Laundry Room Maintenance

Home maintenance isn't just about household chores. Just as changing a furnace filter improves performance and efficiency, properly maintaining your household appliances such as washers and dryers is essential to keeping them running at peak performance year-round.

Knowing how to troubleshoot potential problems enables consumers to properly care for their machines, saving time, money and headaches. Consult the following tips and laundry maintenance can easily become part of the household routine.

	Easy on the Suds For high-efficiency (HE) washers, use only HE detergents in the proper amount to help prevent oversudsing and the build-up of odor-causing residue.
	Keep An Open Door Policy Leave the door open after each use to allow air to circulate for HE washers.
	Find that Missing Sock Check washer and dryer drains and pipes for blockages, such as lint or even missing socks, to maintain optimum water and air flow.
	Running on Empty Empty the lint trap in the dryer after each load to save energy and maintain fire safety.
	Exhaust All Your Options Keep the dryer's outside exhaust clean to shorten drying time and decrease energy use.
	Full, But Not Too Full Run full loads but don't overload the washer or dryer. Clothes come out cleaner and less wrinkled when given room to move freely.
	Your Washer Needs Washing, Too Avoid the potential for odor-causing residue by "washing" the machine every 30 days by using a washer cleaning cycle.

This final tip is important, particularly with HE washers, which seal more tightly and use less water than older, less efficient washers - increasing the potential for odor-causing residue. Each year, more and more consumers choose to purchase HE washers, seeking the benefits of unmatched capacity, water and energy savings and superior cleaning abilities. To more effectively remove odor-causing residue that can accumulate behind the washer drum and around the door seal, laundry appliance manufacturers recommend a regular maintenance routine. Be sure to consult your washer's Use & Care Guide for instructions on regular maintenance of your machine.

Odor in HE washers can occur when residue from detergents, lint, sloughed off skin cells and soil accumulates in areas of the washer where water cannot easily rinse. Not all washers will show signs of odor, but just like a high-performance sports car needs an oil change, regular maintenance can keep your washer operating at peak performance.

To aid in the maintenance of your washer, leading manufacturers such as Maytag and Whirlpool recommend Affresh for their washing machines. There's no better time than now to make regular washer maintenance a habit. To learn more about Affresh, visit www.affresh.com.