Washing Machine Sludge

dannymccann

Hopefully this is the right place, you will normally find me lurking in the Utilities and Motoring boards

My built in Indesit washer-dryer has got this horrid problem. It's had it for a while but just recently it's started to affect my clean clothes. My current washing habits:

- Use just about enough liquid detergent (the Morrisons one that comes on 2 for £3 every now and again)
- Half a scoop of wash salt
- 4/5 30deg, 1 70deg ish washes a week
- Emptied within 2 hours of cycle finishing (it's set to run while we are at work)
- Door left open to air for roughly 24 hours, although I do have to nag the wife to leave it open (I know, we are the wrong way round )

I've done the natural tricks of a couple of boil washes with soda and vinegar, I've tried basic boil wash and I've attempted to scrub it off, but it's pretty inaccessible. I wasn't wanting to use too many chemicals but it's getting to the point now where I don't care and I just want it clean!

Tips please!

nuttyp

I was advised to use powder as apposed to liquid as it contains bleach in it and it kills the bacteria in the machine water. Maybe you could put an old towel in and use powder on a boil wash? Also remove the detergent drawer and clean this and the housing it sits in. This can also be quite a breading ground too.

Chris25

sorry, not quite sure where the sludge is - is it sticking to your clean clothes, left in the machine on the drum or trapped inside the door rubber?

Have you emptied/cleaned the washer filter lately - could that be anything to do with it? Incidentally,I discovered that after cleaning the fliter you need to replace a litre of water back into the drum to percolate down to filter level so that good bacteria can be replaced.

Could it be anything to do with using liquid detergent, esp if concentrated type, as it's a combined machine, perhaps the detergent isn't dissolving as it should and the heat from the dryer cycle is part-baking it?

Or thinking on similar lines to nuttyp - if the dtergent draw needs cleaning, maybe sludge has backed-up in that and is dripping into machine?

sorry can't be any more help.

redfragglebiker

I second the powder suggestion. I would also second the suggestion of taking out the dispenser drawer and giving it a good scrub. I was advised some time ago by my Mum that every so often it's not a bad idea to run a washing machine empty with no detergent etc on in at as a high a temperatiyre as you can as it "flushes out" any bits of stale detergent etc that could be clogging up the machine. Hope this helps and let us know how you get on. X

culpepper

Ours is an indesit
We bought ours second hand and I took the drawer out to discover a massive amount of sludge all over the bottom of it. I could literally reach down the spout under the drawer and scoop the stuff out.
I was gagging.:eek:
Anyway, lots of hot water and scrubbing and then a hot wash on empty seemed to clear it.
We also have a little filter thing near the floor on the right hand side which you have to unscrew and that was also filled with black gloop which I sucked out with the wet and dry vacuum.

dannymccann

Sorry I meant to say I don't use the dryer part, nor the drawer. The grey crap is stuck under the door seal, which I can scrape off to a certain degree, but if I pull the seal back I can see it more on the outside of the drum itself but no way I can clean it off.

The liquid is concentrate stuff, and I dont use fab conditioner anymore due to that seemingly not helping with the problem

The filter is inaccesible behind the kitchen kick panels (great design :rolleyes: ) but it has been off once as it was making a terrible racket because a small piece of plastic was caught in it. There was no real muck stuck to it though...

patchwork_cat

http://www.washerhelp.co.uk/usage_2.html#cl_q1 this or a variation on this is a perennial issue that comes up on old style. You would be better switching to powder and you may have to change the door seal.

mrsr

dannymccann wrote: »

Hopefully this is the right place, you will normally find me lurking in the Utilities and Motoring boards

My built in Indesit washer-dryer has got this horrid problem. It's had it for a while but just recently it's started to affect my clean clothes. My current washing habits:

- Use just about enough liquid detergent (the Morrisons one that comes on 2 for £3 every now and again)
- Half a scoop of wash salt
- 4/5 30deg, 1 70deg ish washes a week
- Emptied within 2 hours of cycle finishing (it's set to run while we are at work)
- Door left open to air for roughly 24 hours, although I do have to nag the wife to leave it open (I know, we are the wrong way round )

I've done the natural tricks of a couple of boil washes with soda and vinegar, I've tried basic boil wash and I've attempted to scrub it off, but it's pretty inaccessible. I wasn't wanting to use too many chemicals but it's getting to the point now where I don't care and I just want it clean!

Tips please!

I had the same problem.As others have said it's more than likely the liquid,changing to powder sorted for me

sparrer

I've never used liquid or tablets, preferring money saving powder. I use a tablespoon of powder and another soda crystals which gets the wash really clean - never any food or grease stains left on clothes - and cleans the machine at the same time.

dannymccann

OK then, next question! Which powder to switch to? Sparrer you mentioned 'money saving' powder, I'm not sure if that means you make your own or you buy the cheap cheap cheap stuff?

I have a baby on the way so would be nice to have something the whole family can use without increasing the costs too much?

Thanks

dannymccann

Also thanks for lining that website, some good advice on there (and now I know why I have ubends in all my pipework!)