Why You Should Put Mouthwash in Your Washing Machine

SHEfinds | Justine Ingersoll Schwartz

Laundry is a necessary evil – everybody hates doing it, but you don’t want to be the stinky kid at school, so you have to. It’s also essential for keeping your clothes in top shape. Since we have a love-hate relationship with laundry, we’re always looking for ways to make it better. Here’s one I just came across today: Did you know that running a load with mouthwash is how you clean your machine? Me neither. Game changer.

This is obviously more relevant for people who own their own washer and dryer (shout-out to you laundromat girls!). If your machine smells a little funky or otherwise requires disinfecting, you simply run a half cup of mouthwash in an empty load on normal cycle. This cleans the machine and will make your future laundry loads smell amazing.

I used this technique after a little incident with poison ivy. I had poison ivy oils on some gloves I used during gardening (I know, so suburban) and was paranoid about the oils sticking to the machine and getting all over future loads. I used the mouthwash trick and never had an issue with the ivy. It also got rid of a musky smell that lingered in my machine from the prior owners (my house is really old). If you’re a clean freak, this is definitely something you should do immediately.

So, there you have it – another super-simple laundry hack.

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