Washing machine mold is one laundry nightmare that I constantly face. I’ve tried all sorts of mold-cleaning hacks to banish the unsightly black marks on my washing machine gasket, but they never remove the mold completely.
Despite having one of the best washing machines and following all the correct steps to clean my washing machine, the black mold continues to rear its ugly head. I’ve tried using staple storecupboard ingredients, like vinegar and baking soda, but somehow, the mold always wins, and it’s a problem that I know all front-loading washing machine owners face.
Apart from looking unsightly, clothes washed in a machine infested with mold can retain a musty odor and even carry mold spores. Over time, it can damage the fibers in your clothes.
So, when I saw on TikTok that Melissa Pateras, known as the @laundrytok, was praising an alternative solution, I couldn’t wait to discover more. Instead of using the standard white vinegar and baking soda cleaning hacks to remove mold, she uses a store-bought gel paste.
Pateras reveals the magic product as Sugelary Mold and Mildew Stain Cleaner, and it’s currently discounted by 38% to $9.99 at Amazon. She put it to use to clean a particularly bad case of mold on a washing machine’s gasket, which she shares on her TikTok account.
She explains that if you don’t dry out the gasket after each use and leave the washing machine door open after each load, mold will build up within the gasket. She says, “The laundry washed in this machine will smell just as bad as it looks. The mold stains the rubber gasket, and it’s almost impossible to get it back.”
@melissadilkespateras ♬ original sound - Laundrytok | Melissa Pateras
How to remove the mold
Pateras demostrates how she follows eight steps to remove the mold from a washing machine gasket using the gel. Here's what she does:
1. Apply the gel to the areas covered with mold, making sure to get into all the cracks.
2. Put on a pair of rubber gloves and smooth the gel evenly over the surface.
3. Allow it to sit for two hours.
4. Check how well it’s working, and reapply the gel to any areas that still appear dark.
5. Leave the gel to work for another hour.
6. Work the gel with a scrubbing brush and check to see if it needs to be left any longer. During this time, Pateras cleaned the door of the washing machine while she was waiting.
7. Run a tub clean cycle on your machine. Alternatively, if you don’t have a tub clean cycle, Pateas advises running the longest and hottest cycle.
8. Once the cycle is complete, dry the gasket, and hopefully, your washing machine gasket will be mold-free.
