“Cleaning your machine regularly will make it last longer and eliminate moldy smells caused by stale soap and fabric softener buildup,” she writes in an mbg article about how to clean home appliances naturally. Washing your machine out regularly also ensures a higher-quality wash. A few best practices for maintaining your newly clean machine: Leave its door slightly ajar when it’s not in use, and don’t be too liberal with your detergent. If you regularly use too much, it can cling to the walls of your machine and cause germs and funky odors. Honestly, the hardest part of washing your laundry machine is probably remembering to do it, so just add this task to your cleaning calendar, and you’re good to go. Emma received her B.A. in Environmental Science & Policy with a specialty in environmental communications from Duke University. In addition to penning over 1,000 mbg articles on topics from the water crisis in California to the rise of urban beekeeping, her work has appeared on Grist, Bloomberg News, Bustle, and Forbes. She’s spoken about the intersection of self-care and sustainability on podcasts and live events alongside environmental thought leaders like Marci Zaroff, Gay Browne, and Summer Rayne Oakes.
