My washing machine doesn't rinse my clothes properly

[dfchelbay]

We got a new washing machine about a year ago and I hate it. It seems that it doesn't rinse the soap out of the clothes sometimes. I find that with black clothes I can see a white mark here and there. If I take a damp paper towel and wipe it off it goes away. It's a High Efficiency (HE) machine and I use the HE soap. Does anyone have any advice about this? Is this fixable or do I have to examine all my clean clothes for soap stains for the rest of this machine's life?

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

Is it still under warranty? I'd have someone come out and look at it. It shouldn't be doing that. Could you be putting too much detergent in it?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Is it still under warranty? I'd have someone come out and look at it. It shouldn't be doing that. Could you be putting too much detergent in it?

I was thinking - too much detergent. It's a common problem when learning to use HE soap. You don't really need as much. But it's probably not a bad idea to have someone come look at what it's doing.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Which machine do you have?
It might help to know the specifics.
Is it using rinse water at all?
What you describe does not sound good/right.

And you really do only use a very small amount of HE detergent.

My old front loader did NOT rinse well.
It just didn't.
That is the biggest reason I got rid of it. (other than it was just a lame and slow machine in general)

I have an LG front loader now.
It does rinse the clothing!

I can do a Speed Wash (unless it is a large load of heavy towels or jeans...) with an 'extra rinse' in 25 min. Then, it is my habit to run a rinse-and-spin with the fabric softener. This works great.

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

I'd try 2 things first (if you're not already doing them), make sure you're using less soap, quite a bit less, also, make sure you put the soap in before you put the clothes in, when we first got out HE machine I didn't do that, and got the white streaks sometimes.

 

[LJSquishy]

Is it a front loader or a top loader? If it's a top loader make sure you're putting the detergent in while the water is filling before adding any clothes.

Are you using powder (I'm assuming yes due to white streaks)? What brand? How much? I use Tide powder in my LG HE front loader and have never had streaking problems. My machine has a drawer for the detergent though and slowly mixes it with water as it dispenses it into the drum. I do not skimp on detergent -- I use to line 2 or 3 for a full load but you may need to use less. Also, some detergents don't mix as well in cold water. I wash everything almost exclusively on cold and Tide has always done a wonderful job.

Are your loads too big? Overstuffing the drum means the clothing can't move around enough to rinse clean. Make sure you're following the manufacturer's instructions on load size.

I would bet it's one of those 3 things. That, or you may have purchased a poorly rated model.

 

[JanaDee]

You are probably using too much detergent. Try using less for a few weeks and see if the problem goes away.

 

[Sadie22]

I had a top loader HE machine and now have a huge front loader HE machine. When I first got the top loader, I began using only liquid Wisk HE detergent when the powdered detergent seemed to not always dissolve. I also follow the manufacturer's instructions. The amount of detergent needed is tiny, and I use cold water. For very soiled clothing, a tiny amount of OxiClean powder goes directly into the drum and does the trick. The clothes are clean and there is so little water left in them that they do not take long to dry.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Also, try running washing machine cleaner through it to help clean up any built up detergent.

 

[shortbun]

Too much detergent and/or too many clothes. I had that happen when my husband started doing the laundry and wanted to save time. He overfilled the tub and the detergent never rinsed out. Now he knows.

 

[wiigirl]

You are probably using too much detergent. Try using less for a few weeks and see if the problem goes away.

x2

 

[clh2]

Are you using a powder soap? If so - I would switch to a liquid. As others have said - do not use too much detergent!

Also - do not overload the machine.

And - if your machine gives you an option of extra rinse - I would try that too to see if it helps!

 

[scrapquitler]

We got a new washing machine about a year ago and I hate it. It seems that it doesn't rinse the soap out of the clothes sometimes. I find that with black clothes I can see a white mark here and there. If I take a damp paper towel and wipe it off it goes away. It's a High Efficiency (HE) machine and I use the HE soap. Does anyone have any advice about this? Is this fixable or do I have to examine all my clean clothes for soap stains for the rest of this machine's life?

You might be using too much detergent. If you use the lines on the cup that come with the detergent, this is most likely the case. You only need a VERY small amount of detergent (1/4 cup max) for most loads.

Also, are you adding the detergent to the machine in the dispenser? Maybe you should add water to the dispenser with the detergent and that could help?

 

[tzolkin]

I put our liquid detergent into a soap dispenser and put a few pumps in for each load. It doesn't seem like it would be enough but the clothes always come out clean.

My mom gave me this suggestion from her experience with her front loader. If she used any more detergent it would just keep rinsing and take over two hours to wash.