Citric acid is better than vinegar in this application. Chemically it's 3 times more powerful. A couple cups of crystals in an empty cleaning cycle is better than filling the whole machine with undiluted vinegar.

Vinegar is great But it is an acid and will react with a lot of detergents. So i use it in the softner side with rosemary oil (antibacterial) which thr machine adds after the wash. For heavy things that still need drying after i spray it with a mix of vinegar, alcohal, and rosemary oil. Kills most eveything on it but by the time i use it its safe to the touch.

Speaking for myself, you can dump in as much vinegar as you like because you're not doing it with the clothes but before. When we wash clothing with vinegar because something in the load needs that kind of cleaning, we use two to three cups and then run it again a second time with only detergent. There really is no limit as long as you rinse really well or run the load again with just soap: vinegar dries without smell. (If you can smell it, it's not dry.)

Also, there's no need to do an extra cycle between the vinegar cycle and your clothing cycle: vinegar is itself a laundry agent. If your machine is draining properly there won't be enough left to detect once you get the detergent and the clothes in for the next round.

If you were to run your vinegar-only cycle with a few old towels and vinegar, that would ensure that you got the walls rubbed down as well as having the effect of the vinegar itself. Because you're dealing with mildew, I'd also take an old towel, wet it thoroughly with vinegar, and run it all around the rim and especially the inside seal on a front load, all the creases/crevices and wherever you can reach, because that's usually where mildew likes to hide. Then throw that towel in for the hot vinegar cycle too.

All this goes for both front and top load machines, though honestly if it's truly bad I already know it's a front load because those inside seals are hell for collecting mold and people don't like to leave the doors open. But that constant airing is really the only long-term cure unless people using them are really careful to clean the seals constantly. A top load you just leave the lid kicked up permanently whenever you're not using it and that alone resolves any mold and mildew problem.

Back before I had a washer of my own and I was too lazy to go do a full load elsewhere, I'd hand wash, and then roll up whatever needed drying in a huge towel and walk back and forth on the roll to press out the water. Worked a treat and no wringing wrinkles.

You are probably thinking of a steam room, not a sauna.

I dry my clothes in a sauna all the time. Has good ventilation and its warm for a good few hours after a session. Obviously you shouldn't try drying clothes in there until after the room itself has dried, which is usually 30-45 minutes after I've stopped saunaing. If I have a large amount of stuff to dry, I keep the sauna stove on for extra 15-20 minutes to dry the room faster and keep the heat up for a little longer.

And to be clear, I'm talking about a Finnish sauna, not a Greek, turkish, Swedish or russian ones. Those are more like mildly warm steam rooms.

90% alcohol isn't really useful except as a solvent. 70% is what's recommended as a sanitizer.

Use cleaners, something that can break down oils, as that's what keeps stuff sticking to fan blades and surfaces. In fact, part of what's in laundry and dish detergent is for breaking down different types of oils - and that's mostly something basic like washing soda (or something equivalent).

Washing soda can work on it's own. No enzymes, and it's cheap. Also doesn't take much at all.

I've been washing my clothes with mostly just washing soda for 20 years and other than my synthetic exercise shirts everything comes clean. Those shirts get their own cycle with extra soda and a high heat dry cycle, otherwise they get musty. Air dry is an absolute no-go for them.

Without ventilation the clothes will take too long to dry.

That's mildew waiting to happen.

Having lived in humid and in really dry climates, I don't even bother trying to air dry anywhere that isn't already an arid climate. It's just too problematic.

First a warning: don't mix bleach with vinegar! Or citric acid. Or anything really, it's quite dangerous.

For the cleaning a specific product would be always better, bleach OR (don't go mixing cleaning products!) oxy might do the trick.

Clean the filter, I only have experience with home machines but it should be somehow accessible given that's a maintenance operation that should be performed frequently. When it's dirty some water stays inside the machine.

The door must be left open when not in use.

I think they exist in Canada but Active is the brand of washing machine tabs I use. Tide and Afresh I've used as well.

