How do I find an unscented washing machine cleaner (I also don’t want scent neutralizers such as Febreeze makes)?

You can try health food stores. It might be expensive.

There seem to be quite a few available on amazon. And just because it will make for a “fresh, clean appliance” doesn’t not mean it has a scent. The first two I looked at on amazon did not have a “scent” added.

Try a couple of cups of white vinegar and cup of baking soda. Run the longest cycle and hottest water. Add vinegar and start cycle then add soda after a couple minutes.

@Tropical_Willie is correct. I always add ¼ cup baking soda with 1 cup white vinegar to my load of laundry. Not only does it help to clean my washing machine, I think that my whites come out whiter, my colors look brighter & my colors don’t fade. My clothes smell fresher without smelling like vinegar & it’s also good for cleaning gunk out of your water pipes!!! The vinegar & soda are good for the kitchen & bathroom sinks as well as the bath tub. It will also help with the toilet freshness. I only do the sinks & tub about once a year. NEVER had a clog since starting that!!!

@snowberry
Maybe these 2 sites will agree with each other re. the ratio of venigar and baking soda. https://www.bobvila.com/articles/cleaning-with-baking-soda-and-vinegar/
https://www.rd.com/list/5-best-baking-soda-and-vinegar-cleaning-solutions/

We get ours from Costco.

Do you have a sanitizing cycle on your washing machine? There are all sorts of things I don’t like about my washer, but that function is amazing. I don’t need to use any chemicals. I had my machine in storage, had some mold in it I’m pretty sure. I ran the sanitizing cycle, which is extra hot and long, and it was like new. I run it every six months or so.

I agree that vinegar can help clean also. I’ve never tried vinegar and baking soda in my washing machine, but I’ve used it in my drains.

Are you trying to clean out hard water build-up or mold and mildew?

For hard water I use Lemi-Shine, but I think it has a scent. I’m not even sure. It’s a powder so you don’t easily inhale it like a liquid. You can obviously wear a mask too. It will rinse away when you run the washer.

I want to add my vote to those suggesting vinegar and baking soda.

Thanks for the ideas guys.

Many products don’t say they have a fragrance, but that it leaves a fresh clean smell. I don’t want their version of fresh and clean, which in my experience always means a fragrance. Most companies don’t give a complete list of ingredients (I know they don’t have to list the ingredients in a fragrance), but they could at least admit they’ve put one in there. I think that’s being dishonest. I want to know what the ingredients are.

You have given me some ideas I hadn’t thought of.

@JLeslie – I use apple cider vinegar when I wash stinky towels that have nice colors. Works almost as well as bleach but doesn’t fade the colors.

I wouldn’t think to use apple cider vinegar, I always use white vinegar.

Sanitizer

Vinegar works too.

Dr. Bronner’s Sal-Suds. It’s concentrated, so what seems like a high price at first, is actually a low price.
Be sure to use Bronner’s Sal Suds, not Bronner’s Soap. The Sal Suds are a detergent, and better for the machine.
Once a year (or more if you want), wash with vinegar instead to erase the buildup of the Sal-Suds.

I buy 5 gallon jugs from Bio-Pac through my co-ops buying club. It’s nice, concentrated stuff and approved of by 9 out of 10 hippies.

Re. venigar though is it bad for the rubber seal if used without baking soda?
https://tinyurl.com/yunke7rp

But baking soda will neutralize the vinegar, resulting in salt water: base + acid

OK this is very confusing. @chefl’s link says that vinegar is bad on rubber, and rubber seals are in washers (and in dishwashers). I also wonder if it’s not really rubber, but that it’s a man made rubber-like material, and therefore the acid is a non-issue.

Anyway, the main ingredient in both washing machine and dishwasher cleaners is citric acid. Citric acid such as in commercial washer cleaners is a much stronger acid than the diluted vinegar that I use in my laundry on a daily basis.

I have asked @LuckyGuy to chime in.

@snowberry I just put it out there. I know a few people who use venigar in their laundry, alone or with their regular detergent. I was really surprised even diluted with all that water? I don’t underatand it. And we injest venigar with no problem.

