I just toss my pistol in with the laundry. The towels and other fabrics provide excellent scrubbing action. From there the dryer (it gets a bit noisy). I find keeping it loaded also helps clean the bullets.
Forgot to add - DO NOT try using the car wash to clean your pistol. When I came around to the entrance of the wash with Mr. Ruger hanging out the window they all freaked out. Some people are just scared of guns I guess.
What twist your Maytag got?