My Purchase of a High Efficiency Washer and Dryer

About 10 years ago, I purchased my first front loader high efficiency (HE) washer machine and dryer.  High efficiency washer machines use less water and are more energy efficient making this a great purchase right?  

Well yes and no….let me explain my struggles.  I remember when I first brought my new washer machine home.  I did my first load of laundry and thought something has to be wrong here.  

First it sounded like a plane was taking off in my laundry room!  Second, there is no water or very little water at that when my clothes were washing!  How can these clothes get clean.  

So I called the manufacture and started to ask questions.  This was normal and she assured me the clothes would get clean.  

Why Aren’t My Clothes Getting Clean?

So over time I accepted the loud noises coming from my laundry room and learned to accept the really low water levels, but I do have to say that I was and am not impressed with how these HE washer machines clean my clothes.  

I have to pretreat my stains and pretty much get the stain out before I put them in the wash or they just don’t get clean.  Now I should put a disclaimer on this.  I have always been the type of person who just throws my laundry in the wash, adds a bit of soap and expects them to come clean.  

Laundry isn’t one of my favorite chores to say the least.  So maybe if I put a little more effort into pre treating my clothes I might have better results in this department.  

There is one challenge that I just couldn’t conquer however and that was the smell that was coming from my HE washer machine!

What is that horrible smell?

So over time, my washer machine began to smell.  Not only did it smell moldy and musty but my clothes were starting to smell this way too.  

I researched what to do about it and there was advise all over the place on what you should and should not do for bad smelling HE washer machines.  

I hired someone to come out and clean and balance my machine.  That worked for a little while but the smell came back in a few weeks.  I kept my washer machine door open when not using it so it could dry out, but that didn’t fully work either.  I purchased the expensive HE washer machine tablets to do on a monthly cycle but those failed very quickly.  

Finally, in a last ditch effort to have clean smelling clothes, I added this one ingredient and everything changed!

Add this one ingredient to every load for fresh smelling laundry &  for a clean HE washer machine!

So just what is this ingredient I am talking about?  Well it will cost you about a $1.00 per gallon and can be found in any grocery store!  Wait for it ….alright, it is vinegar!  Vinegar you ask…yep, that’s right vinegar!  Now I use plain white vinegar and here  is how I use it.  

Just like you buy laundry detergent, I buy a gallon of vinegar and keep it right next to my washer machine.  I load my HE washer machine up with clothes, add my soap and then in the bleach dispenser I fill it all the way to the top with white vinegar.  

The vinegar helps kill the bacteria that grows in your washer machine and kills the order.  Not only does it kill the oder, but it helps with cleaning my clothes too.  If that wasn’t enough, it also softens your clothes naturally.  

Is Vinegar The Answer To Everything?

So lets take a look at this:  vinegar cleans clothes, gets rid of nasty smells in laundry and in the machine and it softens your clothes too!  

Wow, I would call vinegar my little miracle in the laundry room!  Who knew one little ingredient could do so much!  

So finally I have clean soft clothes, and a washer machine that doesn’t smell.  I still have a plane taking off in my laundry room however, but I can live with that !

 image credit

Share Your Thoughts 

We would love to hear your thoughts!  Do you enjoy your HE Washer machine? Or has your experience been somewhat similar to mine?

So What are your Thought?  Does Your HE Washer Machine Smell?