Tips for cleaning the grottiest most disgusting front load washer on the planet?

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Alphaville
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Re: Tips for cleaning the grottiest most disgusting front load washer on the planet?

Post by Alphaville »

horsewoman wrote:
Tue Aug 18, 2020 3:18 pm

Borax is also not allowed in Europe!
funny (haha+peculiar), borax is an ingredient of diy “detergent” (not really a detergent) that is mixed with shaved soap and washing soda (sodium carbonate). eg. see: https://www.diynatural.com/homemade-lau ... gent-soap/

so, not detergent. just shaved soap like my great grandma used in her boiling pots. and detergents degrease more. see: https://www.cleancult.com/blog/whats-th ... detergent/

borax solubility requires hot water, too, so energy waster. and it’s just a water softener and mild peroxide bleach. its alkalinity is also bad for wool.

anyway, i forgot where i was going with this...

in case of stuck grease in drains, sodium carbonate + boiling water will tend to saponify fats and clear pipes off their bacon residue.



as for the dawn cult, it’s used to clean oil spills....

ertyu
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Re: Tips for cleaning the grottiest most disgusting front load washer on the planet?

Post by ertyu »

Update on this: I did end up paying 12 euro out of my 366 euro monthly budget to a plumber who opened the machine and took out the filter (the pump needed to be removed to get to it as the machine is old at the outer seal of the filter was fused). Machine is now as clean as it can be. 3 euro got me a limestone/washer slime remover powder, and another euro got me granulated acid drain unblocker. Situation a bit better now. Limestone seems to be an issue in this part of the world so acid-based solutions seem to work best. Yay vinegar. Washer repairman recommended that I make a volcano in the drum of washing machine next time (put soda in detergent tray, wait for machine to fill, crack detergent tray open and pour a bottle of vinegar in). Do you guys vote all vinegar or volcano for next month's cleaning?

I also hired a very persuasive young lady to come wash the mattress that came with the bed. Who woulda thunk, it's off white and brown rather than grey and brown. The water coming off it was absolutely disgusting. By the end of the day, she had managed to persuade me to wash the two benches in the kitchen, to vacuum all that can be vacuumed in the apartment, and to wash my suitcase. She left with 32 euro of my money and I now have a much cleaner apartment. Recounting this because while I failed at ERE-ing in this case, she can absolutely serve as an example.

On the whole, I don't regret spending the money, 13% -ish of my monthly budget as it is. There were mental health benefits. There is so much to do to fix up this place that I was freezing up. Besides, I feel less disgusted being in the place now.

Next project is recaulking the bathroom.
Last edited by ertyu on Thu Aug 20, 2020 9:49 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Alphaville
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Re: Tips for cleaning the grottiest most disgusting front load washer on the planet?

Post by Alphaville »

i vote full vinegar if you have hard water. why buffer? just let it react with the calcium deposits and melt them off.

classical_Liberal
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Re: Tips for cleaning the grottiest most disgusting front load washer on the planet?

Post by classical_Liberal »

ertyu wrote:
Thu Aug 20, 2020 9:22 am
Recounting this because while I failed at ERE-ing in this case, she can absolutely serve as an example.

On the whole, I don't regret spending the money, 13% -ish of my monthly budget as it is.
I'd recommend you read the recent discussion in J+G's journal about spending some capital to move up Wheaton levels. What is happening here is a perfect example of what we were writing about.

I view what you did here VERY ERE. It's not like you contracted a bunch of people to come and do this stuff for you. What you did was paid a little $$ to consult an expert to teach you how to do this stuff yourself next time. You only did this after you had already tried other means to DIY initially and came up a bit short. Think of it as buying a knowledge tool, one which can easily be reused.

Congrats on this, and the whole getting out from under your parents thumb in general.

mathiverse
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Re: Tips for cleaning the grottiest most disgusting front load washer on the planet?

Post by mathiverse »

jacob wrote:
Tue Aug 18, 2020 9:54 am
Could be full of gunk (soap residue, hair, dust, ...). For this I prefer chlorine and letting it sit for 10 mins and then follow with as much boiling water as you have pots to follow. Repeat as needed/until done. This does run the risk of sending clogs further down the line. We also do this as a maintenance routine. Chlorine dissolves all sorts of organic things. (Don't use chlorine if you're on a septic system!!)
This is probably a stupid question, but what do you mean by chlorine? Is that the same as chlorine bleach?

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Re: Tips for cleaning the grottiest most disgusting front load washer on the planet?

Post by jacob »

mathiverse wrote:
Tue Aug 09, 2022 11:36 am
This is probably a stupid question, but what do you mean by chlorine? Is that the same as chlorine bleach?
Chlorine is a natural element. Bleach is a consumer product made mostly if not 100% of chlorine [diluted in water]. So just use bleach. Some companies add scents and what have you. This doesn't matter when it's used for cleaning.

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