Washing machine - sticky grey residue on cotton clothes

jkforde · 29-02-2012 08:13PM #1

hey, I'm getting a very annoying grey sticky residue on cotton clothes after typical 40-50 degree washes. It's either the water (it is slightly hard), the machine (in rental, it's been badly maintained, have done best but...) or the powder.... so my question is how can I clean the machine to get rid of any chalky & sticky undissolved powder in the machine's piping, any foaming products?...I've tried the baking soda, vinegar etc solutions but suspect this machine is manky inside..

ta for any help

Alun · 29-02-2012 08:36PM

You could try a couple of things .. check in between the folds of the rubber door seal and the innards of the detergent dispenser tray (these usually just pull out for cleaning) where a lot of slimy gunk tends to accumulate in my experience.

I don't know whether the stuff they advertise on the telly, Calgon, does any good, but it might be worth a try too.

stoneill · 06-03-2012 06:10AM

I had this posted in another post but it's the same issue:

The lower temps being used in modern washing machines (40deg) is not dissolving completely all the washing powder leaving a slight residue of washing powder on the drum of the machine. This build up after some time until you notice grey/white marks or streaks on clothing.
Remedy - perform an full cycle on the hot wash with an empty drum to clean residue of the washing machine drum.

deelite · 06-03-2012 06:44AM

I had the same problem and this was recommended to me by an actual engineer who came to service the washing machine (he said he did this himself). In an empty washing machine put in approximately a cup of bleach in the dispenser drawer. Run the highest heat wash (mine is ninety degrees) full wash. When finished run another empty wash about 40 degrees just to eliminate the smell and any possible bleach residue. This solved my problem.

Also the engineer said that the reason for the build up can be caused by using actual pour in liquid detergent he suggested using tablets. I'm just using which ever is cheaper to be honest.

jkforde · 09-03-2012 01:32PM

ta very much for the advice lads, much appreciated! i thought the liquid detergent\tabs would be better but going to go with a better quality powder\tabs in future and hot empty maintenance washes... gotta love boardies!

update... ran a 40° wash with a cleaner called Keep It Handy washing machine cleaner, only €2 per box and it seems to have sorted it out for now at least. tbc...

Washing machine - sticky grey residue on cotton clothes

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