Tips to Increase Your Washing Machine's Life

In this day and age doing your laundry by hand isn’t a frequent task. It’s not only a tedious job, but also very time consuming. This is why a number of us invest in a washing machine to clean our clothes. But owning a washing machine is one thing, and taking care of it another. Let’s think for a moment: how many of us know how to clean and maintain our washing machine? Perhaps only a handful.  Often, we tend to overlook the impact different detergents have on our machine’s life. Sometimes, we may completely ignore the maintenance of our machine’s dryer or vent. Neglecting these simple factors can lead to the clogging of drains, a leaky washer, and the machine not dispensing detergent among other things. These are all problems we’d like to avoid if we want our washing machines to keep running in good condition. So, here is a list of some critical steps that we have tried and tested to increase your washing machine's life.

1. Avoid Overloading Your Washer

We have learnt from experience that when doing our weekly laundry, it is a good practice not to overload our washing machine. We understand that an overflowing laundry basket is not a pleasant site, but it would be a bad idea to run a single wash cycle to clean all your clothes. The reason is that overloading could lead to the shortening of the washing machine’s life due to greater wear and tear of its different mechanical parts. So, read the recommendations in the manual of the washing machine and follow them for every cycle.

2. Choose the Right Detergent

You may wonder what a detergent has to do with the life of a washing machine. Well, there are enough reasons that we can give to help you understand the relationship between using the right liquid detergent and the longevity of your washing machine. For starters, most powder detergents are designed for bucket wash and don’t dissolve too well in a washing machine. Hence, they can leave behind a white residue, which may ultimately clog the drain of the machine and cause other damage. We recently tried Surf Excel Matic Liquid and were quite happy to see the results for our washing machine. Why? Well, it left the washing machine looking squeaky clean after every wash!

We also realized that as a liquid detergent, the product can dissolve quickly in our washing machine. Unlike powder detergents, it leaves behind no residue either! On checking the label, we found that it is designed to produce foam according to washing machine type, which ensures no choking or clogging of pipes and minimizes scaling issues, leaving the machine functional well for years!

3. Always Check the Pockets of Your Clothes

We know you may have heard of this warning earlier, but it is still an important pointer to remember. ALWAYS check the pockets of your clothing before throwing them in for a wash. We’re not just saying this to protect any damage to your belongings, but also for the health of your appliance. Did you know that metal items such as keys and coins have the ability to cause damage to the washer’s inner tub? So, it is highly critical that you get the pockets empty before running a wash cycle on your clothes.

4. Clean the Dryer Vent and Lint Filter Regularly

To maintain the dryer of your washing machine and increase your washing machine's life, ensure that you regularly clean the machine's lint trap. It doesn’t take too much time and can actually help prevent any fire hazards, over and above maintaining your machine’s health. Keeping the dryer clean will also help it operate at optimal levels.

Something that is slightly more tedious and yet very important is cleaning out the vent/duct at least once a year.  The duct of your washing machine keeps accumulating wax, lint as well as other discards on a daily basis. These discards will eventually build-up and reduce the efficiency of your dryer – which will lead to a lot of repair expenditure. Therefore, it is best to clean your vent/duct on an annual basis to elongate the life of your machine, without burning a hole in your pocket!

These simple yet important steps will ensure that your washing machine keeps operating efficiently and for several years without needing any repair/replacement!

5. Use Descalers Regularly

You must use descalers if the water in your area/neighbourhood is hard. It is possible for limescale to accumulate in the washing machine’s tubes and pumps and slowly disrupt its inner workings. Descalers are essentially chemical agents that are used for removing limescale, calcium deposits and other such non-soluble elements from metal surfaces. Using a descaler over a period of time has helped us keep our machine working in optimal condition.