All washed up.
Do you ever notice that your washing machine often lies to you? You think you have a minute left until it’s done but that minute seems to go on forever. How does this happen? It’s most likely caused by something you’re doing wrong.
“This common annoyance is generally the result of your washing machine working hard against simple mistakes to ensure you’re left with laundry that is well cleaned and rinsed,” appliance repair expert Ian Palmer-Smith told the Daily Mail.
Here are a few mistakes you should stop making ASAP when it comes to your laundry cycle.
Most people think that by putting a lot of laundry detergent into the washing machine, their clothes will be extra clean and smell good.
They’re not wrong, but that’s one of the common causes of what’s holding up your laundry cycle.
Palmer-Smith explained that putting too much laundry detergent into your machine ends up making your washer run longer to make sure clothes are clean,
“If you add too much to the appliance, it will often require additional time to spin and drain away any excess water and detergent residue,” the expert added.
Another cause — which I’m personally guilty of — is overcrowding your laundry machine.
If your laundry isn’t loaded into the machine efficiently, it will cause the machine to become unbalanced.
“With washing machines becoming more sophisticated, they are able to detect if the load is unbalanced. If it is, this can often result in additional minutes being added,” the expert explained.
“This is a really easy mistake to avoid by distributing your laundry evenly in the drum,” Palmer-Smith continued.
The third reason why your laundry is taking what feels like years to finish, often happens when you let your laundry pile up and you want a one-and-done wash cycle — overloading your washing machine.
The appliance expert explained that washers should not be filled to their maximum capacity.
“Putting too many heavy clothing items in one wash, for example lots of hoodies and towels, can strain the machine as it struggles to spin at the optimal setting,” Palmer-Smith advised.
“Never fill your washing machine more than 80%, you should still be able to see some of the drum,” he added.
All of this is to say that your washing machine should be working smarter — not harder.
