Washer drum
The part that gets the most water and the least air. Almost everything recommended for it is about drying rather than cleaning.
Precautions
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
Start here
What this is, what tends to go wrong with it, and what to do about it.
Made from
What tends to go wrong
- Fingerprintsvia its material
Skin oils transferred by touch. A greasy soil rather than a dirty one, which is why water alone does not shift them and why they return immediately.
Why it is difficult: Surfactancy
- Water marksvia its material
What hard water leaves behind when it evaporates instead of being wiped away. A mineral film, not dirt, and the fix is at the drying stage.
Why it is difficult: Water hardness, Evaporative deposition
- Rustvia its material
Hydrated iron oxide from corroding iron or steel. Distinguish a surface deposit, which cleans off, from active corrosion of the item itself, which does not.
Why it is difficult: Corrosion and passivation, Why old stains are harder, Adhesion and cohesion
- Burnt-on food and carbon depositsvia its material
Food heated until it carbonised and bonded to the surface. Time and softening do the work; scouring powder does the damage.
Why it is difficult: Contact time, Carbonisation, Adhesion and cohesion, Why old stains are harder
- Greasevia its material
Fats and oils, which water alone cannot lift. Removed by surfactants, by heat, by solvents, or by alkalis that convert the fat into soap.
Why it is difficult: Why oil resists water, Emulsification
- Heat tintvia its material
The rainbow or brown bloom on stainless steel that has been heated. Not a deposit and not dirt: the metal's own surface oxide, thickened by heat.
- Limescalevia its material
A hard, chalky calcium carbonate deposit left by hard water. Dissolved by acids, essentially untouched by detergents.
Why it is difficult: Water hardness, Crystallisation, Adhesion and cohesion
The science behind this: Corrosion and passivation, Water hardness, Chloride attack, Cleanability is designed in
Part of Washing machine.
In detail
A front-loading washer drum is wet several times a week, sealed by a gasket, and closed for most of its life. Nothing about that combination favours the machine, and the manufacturer guidance for it is dominated by ventilation rather than by product: wipe the area dry, and let the interior air dry with the door open. That instruction is the whole of the routine maintenance most drums need, and it is also the one most often skipped, because a closed door looks tidier and a drum that has just washed clothes does not look dirty.
Related
- Washer drum is made from Stainless steel
Sources for this page
Sources
Cleaning a Front Load Washer Door Seal
Whirlpool Corporation · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That after cleaning, the area is wiped thoroughly with a dry cloth and the washer interior is left to air dry with the door open. (states this directly)