Washing Machine Spewing out Black Stuff

[SophieLeGiraffe]

Ugh. All over pristine white bedlinen - why could it not choose DH's rugby kit?

Soap dispenser currently out and in boiling water. When I put it on 90 degree service wash do I also add washing powder? I'm sure I've seen some threads on here where cleaning has gone wrong - I do not want to be that person

My daughter had this problem. Seemed to be caused by a slime build up on the pipes and guts of the machine. The engineer told her she had been using too much washing powder/gel that wasn't getting flushed out.
She was getting black streaks on her nice white clothes.
Run the machine empty a couple of times, poss on hot and see if it clears.
Have to say..my daughters machine was old so she got a new one.

I run mine hot and empty from time to time. I don't add any powder. The machine always seems to find a bit from somewhere.

I sometimes put a dark wash in without any powder /gel etc and am amazed at how many suds still appear in the drum. Some from what the machine has retained and some from what the clothes retain....

Thanks all. I found some "clean your washing machine" tablets at the back of the cupbord and popped one of those in. I guess I should have used them more often

It's not that old a machine but is a bit grotty I have to say. Old house was a galley kitchen so no option to leave the door open to air it out.

I recently went back up to two tablets instead of just one as I didn't think the clothes were getting clean enough. I guess I'll clean the machine and then go back to one for now. Hope I don't have to buy a new machine

if it is black mildew, then scrub the slot that the soap drawer goes into with a nylon brush and a Kitchen Cleaner with Bleach spray. Also scrub the rubber door seal, especially the grooves and especially at the bottom where there may be a drainage slot. The drawer can be scrubbed in hot water; boiling might not do the plastic any good.

To wash out the old soap sludge residue, you don't need to add more soap. It will dissolve in very hot water. You can add half a cup of Washing Soda crystals if you like, they probably help wash the sludge out. You shouldn't add vinegar or bleach if it is sludge you are trying to remove. If it has a lot of limescale you can add vinegar after the sludge has gone if you want. If you have some old cotton towels you can put them in, anything else will be liable to shrink, pucker or fade due to the high temperature of the maintenance wash.

If the water goes grey and foams up, that's the old sludge dissolving. Do it again until the water stays clear.

I have intermittent problems with this. I normally do a 90c wash with bio powder but sometimes after it seems worse I presume because its loosened all the rubbish. I heard that if you use liquid or tablets it increases problems & that bio powder is best as it cleans as it goes through the drawer. Since changing to bio I don't have the problem as often (although I do have at the mo!)

the first hot wash may loosen soap sludge but not wash it all away, do it again until the water stays clean.

you don't need to add more soap when you are cleaning away the old soap.

No ones mentioned the draw dispenser area when the dispenser is removed.
If you look upwards you will see a thick film of black slime there. I use an old washing up brush and spray warm water to dislodge it. Put a dishcloth over the hole first so the gunge doesn't go down into the machine.

Almost no-one