The Best Washing Machine Cleaner

Your guide to this review today is by Cleaning expert Ben Thurber
Published on
February 15th, 2019

Expert BioExpert Bio

Ben has over a decade of experience in cleaning projects of all types along the entire eastern seaboard of the United States. Ben’s formal training and certifications in cleaning include the AMRT (Applied Microbial Remediation Technician), WRT (Water restoration technician), CCT (Carpet Cleaning technician), as well as several other certifications from the IICRC. Ben has managed teams involved in cleaning projects around the United States. Ben’s passion for cleaning and leading teams goes back as far as he can remember.

The Cleaning Institute

Your washing machine is one of the most important machines in your home or apartment, and you are probably very grateful to even have one in the first place when you stop to think about it for a moment. Without our washing machines, not only would laundry take a much longer time to complete, but we would have to leave our clothes outside to dry as well, where they would be exposed to the elements and various types of insects. In short, our washing machines actually do a pretty good job taking care of us in terms of doing the job they were designed to do in the first place.

That is why it is important you take care of your washing machine in return. A lot of people do not realize this, but you do actually have to clean your washing machine out from time to time – just because its job is to wash things does not mean it does not get dirty as well. In order to do that, you need to be able to find and purchase a brand of washing machine cleaner you can depend on.

With all of that information in mind, we decided to help our readers find the best washing machine cleaner on the market. After a lot of extensive and independent product testing, we were able to determine that Tide Washing Machine Cleaner was our Top Pick, Affresh Washer Machine Cleaner took the Honorable Mention award, and Smelly Washer Washing Machine and Dishwasher Cleaner took the Green Pick slot for this particular product.

But how we were able to reach these conclusions with so many washing machine cleaners being available on the market right now? After having 35 years of experience in the product review industry, we have come to the realization that in order to be effective at our jobs, our reviews need to be transparent, easy to read, and have highly comprehendible grading criteria as well. That is why we decided to break down our grading rubric into three simple categories.

Testing Categories

In order to simplify things as much as we could, we want to make our rubric easy to follow. That is why we decided to focus on three important attributes for a washing machine cleaner: power, application, and odor.

We will now take a moment to break down how those categories specifically apply for each and every product that we reviewed.

Power: Where power was concerned, we were mainly focused on how concentrated the formula was and how much of the bottle we needed to clean out our washing machines in one standard cleaning session. If we felt the formula was watered down in any way or was not concentrated, we lowered the product’s score in this particular category.

For the purposes of complete transparency, we will mention that we weighed this category more heavily than the other two in terms of developing our final composite score. The reason for this is that the less powerful a washing machine cleaner is, the more of it you will have to buy to complete the task at hand. We felt that it was important to protect consumers from ineffective products, so we reflected that feeling in our scoring system.

Application: In this category, we were mainly focused on how easy the product was to use, in terms of getting it from the bottle or box to the washing machine, and the overall conditioning of the packaging itself. If the packaging was in any way, shape, or form defective, or if we had trouble simply using the product in general, we lowered its score in this category.

Odor: Of all three of our grading categories, this one was by far the most straightforward to grade on. There is no reason that a cleaning product should have an unpleasant or nasty odor, and if we did notice one among the washing machine cleaners that we were testing, we made note of it and lowered its score on this part of the review gradient.

Top Pick

Tide
Washing Machine
Cleaner

Tide is one of the most recognized and trusted names in laundry related products around the world, so it makes sense it would also make a very reliable type of washing machine cleaner.

Price Check

Most notable upside: Tide’s specially formulated brand of washing machine cleaner is highly concentrated and chemically strong, which means you get a lot of bang for your buck when your purchase this particular brand of washing machine cleaner. It is great at cutting through mold, and it works with both top loading and HE styles of washing machines, further displaying its versatility.

Biggest downsides: The main thing we noticed about this product in terms of its negatives was the fact that it had a very pungent odor, and that the smell was not the same as the one you would normally expect from a regular Tide product. While it definitely was not a pleasant odor, it was not enough to knock this product from our Top Pick slot.

