Forget expensive detergents and scented softeners. The secret to a truly fresh-smelling washing machine and sweet-scented laundry could already be in your kitchen cupboard. A household expert has revealed that a simple bottle of white vinegar is the powerful liquid you should be adding to your wash cycle to banish stubborn odours for good.
The Problem with Fabric Softener
The advice comes from a popular TikTok repair expert known as @fixitwithfraz, who boasts over 31,500 followers. He highlighted a growing trend where households are moving away from relying solely on powder detergent and, crucially, reducing their use of fabric softener. The reason? Softener is designed to coat fabrics, which can leave behind residue inside your machine's drum and pipes over time.
"Softener is designed to coat materials... what it can do is leave deposits behind and over time they get smelly," the expert explained. He showcased a customer's machine that was nearly six years old but remained in immaculate, odour-free condition precisely because of this cautious approach.
How to Use Vinegar for a Fresh Machine
So, what's the alternative method? The expert recommends a thorough cleaning regimen using white vinegar. For a deep clean, you should run several empty cycles. Then, add one or two cups of white vinegar directly into the empty drum and run the machine on a hot cycle at 60 degrees Celsius or above. This helps dissolve any lingering residue and kills mould-causing bacteria.
The TikTok user was impressed by the results, stating the machine he examined "literally smells as fresh as the day it was born." He noted that if the owner ever does use softener, she follows it by running two or three hot washes the next week to rinse out any residue completely.
Practical Vinegar Tips for Your Laundry
Beyond cleaning the appliance itself, white vinegar has multiple uses in your laundry routine:
- For softening and reducing static: Add half a cup of distilled white vinegar to your machine's fabric softener compartment during the wash cycle.
- For stubborn odour removal: Add one cup of vinegar directly with your detergent during the wash, or pre-soak particularly pungent items like gym kit in a vinegar and water mixture before washing.
- For the ultimate machine clean: Run a long, hot cycle with two cups of vinegar in the empty drum. For best results, follow this with a separate cycle using baking soda (never mix vinegar and baking soda in the drum together).
The key takeaway is maintenance. The expert's customer ensures freshness by leaving the detergent drawer and machine door open after use to dry the seal and drum interior thoroughly, preventing damp, musty environments where mould thrives.
This simple, cost-effective switch champions a back-to-basics approach to household cleaning, proving that sometimes the most powerful solutions are also the most humble.
