So, I finally bit the bullet and got one of those washing machine cleaning companies in. My washer, bless its heart, has been working hard for years, but lately, things just weren't smelling right. You know that damp, slightly funky odor? Yeah, that. Plus, I noticed some black gunk around the rubber seal. Tried all the usual tricks – vinegar runs, baking soda, those cleaning tablets – but nothing really got rid of it properly.

Finding someone wasn't too hard. Saw a flyer locally, asked a neighbor, eventually just picked one that seemed straightforward. Made the call. Booking was simple enough. They asked the make and model, how old it was, standard stuff. Quoted me a price, seemed okay-ish, considering the hassle of doing it myself, which, let's be honest, I wasn't going to do properly anyway.

The Day It Happened

The guy showed up pretty much on time. Polite enough. First thing he did was run a quick cycle to check if everything was working okay before he started taking things apart. Sensible, I guess. Didn't want him blaming me if it broke afterwards.

Then he got down to it. Pulled out the detergent drawer – nasty stuff in there, even though I wipe it. Took off the door seal. Oh boy. The amount of black, slimy mold hiding in the folds was unreal. Honestly, a bit embarrassing. He laid out his cloths on the floor to protect it, which was good.

The main event was taking the drum out. Or at least, accessing the space between the inner drum and the outer tub. He had these long brushes and a sort of pressure washer thing, but smaller, designed for this job. He sprayed some cleaning solution, let it sit, then started scrubbing and flushing. Water coming out was just… gross. Greyish-brown sludge. Makes you think about what's been swirling around your "clean" clothes.

• Pulled out the filter/trap at the bottom too. Found coins, hair clips, and a mountain of linty goo.
• Cleaned the hoses as best he could.
• Wiped down the entire inside and outside.

The whole process took about two hours, maybe a bit more. He worked steadily. Didn't chat much, just got on with it. Put everything back together carefully. Ran another quick rinse cycle to flush out any leftover cleaner.

Afterwards

The difference was obvious. The bad smell? Gone. Replaced by a sort of neutral, clean scent. Looking inside, the rubber seal was spotless, and the drum itself seemed shinier. It felt good knowing all that hidden gunk was washed away.

Did it make my clothes magically cleaner? Hard to say definitively, but things definitely smell fresher coming out of the wash now. Peace of mind is probably the biggest benefit. Knowing you're not washing clothes in a soup of hidden mold and detergent scum.

It reminds me of when I tried fixing the dishwasher myself that one time. Spent a whole Saturday, ended up flooding the kitchen floor, and still had to call a repairman who fixed it in 20 minutes. Sometimes, you just gotta pay someone who knows what they're doing, even for cleaning. This washing machine thing felt like one of those times. Probably do it again in a year or two, before the sludge monster returns.