So I saw this Bosch cleaner at the store last week and grabbed it because my washing machine started smelling funky. Didn't even know you needed special cleaner for washers until I noticed that mildew stink creeping into my towels.

Unboxed the Bosch cleaner today and read the stupidly tiny instructions. It said to pour the whole damn bottle into the detergent drawer, then run the machine empty on the hottest cycle. Sounded easy enough.

My exact steps:

• Dumped the bottle into the detergent slot - that purple liquid smelled like chemicals and fake lavender
• Set the machine to "cottons" at 90°C like the label told me
• Watched it start foaming like crazy through the door window
• Went to grab lunch while it ran for 3 hours straight

When I opened it later, nearly gagged. The rubber seal was full of nasty black goop I never knew was there. Spent 20 minutes scrubbing that crap off with an old toothbrush while trying not to puke. Never seen so much mold in my life.

The Bosch instructions recommend doing this every 3 months. But that repair dude on YouTube said monthly if you wash pet beds or workout clothes often. I've got two sweaty teenagers so guess I'm cleaning this sucker every 6 weeks now.

Biggest surprise? After cleaning, my clothes actually smell clean now. Before this, I thought all my tees naturally smelled like wet dog. Turns out my washer was just nasty.

Would I do it again? Hell yeah. Took half a day but beats buying new clothes every time they come out musty. Pro tip: leave your washer door cracked open after washes. Lets it dry out so you won't need to clean as often.