[Solved] Washing machine woes

Hello Paul-6611,

You don't need netmums when you have all us girls on here. lol

I've always used non biological Persil powder and Comfort (blue, a good anti static) as a conditioner.

Interestingly, I changed last year to using those liquid pouches which I personally found useless. A good measure of there effectiveness was my white towels which never looked clean after using these. I soon reverted back to the powdered Persil for the wash and Comfort for the rinse.

Take heart, I'm sure there will be many suggestions and preferences forthcoming. Wash day blues will be gone forever after you have done all your experimenting and found where the problem lay.

Ok, so get rid of the pouches - or could I use those as well as the powder and conditioner?

I'm so not good with this :boohoo: I don't separate synthetics from cottons etc and I normally go for the fast wash option which takes one hour. Should I be choosing longer cycles or just increasing the temperature on shorter cycles? Also what should I be doing with my lingerie? :huh:

I've attached copies of the front panel in the hopes that someone out there speaks washingmachinese. Heh, that looks like I'm putting my curry and prawn crackers in the machine.

Hello Paul_6611,

Do not use the pouches with powder.

Look at the labels on items to be washed, it will state the temperature to use.

I would also keep delicate items separate on a short wash at 30 or 40 degrees and lower spin.

If anything has a wool content it needs to be washed on a short wash at 30 degrees and a lower spin or hand washed.

It isn't always necessary to separate synthetics from cottons. but the temperature matters. You can mix synthetics (eg sheets) with some cotton items like towels. If mixing the materials, choose the lower of the two temperatures, synthetic sheets at 40 degrees, cotton towels will stand up to 90 degrees. so choose the 40 degree wash. Underwear can be popped in as well. Those items mentioned would probably need an hour wash or possibly a bit longer.

Some washing machines have a short wash (15 mins) for items that are not dirty but need refreshing.

I think the pouches may be the problem as the brand you mention was traditionally used for woollens as it was made of pure soap and less harsh on the material.

I would say 80% of the time I use the same cycle on my washing machine, a 40 degree cotton wash. I use Ariel bio powder and comfort (but only ever 1/2 capful at the most).

You have the ability to personalise your wash cycle with your machine, which means you can adjust temperature and spin speed. Looking at your choices I would say use no 3 for your normal soiled items, cottons/cotton mix such as sheets, towels and jeans, shirts, underwear and socks.

Don't overfill the drum as this can lead to clothes not getting washed properly, so half fill the drum. It also helps to pre treat any stains or stubborn soiling before putting into the machine, there are a number of stain removal products on the market that you just add to the wash., I like to use a spray on treatment called Shout, it there's plenty of choice.

Just tried it again - if I try to adjust the temperature on any of the choices available, it will only allow me to add an extra 10 degrees. Isn't the spin cycle for when the water is being removed from the clothes? I used some non-bio powder and some fragrance free "Surcare".

My main problem seems to be towels but there are other things like quilt covers, shirts etc that also don't seem to be getting clean - obviously there are some things that can't be cleaned no matter what. I have clothes that I use for working on cars or other odd jobs that are covered in oil or some that have paint and chemicals on them. Unfortunately even after increasing the temperature and length of time, using powder and conditioner, there's still no change.

If I do eventually have access to the kids it'd be great to get this right - it's a steep learning curve and I'm somewhere near the bottom of the slippery slope. In exchange I'd be happy to teach you girls about the fundamentals of the modern internal combustion engine or the latest computer technology! I'm sure you already know though. 🙂

Hopefully other dads will benefit too from your advice (thank you by the way). Hey dads are you taking all of this in?

You can do towels on a hot wash as they are 100% cotton, try number 2 and add some vanish gold to the wash. If your machine has a pre wash facility, that may help.

What's a prewash? Can you see it in the pictures I've sent? Also, what do you consider a hot wash? Which setting would I use?

Also I'm still confused about the spin speed - is this for washing or for draining the water?

http://www.espares.co.uk/usermanual/download?userManualId=fd3051f6-cd8f-4e0f-bb60-e40ae1c7a200

Here's a link to the user manual, just in case you don't have one.

Your machine doesn't appear to have a pre wash facility, but it does have "superwash" which is supposed to give a more intensive clean.

The spin speed is the rate that the drum spins, the higher the spin speed, the drier the clothes will come out. You would always want to use the highest spin speed possible, except for very delicate clothes, where you would use an 800 spin speed.

You don't need to set the spin speed, unless you want to personalise your chosen wash cycle.

shirts, towels, pillow case etc id do on a 60 degree and up wash

normal clothing like jeans, tshirts they all go on a 40 degree wash

wool items then should go on a delicate wash

and defintely get rid of those liquid pods...they are rubbish

Find it amusing that this topic is getting so many replies 😀