Short answer: Yes, if your washer manual allows it. Maytag calls baking soda safe for most machines, but a former LG engineer told Wirecutter to avoid it. One recipe uses half a cup in an empty front loader, or a cup in a top loader. Run it on the hottest setting.
Keep vinegar out of that cycle, because the two can cancel each other out.
The cleaner for a musty washer may already be sitting in your pantry.
Right now, her towels come out of the wash still smelling like dog. The crate pad smells the same. You can’t tell anymore if it’s her or the machine.
A baking soda washing machine cleaner is a cleaning cycle run with plain baking soda in an empty drum. Its chemical name is sodium bicarbonate. Soap residue can cause lingering odors that transfer between loads of clothes. Leave that buildup, and clean towels can keep picking up the smell.
So clean the machine first. Then rewash the towels in the fresh drum, using the first FAQ below.
We sell washer cleaner tablets and a printable puppy schedule kit, and we link to them below.
Sources include Maytag, Tide, Martha Stewart, Wirecutter and Mommypotamus.
Can you put baking soda in a washing machine?
In the UK, baking soda is also called bicarbonate of soda. It is different from washing soda.
Yes, in most machines. Baking soda is safe to use in most washing machines, unlike vinegar. It can deodorize both the machine and your clothes. That’s Maytag’s view, and it still tells you to check your owner’s manual.
It’s a mild cleaner, at a pH around 8, so a cleaning cycle needs a fair amount of it. You need more to raise the pH enough, writes Heather Dessinger of Mommypotamus.
Sangjin Jung, a mechanical engineering professor who once worked in LG’s washing machine division, told Wirecutter to avoid baking soda. The mixing ratio matters, he said.
“Usually the manufacturing companies do not recommend using non-washer safe products.”
Sangjin Jung, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, Southern Illinois University, speaking to Wirecutter
Your manual settles it. Use baking soda only if the manufacturer permits it, following its quantity and cycle instructions. If it names a washer cleaner, use that one instead.
Can baking soda damage a washing machine?
Used in moderate amounts, baking soda and vinegar shouldn’t harm your washer. Both are safe to use in both regular and HE washing machines, Tide writes. Extreme use can affect coatings on the drive shaft parts that switch the washer from agitate to spin.
Keep baking soda out of the rinse, too, because it can leave fabric rough and stiff. Its high pH could also fade some pH-sensitive dyes.
So measure each scoop and skip the extra handful.
That weekly mat and towel load is the kind of laundry a puppy house runs all the time.
How do you clean a washing machine with baking soda?
What you need
- Baking soda, half a cup for a front loader or a cup for a top loader
- Two clean cloths, an old toothbrush and a spray bottle of all-purpose cleaner
- Your washer manual, open to the cleaning section
- A gate or closed door between her and the laundry room, with the baking soda box up high
Plan on two wipes, one scoop and one hot cycle. The amounts and cycles come from Mommypotamus, where baking soda is her second cycle after vinegar. The seal, drawer and rinse steps come from Maytag and Wirecutter.
How do you clean a front load washer with baking soda?
- Clear the door seal. Wipe the outside of the rubber seal, then lift the edge and wipe inside the fold. The seal steps below go deeper.
- Scrub the detergent drawer. An old toothbrush gets into the corners. If it slides out, wash it in hot water in the sink.
- Sprinkle half a cup of baking soda into the empty drum. Leave out the towels, the detergent and any other cleaner.
- Run the sanitize cycle, or the hottest water and largest load setting. Use the washer’s own cleaning cycle instead if it has one.
- Wipe the drum with a clean cloth when the cycle ends. Then dry the seal.
Tip: Check the seal fold before every clean. Wirecutter’s washer writer once found a baby sock caught in a gasket.
How do you clean a top load washer with baking soda?
- Use the cleaning settings permitted by your washer manual. Let the tub fill.
- Add a cup of baking soda. Let the agitator run for about a minute to mix it in.
- Pause and let it soak for 30 to 60 minutes, then let the cycle finish.
