If you’re like most Canadians, you don’t spare your washer and dryer much thought. In goes dirty clothes and out comes clean ones. Depending on the stain, this is more or less the pattern you’ve followed since you started doing your own laundry all those years ago.
We can appreciate that you have bigger things on your mind. To say nothing of your own hectic professional and personal lives, the never-ending stream of bad news on your Facebook feed and CBC app can distract you from things like laundry. But sometimes you need to put the world on mute, ignore alarming tweets from the White House, and focus on the little things in order to keep your sanity.
We can help you achieve that balance with today’s short guide. Though throwing in your clothes and forgetting them may have worked for you in the past, there’s a lot more to it than just filling these machines and pressing ‘on’. There are right and wrong ways to use these appliances, and unfortunately many of us commit the following laundry mistakes regularly.
Ignoring the Manual
Lost somewhere in the clutter or thrown out with the recycling accidentally, these instructions are overlooked by homeowners, but it’s an essential guide that helps you learn the inner workings of your washer and dryer. An owner’s manual reviews the purpose of each cycle in order to help you use your appliances more efficiently. Don’t worry if you can’t find your manual. Most manufacturers provide an online version available for download.
Not Cleaning Your Appliances
It may not feel like it, but spring is just around the corner. Make sure to include your washer and dryer when you tackle your annual spring clean. Keeping these machines clean and dust-free helps them operate at their highest efficiency. Unplug your appliances and check their vents and hoses to ensure there isn’t a critical buildup of lint somewhere. Removing dust and other debris from these areas help air flow properly and reduce the chance of any obstruction becoming a fire hazard.
Using Too Much Detergent
If you have a high efficiency or ENERGY-star washer then you’re probably using too much soap. These appliances operate with less water than conventional washers, so they won’t be able to rinse a full cap of detergent out of your clothes. Check your manual to see just how much soap the manufacturer suggests and double check your detergent bottle for an ‘HE’ to ensure its capable of washing clothes in less water.
Overloading the Appliances
There’s some logic to waiting until you’ve collected enough clothes for an extra-large load; by limiting the number of cycles you wash, you’ll be using less water and energy, right? Wrong. Overloading your washer and dryer can be taxing for these appliances, causing them to work harder than they should in order to clean your clothes. Over the long-term, this habit can cause the motor to burn out or a belt to fray. Packing your laundry in too tightly can also reduce the efficiency of the cleaning or drying cycles, causing you to re-wash or dry these clothes multiple times. Give your appliances a break and separate them into smaller loads according to like colours.
You’ll know if you’ve managed to do damage to the internal mechanisms by the sound of your machines. The sound of loud banging, whirring, or grinding should prompt you to pick up the phone and request one of our washer repair technicians for a quick visit. They can replace these parts and reverse damage caused by bad habits, so your past laundry mistakes don’t end up haunting you for long.
Noises aren’t the only things that deserve an inspection. If your washer or dryer is behaving badly for whatever reason, call or send us an email. We’ll identify the cause of that leak, unusual smell, or faulty motor in no time so you can get your laundry room back to normal as quickly as possible.
