Gross reason your clothes are coming out of the washing machine still dirty

A woman has discovered her mother's front loader washing machine has never been cleaned, after a white top came out of the wash with greyish splotches all over it.

Holly Drummond knew instantly why her top was stained so she set about cleaning the appliance to prevent the problem happening again.

She shared the process she used to clean her mum's washing machine in a TikTok video.

Watch the video above.

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The Pilbara local then showed a panel at the bottom right corner of the machine, which she opened to reveal a tube and a filter.

"You need to empty the water first through this tube," she said before placing an empty container under the tube.

When Drummond opened the tube, water with large flakes of soap scrud poured out.

"Oh that's foul," she said.

Next up was the filter, which still had plenty of dirty water in it when opened and was full of detergent and lint build-up from years of never being cleaned.

To clean the filter, she scrubbed it with a toothbrush under running water.

Before putting the filter back in the appliance, Drummond cleaned the area around it with a cleaning spray and paper towel.

The next step was the door seal, which she cleaned with a spray and a cloth, and then it was time to scrub the detergent dispenser with a toothbrush.

"I normally use a bit of bleach but I don't have any at the moment," she said.

Finally, Drummond instructed her TikTok followers to put the washing machine on a drum clean cycle, though admitted she accidently put the machine on the quilt/duvet cycle (which would still give the drum a good wash regardless).

"Now I just need to get all the stains out of this," Drummond said holding up her stained white top.

The washing machine cleaning video was welcomed by many who were due to clean their own appliance.

"I NEEDED to see this. Have a weird grey stain on a new white blouse," a woman said.

"Cleaning mine now. thankyou!" one wrote.

"This is my front loader thanks so much been wanting to do a clean of it," another said.

Others shared their own washing machine cleaning tips including using vinegar or store bought appliance cleaners.

"Bicarb soda in the drum, vinegar in the detergent compartment. Hot wash - done," posted a viewer.

"Maintenance: Quarter cup of white vinegar in the detergent tray and another quarter straight into the drum on a drum clean cycle every 3-4 weeks,' another commented.

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However, some TikTok users wanted to know how to clean a top loader washing machine, which wasn't featured in the video.

Well, 9honey Living has you covered.

For a simple maintenance clean, you can follow most of the steps outlined above, however you will find your lint filters inside the drum.

Top loaders don't have a door seal, so you can skip that part but it's worth giving the machine a wipe over with vinegar or warm soapy water.

Then either put it on a drum clean cycle, or the longest hottest cycle with a cleaning agent like baking soda, vinegar, citric acid or a store bought washing machine cleaner.

Do that once a month and clean out lint filters after almost every wash and that should prevent washing from coming out of the appliance dirty and smelly.