Can anyone do me a favour and go and have a look at their washing going round in the washing machine? Is the soapy water sloshing around half way up the window in the door? This sounds really stupid but during a wash our washing mashine never even has enough water in it to reach the bottom of the door. I think it’s not filling up properly and is knackered.

Are your clothes clean?

modern machines generally put just enough water in to get the job done, which often means you don’t see much water if any sloshing around.

+1 not much in mine.

They tend to fill/empty more times with less water as that’s more efficient than using all that water in one go.

e.g. 100ml of dirt, add 5l of water and you’ve a 2% dirt solution, clothes are 2% dirty. Or add 1l of water and they’re 10% dirty, then again 1%, then again, 0.1, then again 0.01, then again after 5 1l washes 0.001% dirt, so 2000x cleaner than just adding 5l of water in one go.

I top it up if it’s really muddy cycling kit through or hit pre-wash a few times otherwise if just comes out gritty.

You never see much water in ours – AEG Oko Lavamat, it just fills with enough to do the load and no more.

e.g. 100ml of dirt, add 5l of water and you’ve a 2% dirt solution, clothes are 2% dirty. Or add 1l of water and they’re 10% dirty, then again 1%, then again, 0.1, then again 0.01, then again after 5 1l washes 0.001% dirt, so 2000x cleaner than just adding 5l of water in one go.

Wow homeopathy actually works!

so 2000x cleaner

I can see the logic, but I doubt this ^^^^

surely how far below the door the drum goes is an important factor.

I did a maintenance wash in ours today and I’ve no idea how much water there was in it but there were so many bubbles that they started spilling out of the powder tray and all over the kitchen floor.

I did a maintenance wash in ours today

WTF is a maintenance wash? on a side note about bubbles, I did once try a dishwasher with washing up liquid.. they warn you not to for a damned good reason….

every 3 or 4 weeks I put ours on “nuke-from-orbit” 90 degree wash with soda crystals and biological washing powder (normally we use non bio, hippy-cuddling, fairy). Clears out any tenacious bugs & fat/grease etc. and make sit smell better.

WTF is a maintenance wash?

Hot wash to clean out the gunk.

We put dishcloths etc in an armageddon wash with suitably aggressive cleaning chemicals every month or so to clear it out, seems slightly less wasteful than an empty wash. And back on topic it’s one of those machines that weighs the washing and measures the water and it only fills to below the level of the door.

z1ppy – Member

I did a maintenance wash in ours today

WTF is a maintenance wash? on a side note about bubbles, I did once try a dishwasher with washing up liquid.. they warn you not to for a damned good reason….

i did this, too. new dishwasher smelt a bit odd so, not having any tabs, i squirted some fairy into it and went out for the evening… came home slightly pissed and couldn’t work out why there was a puddle extending into the lounge from the kitchen or why the kitchen was full of bubbles. spent several hours cleaning the place.

Virtually never see water in ours but the clothes come out clean. There’s no need (and in fact it’s damaging I believe) to have clothes sat in a bath of hot water.

WTF is a washing machine?? I simply leave me clothes dirty in a pile, they return hung up, washed. Surely it’s all magic 8)

I must be remembering when I used to be a kid and sit in front of my Mums washing machine which used to have loads of water/bubbles in it. The clothes do come out clean but I think the machine is a bit old and is getting a bit of a funny smell to it. We have tried to do Nuke washes with special stuff to clean it, but it hasn’t worked. Time for a new one methinks. Liking all your foam party stories about your machines though.