For that rosemary oil, vinegar, alcohol combination you spray on can you pleaae get into the specifics of how you make that mixture please? What litres or millilitres ofr each of those things do you use to make it? Also where in the hell can I find rosemary oil please? (Ill add that I dont use amazon) I have never seen such thing as rosemary oil in real life ...or maybe I havent searched hard eniugh 🤷🏿‍♂️

I wash mine in regular detergent, Tide, on cold in the washing machine. Not much detergent and not often, it has survived years this way. Like I don't even hand wash them. But if you are worried, just use hair shampoo, you don't need special detergent. I hand wash silk in diluted shampoo, the same one I use on my hair - Malibu C hard water wellness shampoo. Whatever you have is probably fine.

Unbound Merino is expensive here but is a Canadian company, maybe it's better priced up there? That's where my best ones came from.

Quince has men's merino T shirts, that is likely the cheapest not discounted price but if you are really skinny you can likely find small sizes on sale sometimes on Icebreaker too.

They sell rosemary oil at the health food store where i live along with some local people sell essential oils.

For IN THE WASHER just use vinegar. It'll help soften the fabric and kill some mildew/mold. Oils will stick in the wash and since it's shared might not be ok with everyone. Alcohol can break down plastics.

I do probally 2/3rds vinegar (5% acidity is fine) and a 1/3rd everclear (190 proof). Just a few drops og rosemary is enough for a good smell tbh. You can also mix peppermint for things you want bugs to avoid but rosemary has the lasting antibacterial effect.

You can isopropal too, though i dont like how it dries as well but you can use less making it like 1/4 instead of 1/3 of the mix.

On the essential oils though they are 100% extra. Vinegar is good enough, alcohol helps more, the oils are mostly just smell goods with some evidence showing that they'll help

Can you recommend for me a non-alcoholic beverage alternative I can use for the alcohol please?

Sure sorry I could have been more clear that is what isopropyl is. It's a non drinking alcohol

Also I feel that when we are dealing with vinwgar-anything the essential oils are ...wel... essential. The smell of vinegar so strong and bad .

So yoouve never had someone tell you you smell like vinegar after sprayimg your clothing with a mixture that tdiidnt have rosemary oil in it?

I see some people stating to use bleach or vinegar. Personally I have been using Borax for about a decade and it works incredibly well. I purchased it to make ant traps which also worked well, but decided to use it as a washing machine cleaner as well. 1 box has lasted me like 5 years and is pretty cheap as it is. Whenever i start smelling something ill do a clean cycle or if you dont have that option quick wash works as well and just pour like a cup of it in. It always smells like nothing after so it definitely works well.

That odor stopped when we quit using liquid fabric softener in our washing machine - at our appliance repairman's suggestion.

Can I clean the laundry with Borax itself as well? Borax is a cleaning agent , no? So it can bd used as a detergent too , no?

Oh sorru I forget to mention that I havent used fabric softeners in about 15 years cause I found it irritated my skin more just like fragrances did too.

I also point a fan at the clothes. Combined with a dehumidifier even a load of thick towels takes less than 3 hours to dry.

"even letting the set 15min can begin to increase mold/mildew"

Yeah my ADHD ass has let those sit for days before

Yes, it can also be used that way as well. I was just never a fan of it for that usage and preferred traditional detergent. Ill try to find a video i watched regarding different detergents used in different scenerios and i wanna say borax did ok but its unlike others in some ways which I didnt like about it, im just not remembering why!

Oxyclean powder does absolutely work as well as specific washer cleaner stuff (some of it is literally oxyclean with a different name and higher price) but not as well as cleaning the filter.

Ya I don't know anything about that at all, it's surely no relation as to why I know how to sanitize my washer well...

Looks like there's plenty of discussion around the washing machine already. Are you hanging drying clothes inside or outside?

If inside and you dont live in a particularly dry area, make sure to run a dehumidifier in the same room as the clothes. It won't remove the scent from the wash of course but it will help dry them quicker and prevent any mildew that may have transfered to the clothes from getting worse at least.

I hangg dry inside when I know its about to, during , or soon after it has rained/snowed and I hang dry outside otherwise. ANd obviouuslt when hang drying outside the smell of mildew is far less notable due to all the wind and the sunlight's UV rays which probably scramble up their DNA. A notable problem is that in toronto snow and rain randomly show up all the time so I have to be careful about when to hang dry outside.

I think Ill need to combine methods since this place is kinda humid and the air flow in this apartment is amazingly bad. Like a dehumidifier, a fan, and vinegar with an essential oil.

That sounds like a good plan. Hopefully the service tech shows up and cleans out the machines though!