Laundry

Reply to: It sounds like there is hidden sludge inside your machine causing these stains. Try running the tub clean cycle with about a 1/4 cup of powdered dishwasher detergent (like Cascade). A lot of suds during the cleaning cycle indicates there's lots of residue build up and you'll need to run multiple cleaning cycles with the dishwasher detergent.

Q

Reply to: Everything above sounds normal, if not commonplace in this forum -- less detergent, diluted FS, citric acid (or Tang) as a tub cleaner -- except the Oxyclean comment. Many of us use Oxyclean, or the pure form of its main component, sodium percarbonate, with excellent results and no detrimental effects on our washing machines. Oxyclean itself does have additional fillers that can increase sudsing and/or decrease rinsing effectiveness, but there are still many who use it regularly and successfully. Do implement the citric acid clean. I'd be nervous to use Tang, or any colored powder, in my washing machine for fear of eventual color transfer. Straight citric acid can be found with canning and preserving supplies. Some powder lemonades may be color-free and work just as well. Someone will chime in.

Q

Reply to: My hat is off to Peter Tung. His observation about the nasty water dripping from the vanes inside the drum was the clue I was looking for. Rather than try to clean them by pouring cleansers/bleach into them, however, I removed them and got a nasty surprise. The vanes are very easy to remove. There is a single, phillips screw in a recessed hole near the back of the drum. Unscrew it, and then gently slide the vane toward you. It will unlatch and you can lift it up. Each one was covered with the same slimy crud. Once you get all three out, take them to the sink and remove the white piece that holds the black balls in place. Be careful not to break the little tabs holding the white piece in. I found that just a little pressure on the black balls will pop it out. Make sure the little balls can't fall down the drain before you start. I took them apart and scrubbed the pieces with hot soapy water (you'll need an old toothbrush for the small crevices). While I was doing that, I ran the machine on "sanitary" with HE washing machine cleaner; bleach and detergent would probably work, too. After that, I wiped inside to remove any residual gunk, and re-installed the vanes. Only time will tell, but I'm pretty sure this will solve our problem. PS - I had previously cleaned the seal (which was also full of slimy mold) and that didn't fix the problem. Its certainly good to do that for other reasons, but it won't solve this problem by itself.

Q

Reply to: Thank you sparky823. The video is very helpful and explains a few more things. My wife prefers liquid detergent while I prefer powder for my dirty work clothes, full of dust. Just started lately, she got the black streaks when she washes fancier clothes using liquid detergent. I have retired for two years now and I guess the washer only sees liquid detergent. I do not recall getting the black streaks on my work clothes, or any clothes for that matter, strange, eh? However, her problem becomes my problem and I had to get the problem solved. The bleach worked and I guess it cleaned out the tub from the inside and all around the ring. I even pulled the discharge hose away from the drain pipe to see if any thing came out from the washer. I have a laundry tub in between the washer and the dryer. A few black droplets came out from the discharged water and settled to the bottom of the laundry tub. When I smeared them, they turn into black streaks! I also suspected that the inner tub must also be coated with the same slimy stuff all over, with black droplets ready to come off it. I will run the cascade cycles periodically and stay away from liquid detergent. So far, we are lucky that we have no seal problem yet!

Q