help washine machine disaster

fizzel81

ok so this sounds dumb but here go's
somehow a disposable nappy ended up in my washing machine without me noticeing (we have some still hanging round house from my before reusables)
my machine and all clothing is now full of slimy gunk, whats the best way to get this out of the machine? without it staying in the pipes also i know the clothes will need washing again will i be best to rinse them out in the bath first

thank you x

Pink.

Fizzle,

I would shake the clothes in the garden, then rinse in the bath and wash again. For help with the machine, you might be best to ask on the In My Home board, or have a look at www.washerhelp.co.uk

Good luck with it.........I've never done a nappy, but had a few incidents with tissues.

Pink

fizzel81

Thank you(sorry there is still no thanks button), will teach me to check the machine just before a switch on

oops_a_daisy

the slimy gunk is the super absorbent polymers from the nappy - I would advise that you manually remove them from your machine as much as possible as they will soak up liquid ( usually urine but in this case water ) and expand. They can hold up to 50 times their weight in liquid so could block pipes if they expand and get stuck. Remove as much as possible before putting the clothes anywhere near water. They are a nightmare to get off carpets too - good for plants though because they hold so much water. Good luck and fingers crossed that no real harm is done

Nicki

I did exactly the same thing last weekend. I took out all the clothes and scooped out the silicon granules with my hands and wiped the drum over with a damp cloth. Then put the clothes all back in and ran them through on a rinse wash. Took them out and hung them on the line, giving them a good shake as I did it. Fortunately it was a windy day. Two or three items needed to go through on a second wash after they had dried because they still had a slight grainy residue but the rest were fine. I've used the machine several times since then and it seems to be fine.

I have a feeling though that this is a mistake I am only going to make once!