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Happily mine was clean as a whistle, the element was too, ..it was an, I'm going to take everything apart exercise (in part to make a tip run easier) & look, salvage etc.

[Beau]

And Paramo https://www.paramo-clothing.com/en-gb/customerservice/#

[Stinsy]

"Recommended after the machine has gone through a maintenance wash"

I think I can guess, but enlighten me, what is a "maintenance wash", and why would you need to waste energy and water doing one?

We chose a particularly sunny day and run the washing machine on a 90°C wash with a dishwasher tab in there (and no washing). The problem with running 20°C and 30°C washes exclusively is that the machine can get a bit smelly.

[Mr Gus]

I buy white distilled vinegar 15 litres at a time for loo, shower, brew kit & pan & frying pan deep scorch-mark cleaning & the likes, it's a handy thing to have around that saves me wife strife (along with the baking powder)

However the washing machine sees the least of it.

[Mr Gus]

We chose a particularly sunny day and run the washing machine on a 90°C wash with a dishwasher tab in there (and no washing). The problem with running 20°C and 30°C washes exclusively is that the machine can get a bit smelly.

Dishwasher tablets are being media click bait hyped like "cider vinegar" bellyfat ads, ..seems alternate cleaning tips with some solid background to them are doing a cycle.

So if stinsy & others who do this on various applications could give some context to clear any brain-fog from blurred lines (courtesy of the internet's digital shark infested waters) I'd be grateful, ..is it another form of gassing & lifting + micro abrasives like I use on the frying pan with a slurry of baking ingredients & vinegar to lift & assist an otherwise heavy scrubbing job, but with heavier chemical influence to add acidity in water to be a germ killer & a mix of degreasant chemicals &/or anhydrous citric powder

[Stinsy]

We chose a particularly sunny day and run the washing machine on a 90°C wash with a dishwasher tab in there (and no washing). The problem with running 20°C and 30°C washes exclusively is that the machine can get a bit smelly.

Dishwasher tablets are being media click bait hyped like "cider vinegar" bellyfat ads, ..seems alternate cleaning tips with some solid background to them are doing a cycle.

So if stinsy & others who do this on various applications could give some context to clear any brain-fog from blurred lines (courtesy of the internet's digital shark infested waters) I'd be grateful, ..is it another form of gassing & lifting + micro abrasives like I use on the frying pan with a slurry of baking ingredients & vinegar to lift & assist an otherwise heavy scrubbing job, but with heavier chemical influence to add acidity in water to be a germ killer & a mix of degreasant chemicals &/or anhydrous citric powder

I don’t know if it is any better than just running a 90°C wash every now and again. But some stronger detergent, abrasives, and high temperatures should clean some gunk out at least!

[Mr Gus]

Ok, thanks stinsy, will research it.

[Oldgreybeard]

I think that part of the cause of gunk building up in washing machines may be hard water. When we lived further to the SW, with very soft water, the washing machine stayed spotless. As soon as we moved to a hard water area the machine started to get smelly. My theory is that a thin layer of calcite builds up on surfaces, from the hard water, and this then forms a porous layer that the bugs and slime moulds can grow on.

I installed a water softener here as part of our well water treatment system, and both the dishwasher and the washing machine seem to stay spotless now. That tends to support the idea that calcite build up is the thing that initiates the gunge, and also why using acetic acid seems to fix it. Acetic acid dissolves calcite pretty quickly, and removing that stuck on layer most probably takes the gunge with it, leaving clean surfaces that resist further gunge build up until they've become coated with calcite again.

Whether it makes economic sense to install a water softener is something I'm not so sure about. Ours uses a pack of salt blocks about every 6 weeks, so costs about £1.40 a week to run. It does significantly reduce the amount of soap, shampoo and detergents we use, although I've never been entirely convinced that that saving outweighs the cost of the salt blocks. It's probably a bit better for the environment, or at least means our treatment plant doesn't have to handle so much detergent in the waste water. I'd not want to go back to hard water, having got used to not having to clean the mess it makes around taps, inside the washing machine and dishwasher, etc, or the nice feel of showering in soft water.

[ecogeorge]

Same subject but slightly different note , we only use distilled vinegar as a fabric softenor in the washing machine. No issues, works as well as artifical smelly alternatives..
George.