Two minutes, every time, and these machines last.
Dirty tank first
Empty it down a sink, rinse it, and leave the lid off. A closed damp tank is the single biggest source of the smell.
Then the roller
Run the self-clean cycle if the machine has one. Then take the roller out anyway and stand it somewhere it can dry in air. A roller left in its housing stays damp for a day.
The filter and the trap
There is a debris trap under or behind the dirty tank on every one of these machines, and it holds hair and grit. Empty it with the tank, not once a month.
Clean water tank
Empty it too. Water left standing for two weeks in a warm room grows a biofilm that you then spray onto your floor.
Once a month
A cycle with a descaling solution or a capful of white vinegar in the clean tank, in a hard-water area. Scale in the spray jets shows up as a machine that wets unevenly.
The questions we hear
How soon after use does it matter?
Within hours. What comes off a floor is organic, it is sitting in warm water in a sealed tank, and it goes off overnight. A machine emptied the next morning already smells.
Does a self-cleaning cycle replace this?
It replaces the roller washing, not the emptying. No machine on this site empties its own dirty tank. And a cycle you have to remember to start is one you will eventually skip, which is why a cycle that runs automatically on the dock is worth more than a hotter one.
Last reviewed 2026-08-16