Honorable Mention

Affresh
Washing Machine
Cleaner

With a strong formula and a sleek design in the form of concentrated tablets, Affresh Washing Machine Cleaner was one of the best products we tested, which is why it earned our Honorable Mention.

Price Check

Most notable upside: Affresh is effective in terms of its chemical makeup, the fact that it is in the form of an easy to use tablet, and that it does not use bleach or other harsh chemicals to remove residues and mold buildup from your washing machine. It can also be used in both top loading and HE washing machines, so no matter which one you have at home, this product is safe for your machine.

Biggest downsides: While the tablet design is great, it seems as if they do not always dissolve the way they are supposed to. When this ends up happening, it leaves a residue that has to be removed by hand. Because of all this extra labor that had to be undertaken after certain tests, this product ended up coming in second place instead of first.

Green Pick

Smelly Washer
Smelly Washer
and Dishwasher Cleaner

With its powerful formula, easy to use design for application, and proudly made in the United States of America, Smelly Washer Washing Machine and Dishwasher Cleaner is a great green choice.

Price Check

Most notable upside: Smelly Washer Washing Machine and Dishwasher Cleaner has a powerful cleaning chemical makeup that is capable of removing odors, mildew, and other types of musts from your washing machine. Its versatility allows it to be used with a wide variety of washing machines, including top loaders, HE models, and front loading models as well. Just simply put a capful into your next load of wash and you’re good to go.

Biggest downsides: There seemed to be some inconsistency in how effective the product actually was, with some machines smelling far cleaner than others when we were done testing them. In addition, the packaging arrived to us with the cap off, so there definitely needs to be a quality control reassessment as far as this product’s shipping methodology is concerned.

All Our Picks

Tips for Effective Washing Machine Cleaning

In order to clean your washing machine, simply use the product as instructed on the package and apply it to your next load of wash, or an empty load, depending on the instructions you are given. Not all washing machine cleaners are made equal, so please follow the instructions carefully with regard to the amount required to clean your washing machine.

A Note About Safety and Storage

Despite the fact that several of these products may be considered pet and child safe, they are not meant for consumption by either people or animals at any time. Be sure to store your washing machine cleaner on a shelf or in a cabinet that is not easily reached if you do have pets or children in your home or apartment. Be sure the storage area is not humid, as that could damage the packaging and cause it to leak. Finally, in the event of an accidental poisoning, call 911 immediately.

The Best Washing Machine Cleaner

Your guide to this review today is by Cleaning expert Ben Thurber

The Cleaning Institute

Testing Categories

Tide
Washing Machine
Cleaner

Affresh
Washing Machine
Cleaner

Smelly Washer
Smelly Washer
and Dishwasher Cleaner

All Our Picks

Tide
Washing Machine
Cleaner

Affresh
Washing Machine
Cleaner

Smelly Washer
Smelly Washer
and Dishwasher Cleaner

Tips for Effective Washing Machine Cleaning

A Note About Safety and Storage

Quick Links

Sign Up for Our Newsletter

The Best Washing Machine Cleaner

Your guide to this review today is by Cleaning expert Ben Thurber

The Cleaning Institute

Testing Categories

Tide Washing MachineCleaner

Affresh Washing Machine Cleaner

Smelly Washer Smelly Washerand Dishwasher Cleaner

All Our Picks

Tide Washing MachineCleaner

Affresh Washing Machine Cleaner

Smelly Washer Smelly Washerand Dishwasher Cleaner

Tips for Effective Washing Machine Cleaning

A Note About Safety and Storage

Quick Links

Sign Up for Our Newsletter

Tide
Washing Machine
Cleaner

Affresh
Washing Machine
Cleaner

Smelly Washer
Smelly Washer
and Dishwasher Cleaner

Tide
Washing Machine
Cleaner

Affresh
Washing Machine
Cleaner

Smelly Washer
Smelly Washer
and Dishwasher Cleaner