Your washing machine is gross. I know, it sounds harsh. But think about it—every day, that drum collects body oils, dead skin cells, pet dander, and leftover detergent that never quite made it out of the rinse cycle. Over time, all that gunk creates a biofilm. It’s a literal breeding ground for bacteria and mold. If your clothes smell "sour" five minutes after they come out of the dryer, you aren't imagining things. You have a dirty machine.
Honestly, the fix isn't some expensive, chemical-heavy pod you buy at the grocery store. Most of those just mask the scent anyway. You likely have the two best cleaning agents sitting in your pantry right now. Cleaning washer with vinegar and baking soda is the gold standard for a reason. It’s cheap. It’s effective. It’s environmentally friendly. But—and this is a big "but"—if you do it wrong, you’re basically just making a middle-school science fair volcano in your laundry room without actually sanitizing anything.
The Chemistry of Why This Works (and Why Order Matters)
People love to dump vinegar and baking soda in at the same time. Don't do that. When you mix an acid (vinegar) and a base (baking soda) simultaneously, they neutralize each other. You get a lot of fizz, some carbon dioxide, and a whole lot of salty water. It looks cool, but it does nothing for the grime.
The secret to cleaning washer with vinegar and baking soda is the two-step process.
The baking soda acts as a mild abrasive and a deodorizer. It physically scrubs at the scum and neutralizes those acidic odors. Then, the white vinegar—which is mostly acetic acid—comes in to dissolve mineral deposits, break down soap scum, and kill a significant portion of the mold spores hiding behind the rubber gasket. According to Consumer Reports and various appliance repair experts, these two ingredients are safe for most machines when used sparingly, though some manufacturers (like Samsung or LG) might have specific warnings about the acidity of vinegar on rubber seals if used daily. Once a month is the sweet spot.
🔗 Read more: Curtain Bangs on Fine Hair: Why Yours Probably Look Flat and How to Fix It
Front Loader vs. Top Loader: The Game Plan
For the Front-Loading Crowd
Front loaders are notorious for smelling like a damp basement. It's the design. That rubber door seal (the gasket) traps water and hair.
First, grab a microfiber cloth and some straight vinegar. Wipe that gasket down. You’ll probably find a gray sludge. It's disgusting. Once that’s done, sprinkle half a cup of baking soda directly into the drum. Close the door and set your machine to the "tub clean" cycle or the hottest water setting available.
After that cycle finishes, it's time for the vinegar. Pour two cups of distilled white vinegar into the detergent dispenser. Run the hot cycle again. The vinegar will flow through the pipes and the outer drum—areas you can't see but where the most mold grows.
The Top-Loading Method
Top loaders are easier but require more volume. Start by filling the tub with the hottest water possible. As it’s filling, add a quart of white vinegar. Let it agitate for a minute, then pause the machine. Let it soak. Give it an hour. This allows the acid to eat through the hard water scale that builds up on the agitator.
💡 You might also like: Bates Nut Farm Woods Valley Road Valley Center CA: Why Everyone Still Goes After 100 Years
While it’s soaking, use a toothbrush dipped in vinegar to scrub the nooks and crannies around the lid. After the hour is up, let the cycle finish. Then, run one more hot cycle with a cup of baking soda to scrub away the loosened debris.
What Most People Get Wrong
I see this all the time on TikTok and Pinterest: people using apple cider vinegar. Stop. It’s too expensive and the sugars in it can actually leave a residue. You want the cheap, gallon-sized white distilled vinegar.
Another mistake? Ignoring the filter. Most people don't even know their washer has a filter. If you have a front loader, there’s usually a small door at the bottom. Open it. Drain the water. Pull out the filter. You will likely find coins, bobby pins, and a thick layer of slime. Clean this in the sink with—you guessed it—vinegar and baking soda before you even start the machine cycles. If the filter is clogged, no amount of vinegar in the drum will help because the dirty water isn't draining properly.
Is Vinegar Dangerous for My Washer?
There is a lot of debate about this in the appliance world. Some repair techs will tell you that the acetic acid in vinegar eats away at the rubber seals over time. They aren't entirely wrong. If you ran a vinegar cycle every single day, you’d probably have a leak within a couple of years.
📖 Related: Why T. Pepin’s Hospitality Centre Still Dominates the Tampa Event Scene
But we aren't doing that.
Monthly maintenance is different. To be safe, always wipe down the rubber gaskets with fresh water after your vinegar cycle to ensure no acid is sitting on the material. Or, if you’re truly worried, swap the vinegar for citric acid powder. It’s a bit more shelf-stable and highly effective against lime scale without being quite as aggressive on certain types of synthetic rubber.
Real Results: The "Towel Test"
If you want to know if cleaning washer with vinegar and baking soda actually worked, look at your towels. Towels are like sponges for detergent buildup. When a washer is dirty, it can't rinse the towels properly, leaving them stiff and scratchy. After a deep clean of the machine, run a load of towels with no detergent at all—just a cup of vinegar. You’ll be shocked at how much "suds" appear in the window. That’s the old soap being stripped away. Once they're dry, they'll be fluffier than they’ve been in years.
Deep Maintenance Steps
- The Dispenser Drawer: Pull it all the way out. Most machines have a release tab. You will find mold growing underneath the drawer. Soak the whole thing in a sink full of warm water and a cup of vinegar.
- The Door: Leave it open. This is the simplest tip. If you close the door on a wet machine, you are creating a sauna for bacteria.
- The Detergent Amount: Most of us use way too much soap. Modern HE (High Efficiency) washers only need about two tablespoons of detergent. Any more than that just ends up as "scrud"—that waxy buildup that requires you to clean the machine in the first place.
Actionable Next Steps
Don't wait until your laundry room smells like a swamp to act. Today, do a quick "sniff test" of your washer's drum. If it's anything less than neutral, it's time for a maintenance cycle.
Start by clearing out the drain filter at the bottom of the machine; keep a shallow bowl handy because a lot of gross water will spill out. Once the filter is clean, run your baking soda cycle on the highest heat setting. Follow it immediately with the vinegar cycle. From now on, make it a habit to leave the washer door ajar after every load. This small change in airflow can reduce the frequency of deep cleans by half. If you have hard water, consider adding a quarter cup of vinegar to your fabric softener dispenser during regular loads to prevent mineral buildup from starting in the first place.