DIY Washing Machine Cleaning Tablets

I like my HE (High Efficiency) front loading washing machine. It never smells moldy. I think I am an anomaly. I seems like the rest of the Internet has dirty and smelly washing machine issues and even more people need to lean how to clean their washing machines.

I have to be honest and admit, the only way I remember to clean the washing machine is when it starts to smell.  Thankfully that isn’t very often but boy oh boy do those washing machine cleaning tablets cost a pretty penny! A package of two Afresh tablets are almost 8 bucks a pop. The Tide washing machine cleaner tabs are a little less but I stay away from the Tide tablets because their detergent makes me break out.

Still, 4 dollars to clean a washing machine each month adds up. There has to be a cheaper way to clean a moldy washing machine that is just as lazy as popping a cleaning disk into the machine and turning it on.

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And there is! I use toilet bowl bleach cleaner tablet to clean my front loading washing machine. The unscented and no color toilet bowl cleaning tablets of course. The last thing I want to do is accidentally turn my laundry blue in each wash!

I got my light bulb moment after I popped my last Affresh washing machine cleaner tablet (learn more about it here) int my washing machine to clean it. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience.) I grumbled that means I have to make a special shopping trip to the big grocery store with the rude checkout clerks to buy more.

We do so many other things to cut down on waste and spending that it isn’t a budget breaker. It’s annoying because I have to make a special trip to buy them since I do most of my grocery shopping at Aldi and Trader Joe’s. Also did I mention the rude clerks? First world problems and all.

I took a second look at the picture of the Affresh tabs on the box. They look an awful lot a like toilet bowl cleaning tablets. Unfortunately, when I compared the boxes of the two products in the store, they don’t have the ingredients listed other than bleach. I know some people clean their washing machines with liquid bleach so I figure a bleach based tablet would clean a front loader in the same way and without the risk of splashing bleach on myself ruining my clothes. Yes, it happens. I am that graceful. Which is one of the many reasons I use hydrogen peroxide instead of bleach.

I popped a toilet beach cleaning tablet into my front loader and started the machine washing cycle. My washing machine was just as clean as if I used a Tide washing machine cleaner or Affresh cleaning tab. I tested and compared them by alternating in between using a washing machine cleaning tablet and a toilet bowl cleaning tablet for several months.

Both tablets cleaned my front loading washing machine equally. Not to mention the plain and unscented bleach toilet bowl cleaner tabs cost a whole lot less. Midway into this experiment I started buying the bleach based toilet bowl cleaning tablets at the dollar store. The same thing happened. My washing machine was clean for even less money per load. Woohoo!

Instead of cleaning my washing machine for $4 every month I now clean it for 50 cents. That’s an 80% savings on what I suspect is practically the same product although neither company will confirm or deny that of course.

Looking for more washer and dryer cleaning ideas? Check out the following options - and more! - below!


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