- Run a rinse and spin to clear away leftover cleanser.
- Wipe the inside of the drum with a clean cloth.
On a traditional top loader, the center agitator can come apart. Jessica Petrino of AJ Madison soaks it in hot water, vinegar and baking soda in the sink. On Martha Stewart, she suggests removing a flat impeller only now and then, for a deep clean.
How do you clean the rubber door seal with a puppy in the house?
The seal fold is where fur from her bedding loads ends up. Water and debris collect there too. Martha Stewart’s guide names the seal as the likely culprit when a front loader smells.
- Pull the fur out first. Lift the edge of the seal and pick out hair, lint and anything caught in the fold.
- Spray the seal. Use an all-purpose cleaner, or a one-to-one vinegar and water spray if your manual allows vinegar.
- Let it sit for about a minute, then wipe with a microfiber cloth. Repeat until the cloth comes away clean.
- Dry the seal completely. Wipe away every trace of vinegar before any bleach goes near the machine.
- Give it a quick wipe after each wash, because moisture collects there between cleans.
The seal steps draw on Martha Stewart’s guide, Wirecutter and Mommypotamus’s gasket routine. Keep the spray bottle up high, out of her reach. For the fur itself, see our washing machine cleaner for pet hair guide.
How much baking soda should you use to clean a washer?
The cited DIY recipe uses half a cup for front loaders and one cup for top loaders. These are not universal manufacturer doses. Washing soda, the stronger option, takes half those amounts.
Cleaning cycle amounts, in cups
Bar length is cups, out of 1. Use one cleaner per cycle, in an empty drum.
Tip: Pour baking soda straight into the drum, never the dispenser. because it may clog the dispenser.
DIY washing machine cleaner: washing soda vs baking soda
Washing soda is the stronger of the two. It sits at a pH around 11, against about 8 for baking soda, and goes into some commercial detergents. Dessinger prefers it, and her recipes use half as much.
- Front loader: 4 tablespoons of washing soda, or 2 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons of oxygen bleach.
- Top loader: half a cup, or a quarter cup plus a quarter cup of oxygen bleach.
- Then: sprinkle it in the empty drum and run the same hot cycle as the baking soda steps.
The oxygen bleach is optional and adds cleaning power. Two of our sources finish with a store-bought tablet instead. Wirecutter used Affresh on the sanitizing cycle, and Petrino names OxiClean or Affresh.
Should you mix vinegar and baking soda in the same cycle?
Keep them in separate cycles. Baking soda’s high pH and vinegar’s low pH can cancel out their cleaning potency when combined.
Vinegar itself is optional, and sources split on it. Maytag calls it acidic and able to corrode washer parts. Petrino skips it on washers with rubber parts or hoses, since it can make hoses crack and leak. Dessinger’s own appliance maker recommends it. Our vinegar and baking soda section covers what more makers say.
| Source | Baking soda | Vinegar |
|---|---|---|
| Maytag | Safe in most washers, check the manual | Acidic, can corrode parts |
| Tide | Fine in moderate amounts; extreme use can affect drive shaft coatings | Fine for the washer in moderate amounts; can weaken cotton and linen |
| Jessica Petrino, on Martha Stewart | Agitator soak in the sink | Diluted spray, but none with rubber parts or hoses |
| Sangjin Jung, on Wirecutter | Avoid it | Wirecutter wipes the machine with it |
| Mommypotamus | 1/2 cup front, 1 cup top | Own cycle first, if your maker allows |
How to clean a washing machine with vinegar and baking soda
Only do this if your manual allows vinegar. It adds a vinegar cycle before the baking soda one.
- Run the vinegar alone first. Use 2 cups in a front loader’s detergent dispenser, or a quart in a top loader’s tub.
- Pick the hottest water and largest load setting. On a top loader, pause it to soak for 30 to 60 minutes, then let it finish.
- Run a second hot cycle with the baking soda sprinkled in the empty drum.
