Just add half a cup of bleach to your detergent drawer and run a normal wash cycle with hot water to kill germs and eliminate smells. Run an extra rinse cycle to flush out any remaining bleach.
If there's really no bleach dispenser and no instructions in the manual for how to add bleach, then dilute it with a bunch of water, and pour it in through the wash (or pre-wash) slot in the dispenser drawer after the washer has filled with water.
Higher temperatures make the bleach's effect stronger. So if you are using the bleach to disinfect and/or make white clothes whiter, use warm or hot water. On the other hand if you're doing it just because you like the smell, cold is fine.
1 Main wash compartment: Detergent for the main wash, water softener, pre-soaking agent, bleach, and stain remover. 2 Softener compartment: Fabric softener (do not fill higher than the line indicated by MAX). 3 Prewash compartment: Detergent for prewash or starch.
Mixing bleach and liquid laundry detergent can create a dangerous chemical reaction. The combination can produce chlorine gas, which can be harmful if inhaled and can cause irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat. It can also cause coughing, chest tightness, and difficulty breathing.
Bleach can be used inside your washing machine for cleaning it as well as working well as a washing machine disinfectant. The most important thing to remember is that you must run at least one empty cycle after cleaning, to remove all remaining bleach and help prevent bleaching next time you do a load of laundry.
Standard washers (traditional deep-fill models) don't always have bleach dispensers, but you can always add the bleach with the detergent when the washer is filling, before the clothing is added, so it is diluted before contacting any laundry.
Simply add half a cup of bleach into the machine's drum and half a cup of washing detergent into the draw. Next put the wash on hot and pause it once the machine has filled with water. Leave the machine paused for an hour and then begin the cycle again. To ensure all the bleach has gone, run an extra rinse cycle.
For best results, add 5 minutes after the wash cycle has begun to agitate in order to avoid destroying enzymes and fluorescent whiteners in the detergent. For Oxygen Bleach, add directly to the wash water before the clothes are added.
Put on protective gear when diluting or using bleach as it irritates mucous membranes, the skin and the airway. Cold water should be used for dilution as hot water decomposes the active ingredient of bleach and renders it ineffective.
Often, there won't be any visible signs of dirt or mould inside your machine, but you might be able to smell something whiffy, which suggests that bacteria is present. Just add half a cup of bleach to your detergent drawer and run a normal wash cycle with hot water to kill germs and eliminate smells.
Bleach dispensers automatically add the bleach to the wash water at a preset time in the cycle. When it's time to add the bleach, the compartment holding the bleach is flushed with water. All the bleach goes into the washer, and no bleach residue is left behind in the dispenser.
Liquid or powdered color-safe bleach may be added to the detergent dispenser, along with the same type of detergent, liquid or powdered. Color-safe bleach is thicker than chlorine bleach and will not properly dispense from the chlorine bleach dispenser.
Distilled white vinegar, lemons, baking soda, bluing, and sunshine are all non-toxic alternatives to bleach. To determine which works best for your clothing, experiment on a small area before using the substance on your entire garment. And remember, don't use these methods on colored clothes.
Brightening whites
Bleach can also be added directly to your washing machine. Depending on the severity of the stain, add between one-third or two-thirds of a cup to the machine's bleach dispenser. If you're using a top-loading machine, pour the diluted bleach directly into the load about five minutes into the cycle.
You can add bleach to every load of bleach-safe laundry along with your regular detergent to clean, whiten, remove stains and sanitize your clothes.
Too much detergent has been used
The most obvious cause of detergent residue remaining on clothing items at the end of a cycle is too much detergent being dosed in the washing machine drawer or in a dosing ball.
However, if the concentration of metals in your wash water is exceptionally high, you may still see yellowing when the metals react with the bleach active. Yellowing caused by metals in the wash water, using a too-strong bleach solution and/or soaking too long is usually difficult to reverse.
When to Use Hot Water – For whites, typically dirty clothes and diapers, use hot water (130°F or above). Hot water is best to remove germs and heavy soil. However, hot water can shrink, fade and damage some fabrics, so be sure to read your clothing labels before selecting the hot option.
If the bleach compartment isn't clearly labelled, it may be represented by a triangle with the letters 'CL' within. Always check your manual if you're unsure whether or not your washer is designed to dispense bleach.
How you use bleach is the key to either making or breaking its cleaning power. By using hot water instead of cold/tepid water to create a solution, you can render the active ingredients in bleach ineffective. So for bleach that works, always make sure you dilute it in cold/tepid water.
We always recommend adding your diluted laundry bleach to the pre-treatment or pre-wash dispenser of your machine.
To disinfect your washing machine, add half a cup of bleach to your detergent drawer, and another half in your drum. Run your washing machine on its hottest cycle, ensuring that your drum is completely empty. If possible, pause the cycle once the drum has filled with water and allow it to sit for 45 minutes to an hour.