Help with black clothes and lint

13 years ago

It's been a long time since I posted, but I figured you guys could help me get to the bottom of this. I have a 9-year-old He3T washer with matching dryer and have been having a tough time lately with black clothes coming out looking worse than they went in. They come out covered in dog hair and lint, even if they didn't have any on them when they went in.

So, I'm thinking that I need to clean something out, but I'm not sure what. I never mix towels and clothes, don't over dry, I use vinegar instead of fabric softener, clean the lint trap regularly, the dryer dries properly and has a very short vent run, so I don't think it's clogged...

I figured I should try cleaning the pump, but the toe kick is very close to the floor and I can't seem to get the torx wrench in there. Gonna try again this morning. I do have a long-haired dog, so I wouldn't be surprised to find the inside of the washer filled with his fur!

The last straw was last night. My teen-aged son got his first job at a local restaurant and they gave him a black T-shirt to wear. It was a brand new shirt and I washed it to remove any sizing...before he wore it for the first time. It came out of the dryer covered with fuzz and he was reprimanded at work for it and given a different shirt to wear. I felt terrible. :-(

Comments (11)

sharon_s
Original Author
13 years ago
Just following up. I cleaned out the dryer, but there wasn't much there. Good to do anyway.

Then, after searching the basement for the right tool (why is it that the one you need is the only one missing?) I finally got the toe kick off the washer. I cleaned out the pump trap. There wasn't much there, but there was some gook and a few pieces of small plastic.

I just happened to have a load of darks finish this morning, so I took a look at them in the washer--covered with fur/hair/lint. So, after cleaning the pump trap I'm washing them again on a higher-water cycle to see what happens.

Very frustrating.
sshrivastava
13 years ago
Does the hair match any pets in your home? I would be very alarmed if it didn't. Sounds like you have a hairball stuck somewhere inside your machine. Have you tried running an empty, hot, sanitary wash?
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sharon_s
Original Author
13 years ago
LOL. Yes the hair does match the dog. I don't want to even think about if it didn't! ;-) It's not just dog hair, it's lint and other fibery things. This is what it looked like inside the washer after the second wash cycle:

This is driving me crazy!
gates1
13 years ago
Try wiping out your rubber seal around the door with a wet rag. Make sure you get all the way around it, both on the inside and outside of it. You will haveto pull it open to get the side cleaned out. I too had HE3T 9 years old and I used to wipe the seal out due to dirt, and hair being in it, but never for mold. Also shake your clothes out before you wash them to removed some of the hair since you said they were covered in hair before you washed them. A good test is to wash a clean hair and lint free item in the washer and see how it comes out before you dry it. If hair is on it after it is washed, then you got hair in the washer that has not been rinsed out
sharon_s
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks, gates1. Actually, I was saying that shirts that didn't have hair on them were coming out with it. The shirt my son wore went straight into the washer when he got it, so no chance to have dog hair. I'm sure other things in the wash did have it, though.

I do try to regularly wipe down the boot, but I'll do it again. After this load is done I'll wash an empty load with Cascade, just for kicks. Guess I'd better buy him some pet-hair rollers for work! ;-)
dadoes
13 years ago
Cleaning the pump won't have an effect on lint deposits on the clothes. The pump trap is only to guard against stray objects damaging the pump, it is not a lint filter in the traditional sense.
sharon_s
Original Author
13 years ago
Ah well, at least it got me to clean it out. There were some plastic pieces in there that were getting funky.

Well, guess it's time to start researching washers that are better with pet hair, but I suspect they don't exist anymore. If any pet owners have a newer washer that handles pet hair well, please speak up!
livebetter
13 years ago
I read somewhere that LG has the largest "holes" in the industry. I heard someone recommend them for pet hair as larger holes allow the hair to rinse away easier. Not sure though. Good luck!
badgergrrl
13 years ago
Is the hair on there before the clothes go into the dryer? The paddles on my dryer collect hair (usually mine - but I have long, fine hair) from static cling, since I don't use dryer sheets. I just check them after I'm done with a load. Sometimes there's none, sometimes there's a lot....Maybe that's it?
dualref
13 years ago
With the advent of FL machines, washers no longer are expected to remove lint. It's left up to the dryer to perform this function these days.
Are you keeping your lint screen in the dryer clean? And have you taken the lid off of your dryer and cleaned it out every few years?
sandy808
13 years ago
I am having a similar situation with my Whirlpool Duets. I can't stand it any more either. My husband has cleaned everything out so that is not the issue.

Yes, the dryer removes most of it (if not all), but I use my solar dryer instead whenever possible. It's cost free and the clothes smell nicer.So...I rarely use my dryer.... only when it rains outside. I find it outrageous that a washer would not be expected to remove lint. What in the world good is a washer that doesn't do it's job?! Especially one that is over $1,000.

I am going back to a simple no frills top load washer.My house will be done soon and I can't wait to get them.

Sandy