By the way, is it venigar + detergent in the laundry? If so what is the proportion?
(Edited)

@chefl NO…it’s vinegar & baking soda in place of detergent & dryer sheets & my clothes come out just as clean if not cleaner than detergent alone!!! PLUS, my clothes seem to last longer. My towels stay soft & don’t stop absorbing water efficiently. From the 2 links you provided, my ratio of baking soda to vinegar is less than what your sources recommended. My ratio has worked well for me for years, so I probably won’t change it; however, I might try your suggested ratio to see If I get different results.

Just rambling here…

Maybe if you put the vinegar in the bleach dispenser (make sure no bleach is in it or the line) then the clothes have time with just the baking soda and then later the vinegar is added. I’m not sure when bleach is normally released into the drum? It’s true the two can cancel each other out on the pH scale depending on the proportions.

@LadyMarissa Thank you. I didn’t recommend a proportion. I just posted the 2 links (that I don’t really know) They don’t seem to agree with the proportion, but I’m not sure. I left it to the readers. I’m just curious what would happen if someone by accident put the venigar and detergent in?

@LadyMarissa,

The proportion re. the links would be about the baking soda and venigar. You answered the proportion of venigar and detergent which doesn’t exist. But some people may think vinegar and baking soda improve the efficiency of the detergent?

What is/are the reliable website/s for these kinds of things anyway?

It looks like this is the best site for how to clean a washer. He makes a strong argument for not using vinegar on a regular basis, but I’m confused because the citric acid based cleaners that he recommends are very acidic just like vinegar.

https://www.bobvila.com/articles/how-to-clean-a-washing-machine/

@snowberry Thanks But I’m still trying to figure out why vinegar diluted with all that water in a regular load of laundrey can be in the slightest bit harmful. We injest venigar. And the citric acid based detergents too, they are diluted. And woudln’t the rise cycle remove…. Could it be it’s the quality of the rubbber seal the problem?

I have no idea, but we aren’t made of rubber either.

@chefl Reread I was discussing vinegar & baking soda. Not sure what you misunderstood…
it’s vinegar & baking soda in place of detergent & dryer sheets.

@LadyMarissa, I go it, your “NO…it’s vinegar & baking soda in place of detergent & dryer sheets”.
My question above as an aside, “I’m just curious what would happen if someone by accident put the venigar and detergent in?” or detergent + baking +soda? (edited)

I’ve not mixed the detergent with either the vinegar nor the baking soda, so I’ve got NO clue there. IF I run out of vinegar or baking soda, I simply just use detergent for that load & replenish my supply of the v & bs before my next laundry day.

@all If I have a stinky towel, I have been in the habit of tossing it in the washer along with detergent and enough white vinegar (it’s the cheapest) to kill the mildew smell. It does, and it works very well. But since I learned that regular use of vinegar in the laundry has potential to damage the seal in the washer, I’m looking at alternatives. I used to use color safe bleach (I checked and noticed there are fragrance free color safe bleach alternatives), but it’s expensive compared to vinegar.

I appreciate the link for Bronner’s Sal Suds. That sounds like something to put on my shopping list.

Soak the towel in the sink with some water and vinegar and then rinse it and run it through the washer.

@JLeslie Yes, I do that now,

The old school Clorox color-safe bleach powder was great for removing odors but would make towels really rough. I found the vinegar process via Internet to get around that. I recently tried the new Clorox Colors liquid, and it works better than vinegar without roughening our towels. Vinegar is cheaper, though.

@RocketGuy Clorox products generally are not safe for septic systems, and I am on septic. Since septic systems are obscenely expensive to service, I want to get the maximum life out of my septic system. Therefore I will use biodegradable products. There are biodegradable bleach alternatives which I have looked into.

By the way, vinegar is perfectly fine to use in septic systems.

I used Clorox products when I had septic. I lived there 8 years, and the house was 4 years old when I bought it. I never had a septic problem. I don’t use the chemicals every day, obviously, and it’s in such small amounts and so diluted when it goes down the drain I don’t think it has much of an effect.

Not that I’m trying to convince anyone to use chemicals if you have something natural that works. I use natural mostly (a lot of the time just soap and water on counters and clean my windows and mirrors with just water and a special cloth) but a good chemical kick every so often really gets things clean and less work. Especially kitchen drains and garbage disposals, and bathrooms.