black stuff in washing machine

[milkyman]

when we wash clothes these black bits keep appearing on the clothes. its not something left in the pockets but maybe a mould from the pipes? any ideas? can u buy stuff to flush out machines?

Yes mould probably.

Clean out machine including the drawer,drawer compartment (top and bottom) and seals with a cloth and old toothbrush to get in the tricky bits.
Empty filter if there is one.
Run a hot wash with a handful of washing soda in the drum.
Stop using liquid detergent and fabric conditioner to avoid this problem in the future.

There are also specialist washing machine cleaners you can buy I think but never needed them.

Following on from above good tips, once you've cleaned out the machine it's good to run a service wash every so often (I think once a month is recommended). Just run the machine empty with washing soda or biological detergent on a hot wash - some machines also have a service wash function.

Apparently non-bio doesn't break down as easily as bio, especially at cooler temperatures. With a lot of people using non-bio and 30C or 40C washes (and sometimes cooler), it can build up and cause problems. I usually do the service wash every 1-2 months, I bought some cheap bio stuff and throw it in running our hottest cycle (95C). I also clean the filter at the same time and I regularly check the drawer compartment - you can usually remove the whole thing.

Also if you want to soften fabric but avoid fabric conditioner, use a little white vinegar in the drawer instead.

Finally if you live in an area that has hard water/is prone to limescale, using an anti-limescale thing should work and means using less detergent as you can adjust the quantities to be for medium or soft water. I have a Magno Ball, you just throw it in with the washing and it does seem to do the trick.

thanks all, really helpful