How to descale a washing machine

A washing machine makes life easier for both female housewives and male bachelors. She washes, rinses and spins her clothes on her own. And the owner of the machine just needs to throw the dirty clothes into the tank, set the necessary program, add powder and get freshly washed, pleasantly smelling and wrung out laundry! In addition, there are also machines that have a dryer. And you don’t even have to hang out your laundry and wait a long time for it to dry.

But the machine itself can become dirty with scale over time. And this scale, in turn, can ruin our household appliances. In this article we will look at how to independently prevent the possibility of scale formation or clean our washing machine from it.

Nowadays, you can buy both an expensive and a budget model of a machine. Fortunately, household appliance stores have a wide range of different brands of similar products. And while the cost of your washing machine may not be a big deal to you, you probably don't want it to go bad quickly. And in order for it to perform its functions for a long time, we need to follow the operating rules and take care of it. Let's look at the main reason for the appearance of scale.

Poor water quality and increased hardness

The quality of water in the water supply systems of most large cities in Russia is very low. Under no circumstances should you try to drink such water without additional purification. Better yet, order water taken from clean sources and have it delivered to your home. After all, the water in our pipes can even harm household appliances! And not so much for us people.

Tap water may contain various impurities, salts, chemicals, particles of rust and other unpleasant things. In addition, it is quite tough. And washing with hard water at high temperatures contributes to the formation of scale on the heating element (heating element). How to protect your washing machine from such negative factors?

Filters and water softeners

To soften and filter running water, you can use special softener filters. They simultaneously soften hard water and filter it. These devices are installed directly on the pipe. And they purify all the water that is used by household appliances or flows from the taps in your apartment. The cost of quality filters is quite high. The service life depends on how much water you use and the functionality of the filter. There are mechanical and magnetic filters. Both of these options are fine for softening the water that enters the washing machine.

You can also add various water softeners when washing. There are quite a lot of them now. Some are more expensive, others are cheaper. Usually they cope with their task quite well and prevent scale from forming on the inside of the washing machine. Although, there is an opinion that among these funds there are also those that do not cope with their responsibilities.

Frankly, we did not conduct independent testing of this issue. And we judge their benefits solely by the information available on the Internet. So we cannot say that they solve their problem one hundred percent.

Also, to preserve the heating element of the washing machine (heating element), it can be cleaned manually. To do this, you need to remove it from the washing machine and carefully remove the deposits. This method is not suitable for everyone. After all, not everyone wants to tinker with the “insides” of household appliances. Many people simply don’t want to get into the machine and tinker with parts, bolts and other components.

How to descale a washing machine using citric acid

You already know that hard tap water can cause scale to form on those parts that come into contact with water over time. Limescale does not bring any benefit to our household appliances. On the contrary, it does harm. It can damage the heating element and ruin the normal operation of the machine.

Therefore, next we will figure out how to remove it using citric acid. Make sure in advance that you already have this acid in stock. We need about 100-200 grams. You can buy it at any grocery store. And it doesn't cost much. So we just go and buy the required quantity. We may also need a rag.

Let's take a step-by-step look at the entire cleaning process.

• First you need to get everything that is inside the tank. If it is empty, then you can safely skip this step. And if there are still things, be sure to remove them. After all, citric acid can ruin them.
• After that, pour 100-200 grams of citric acid into the dispenser into the slot for washing powder. If you want, you can pour it not into the dispenser, but directly into the drum. This will not change the essence of the matter.
• Next, we launch the program. We set the temperature from 90 to 95 degrees. We do a long spin. And we start the wash.
• During the washing process, scale particles will come out of the drain hose. If you have the desire and opportunity, you can watch how they leave the insides of your household appliances along with the water.
• When the washing process is finished and the washing machine can be opened, you will need to carefully check whether scale particles have accumulated under the rubber cuff. If you find them, carefully remove them with a rag. And thoroughly wipe the inside of the drum. Scale particles may also remain on the drain hose. More precisely, inside it. The presence of such remnants of past contamination will show you that the washing machine actually had scale. And that citric acid did its job.

Safe washing methods

By the way, washing at a temperature less than 50 degrees will also protect you from the appearance of scale. At this temperature, scale does not settle on the “insides” of the machine. And if you regularly wash only in such modes, then your washing machine will not face this problem. In addition, this use of our household appliances is also very economical. After all, the heating element does not have to work hard to heat the water. This means you will save on electricity! However, there is a possibility that particularly dirty laundry will not be washed or you will have to use a special washing powder.

Frequent washing of old or fleecy items of clothing can also contribute to the appearance of scale. During washing, they can lose small particles, which turn into a kind of plaque and stick to the internal parts of the machine with scale. Avoid washing very old items. Better buy new ones. This will make it more enjoyable for you and the machine will function normally longer.

We hope that our tips helped you solve the problem of scale on your washing machine and avoid its occurrence in the future. Thank you for your attention and continue to explore our site. Here you will find many more interesting and useful things about washing machines!