Ways to Keep Your Washer and Dryer Working Like New

Ways to Keep Your Washer and Dryer Working Like New

“We are Speed Queen Ambassadors. All views expressed are that of our own.”

We’ve had our Speed Queen washer and dryer for about 4 months now. We absolutely love them! With a family of five, we wash a load of laundry at least every-other day, sometimes multiple days in a row! With that kind of demand, owning a high quality, commercial grade washer and dryer is a must.

Purchasing a high quality washer and/or dryer is a wise investment for any homeowner, especially if you run as many loads as we do!

Even though our Speed Queen machines are built like an Ox, we still take measures to keep them running like new. These 10 ways to keep your washer and dryer working like new, can apply to any brand washer or dryer.

1. Don’t use fabric softener – For one thing, fabric softener is toxic. It contains nasty chemicals that coat your clothes to make them feel soft. Not only do the chemicals in fabric softeners coat our clothes, but they coat the inside of a washing machine. Ever open a washing machine and see visible gunk stuck around the top of the tub? That’s old fabric softener. It also gunks up the drain and prevents efficient rinsing. This can obviously lead to problems down the road. Therefore, it’s best to just avoid it.
2. Keep your dryer’s lint trap clean – This is probably an obvious one for most people. However, I hear stories of people not knowing, or forgetting to clean out their dryer’s lint traps. Not only will a clogged lint trap reduce drying efficiency and prevent the dryer from exhausting properly, it’s also a major fire hazard! My Speed Queen dryer’s lint trap is located just at the bottom inside of the door. It’s very visible and super easy to clean out. Other dryers have lint traps that are more hidden and are easily forgettable. Just another benefit of owning a Speed Queen in my opinion. Don’t forget to clean your lint trap!
3. Don’t overload your Washing Machine – Overloading your washing machine can lead to premature machine death! Adding too many garments places extra load on the washing machine’s motor. Although Speed Queen washers are designed with abuse from commercial environments in-mind. Most machines aren’t. You can probably get away with overloading your machine a few times. However, making a habit of it will surely lead to a busted motor or worn bearings. It doesn’t end there though, an overloaded machine will not clean your garments correctly. Everything is packed too close, resulting in poor detergent distribution and inefficient rinsing. Basically, you could end up with clothes that are not fully rinsed or are still dirty!
4. Don’t Under-load Your Washing Machine – We just discussed why to not overload your washing machine. Under-loading your machine is also a no no. An under-loaded machine can cause a load of laundry to favor one side of the wash tub. For example, a load consisting of one blanket, can cause the wash tub to spin unevenly. I’ve witnessed past washing machines travel over a foot away from their resting place, because an uneven load bounces the machine so bad it walks! This type of situation can beat up a washing machine pretty bad and shorten its life.
5. Clean Your dryer’s exhaust duct – The exhaust duct that transfers the hot air exhaust from your dryer to the outside of your home collects lint over a long period of time. Cleaning out the duct should be done every 6 months or so. To do this, just disconnect the duct from the rear of the dryer and from the wall. Now take a long circular brush (they make brushes specifically for this purpose) and slide it in and out of the duct to break the lint loose. Following that, you can vacuum out the remainder of the loose lint/dust.
6. Check pockets before washing/drying – The fact that we have kids means we need to be particularly diligent about checking pockets before washing clothes. Because of our “little angels”, we’ve washed rocks, crayons, markers, pens, and even diapers! As you can imagine, any one of those objects could wreak havoc on the inside of a washer or dryer. The diaper incident was by far the worse thing we’ve washed because the diaper breaks open and spills out it’s fully saturated absorbent gel into the wash tub. The clothes in the load? Yeah you guessed it… covered with diaper gel and tears of regret for not checking the load prior to running it! The washing machine was also loaded with gel that never really went away. Make sure you check the pockets of your clothes before loading them into your machine.
7. Clean the Outside of Your Machine – When you own something that looks new, you’re more apt to treat it like it is new. Keep your machines looking new on the outside by wiping them down regularly. A lint free cloth or paper-towel dampened with a mild spray cleaner or plain water will keep your machines looking like they did when you first purchased them.
8. Save the Repairs for a Professional – I’m a do-it-yourself kind of guy and have a background in manufacturing and mechanical engineering. I have a lot of experience making repairs to various kinds of equipment and automobiles. A washer or dryer is not out of my realm of capabilities. However, I’m still very cautious about opening up a machine i’m not familiar with. Speed Queen works with local appliance dealers to qualify them to repair their machines properly. Certain jobs should just be left to the professionals with the right tools.

Overall, investing in quality in a quality washer and dryer is one of the utmost household investments one could make. Speed Queen products are made in the USA and are built to last years! Our duo should last us at least 25 years or more with proper maintenance. We couldn’t be any more happier!