- Wipe the inside of the drum with a clean cloth.
Tip: Never mix bleach with vinegar, ammonia or another cleaner. Pee contains ammonia, so rinse a pee-soaked towel and enzyme-treat it before any chlorine bleach goes near it.
Can you clean a washing machine with citric acid?
Only if your manual allows acids. To descale means to strip mineral buildup from hard water. None of our five sources gives a citric acid dose for a washer, so we won’t guess one.
The acid warnings in these five sources are about vinegar. Vinegar can corrode washer parts and crack hoses, as the vinegar section shows.
Our washer tablets contain citric acid too, alongside baking soda. If your manual rules out acids, skip them and use the cleaner it names.
How often should you run a baking soda clean?
About once a month, according to Courtenay Hartford, author of The Cleaning Ninja, speaking to Martha Stewart. Maytag’s rule is about every thirty washes. Mommypotamus gives top loaders three to six months and front loaders monthly. A store-bought cleaner may set its own schedule on the label.
A puppy house hits thirty loads fast. Towels after muddy walks, crate pads and the water bowl mat all count. Run a load a day, and you reach thirty in about a month. In Hartford’s view, a machine used every day or every other day doesn’t give bacteria a chance to grow.
Martha Stewart’s guide lists the signs: musty clothes, residue in the drawer or drum, and fur around the seal.
Fabric softener adds to the buildup. Softener tends to leave a residue that feeds mold and mildew, per Mommypotamus. Wool dryer balls soften clothes without it.
If fur keeps packing into the seal fold after bedding loads, try our free Pet Hair Removal Finder. You answer three multiple-choice questions on the surface, the material and what bugs you most. It suggests a type of remover and a buying point to check, and asks for no name or email.
Find where the washer smell starts
Get the free Washer Smell Finder through the email form.
Click Here To Get The Free Washer Smell FinderWhen is it time to call an appliance tech?
Start with the parts you can reach, in the order Dessinger suggests. If the odor survives the clean, check the filter and hoses. Then contact the maker. A clogged pump filter can also stop the machine from draining. Our step by step washer cleaning guide shows how to clear it.
Bring in the maker or a tech when:
- Odor or mold stays after several cleanings. Martha Stewart’s front load method ends with calling a professional for service.
- The washer won’t drain after you’ve cleared the filter. Something past the filter needs a look.
- It smells like sewer. Our washing machine smells guide sorts each smell by where it starts, drain included.
- Your washer is under warranty. Some makers require specific products to keep the warranty valid. Ask before you try any DIY washing machine cleaner.
Baking soda washer cleaner FAQ
Can I add baking soda to a load of dog towels?
Maytag suggests up to half a cup in the tub, with your detergent in the dispenser as usual. Add it at the start, not the rinse. You may want to skip it on wool, cashmere and silk.
Does baking soda kill mold in a washing machine?
Our sources don’t say it kills mold. Dessinger writes that enough of it helps rinse away mold and mineral deposits. For mold and mildew, Maytag points to liquid chlorine bleach where your model allows it. Run bleach on its own, never with vinegar or another cleaner.
Is it safe to leave the washer door open with a puppy?
Leaving it open helps the machine dry, Wirecutter notes, and Martha Stewart’s guide suggests about an inch between loads. Mommypotamus also says to keep pets and small children away from an open machine. With a gate across the laundry room, the one-inch gap can work. Without one, keep it shut and wipe the drum and seal dry.
Research basis: the linked sources below. Product recommendations are based on published information, not hands-on testing.
Sources
- Maytag: How to Use Baking Soda in Laundry, plus its washing machine cleaning guide
- Tide: Washing Clothes with Baking Soda and Vinegar
- Martha Stewart: The Right Way to Clean Your Washing Machine, by Caylin Harris and Lauren Wellbank
- Wirecutter: How to Deep-Clean Your Front-Loading Washing Machine, by Andrea Barnes
- Mommypotamus: How to Clean Your Washing Machine, by Heather Dessinger, FDN-P