As with any appliance, maintaining its efficiency is a must. One good way to keep your washing machine efficient is by keeping it clean. This should be done at least once or twice a week.
A washing machine takes a beating every time it is used. Whatever is on your clothing or in the pockets of clothing ends up going through the washing processes. So over a time, your washing machine can build up gunk and debris. Whether it's in the washing barrel or under the rim of the lid, even in the water hoses themselves, your washing machine needs to be cleaned to remain in good working order.
A good way to keep your washing machine barrel and hoses clean and free of grime is to run a vinegar cycle through the wash. White vinegar helps to remove residue, soap and other additives left in your machine after each wash. Run a large wash cycle of hot water with about two cups of white vinegar through a complete wash cycle. If you don't have white vinegar you can substitute it with lemon or lime juice. Always be sure to run an extra hot water cycle through the machine after cleaning, too.
Not to be neglected is the space above the barrel where there is a gap. Dirty gunky water splashes up into this area quite often and your liquid softener and bleach dispense out through here into the washing barrel. It wont take this area long to build up a nasty film of grease, grime, residue, dirt, or whatever else is in the water during the washing process. Take a soft scrub with a bleach additive and cleanse this area well. This will prevent any of this nasty stuff from falling into your washing cycle.
Be sure you clean the actual bleach and softener dispenser areas. These never completely empty, so you're left with liquid residue which, if left unattended over time, could potentially clog the dispensers and reduce the efficiency of these two places. You might take an old toothbrush, Q-tips, or pipe cleaners, and gently clean out the openings where they drain into the washing machine.
Don't neglect keeping the water hoses to the washing machine in working order. From time to time make sure they are properly attached to the machine and drain areas. If a machine becomes unbalanced it could potentially cause the hoses to come undone leaving behind a flood of water that could do lots of damage to the laundry and surrounding areas. It wouldn't hurt to remove the hoses from time to time and make sure there isn't a buildup of washing products or a clog due to junk left in the clothes.
A few other products you can use to maintain the cleanliness of your washing machine by running a cycle of the product through are Oxi-clean, Odo Ban, and Pine-Sol. Using these products with a wash load would be even better as it would help to reduce the buildup of laundry soap and softener.
The ultimate goal is to maintain the efficiency of your washing machine by keeping it clean. Of course, the unexpected happens, and you may need to call in a repairman. But if you're keeping your machine free of buildup, you will cut down on the number of times you need to call a repairman in.