Thursday, March 21, 2013

Stinky HE Washing Machine? We May Have a Cure!


Anyone who knows me is aware that I have more than a passing interest in finding good, natural cleaning products – some friends and family think it’s a bit of an obsession.  The good news, as a collecting hobby it’s pretty inexpensive and I get some really great products to use.  For the last year I have been enjoying learning more about products produced by Biokleen.  In reality, I am over the moon about the Biokleen line of cleaning products.  So much that I convinced the folks here at Arbico to add some of their products.
   
For me, it all started with a perniciously slow drain in one of the bathroom sinks.  I have tried all of the old-fashioned homemade remedies along with every natural drain cleaner I could find and no joy.  Sometime last year I came across the Biokleen Bac-Out Drain Care – after following the directions and strictly adhering to the ‘leave it in the drain for 24 hours’ I had a clear and clean running drain.  I was sold.

BioKleen Products
The problem came in when I tried to buy more – this is a difficult product to locate here in Arizona.  The answer to that problem is to begin carrying much of the Biokleen line and making it available to our customers.  Biokleen is a great fit for us.  Just like Arbico, Biokleen is a family owned and operated business.  Their products are made in Vancouver, Washington, with a strong commitment to ensuring that the products are effective but non-toxic and safe for the environment.  

So, back to the title of this blog…I’ve tried everything recommended to keep our HE (high efficiency) washing machine clean and odor free.  I wipe down the gasket, use the HE laundry soaps, keep the door open to dry the machine, run the cleaning cycle monthly, I’ve even used both the organic and caustic machine cleaners.  Nothing seemed to work and walking through the laundry room was an increasingly odoriferous experience. 

My husband had concluded that it wasn’t the machine, but perhaps the drain pipe to which the washer was attached.  His theory was that HE washers don’t have that surge of water going through the drain that the old top-loads did and he was thinking that perhaps the drain pipe wasn’t getting ‘flushed’ properly and needed to be cleaned. Usually we don’t go ‘off-road’ and diverge from product labels but we have had such good results with the Bac-Out Drain Care that using it to clean the wall drain seemed a low risk proposition. 

We followed the instructions as for any other drain (don’t forget to pull the washing machines drain hose out of the drain and turn off the water to the machine – just in case someone tries to start the washer!).  We left the Bac-Out Drain Care in the drain for 24 hours (per the label), then ran a load of wash through the machine.  Don’t forget to put the hose back in the wall drain and turn the water back on.  WOW.  The lingering odor that we thought came from the machine is gone and the clothes smell much better coming from the wash.  I figure that I’ll do this monthly for a few months and see if it continues to mitigate that nasty odor that I was blaming on my HE washer.

If I was sold before, I’m kind of in love now.  I urge you to try some of the Biokleen products; I think that you will be very happy with the results!    

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