Washing My Washer

Washing machine agitator full of greasy film
Photo by Plush Duck

It sounds ridiculous, but this evening I had to wash my washer.  You would think that putting detergent and bleach through it almost daily would keep a washer in tip-top shape, but when certain individuals decided to wash garage towels in the washing machine, consequences ensued (observe photo).

Now I know why the instructions on the lid of my washer say this:

Never place items in the washer that are dampened with gasoline or other flammable fluids.  No washer can completely remove oil.

Granted, those words were placed there as part of a fire hazard warning, but they could just as easily have said, "Don't wash any item containing petroleum product residue because it will stain your washer and lay down a layer of oily scum that may be impossible to remove."  Given the color and consistency of the goo in my washer, I suspected the culprit was anti-seize, but I would never know for sure.  What I did know for sure was that I needed to correct this problem as soon as possible because I had other loads of laundry to wash.

So what did I do?  I kept experimenting until something worked.

Solution #1:  ran the washer with Tide Free and the hottest possible water.

Nope.  Didn't work.  Washer looked exactly the same.

Solution #2:  wiped down the washer with Windex, scrubbing to remove the black residue.

Managed to remove most of the gray color and some of the small particulate matter.  However, the oily residue remained.

Solution #3:  wiped down the washer with Washer Magic®, then ran the washer with the same substance on the hottest possible water setting.

Eureka!  My washer was clean!.  Many thanks to Koalagirl for the Washer Magic®.  I owe her one.