Zanussi softener not going down

This thread was marked as solved. Here's a summary of the problem and the fix, generated from the discussion below.

Zanussi washing machine not taking fabric softener due to clogged dispenser area

The problem

A Zanussi washing machine, about five years old, was not drawing the fabric softener from the dispenser. The owner had previously cured this by cleaning the drawer, but on this model a fixed plastic cover over the water holes made access difficult. Black cloggy residue was present around the dispenser area.

Likely cause

The strongest supported diagnosis is a build-up of black jelly-like residue blocking or restricting the dispenser water holes or drawer area, preventing the softener from being flushed through. The exact internal blockage point was not confirmed.

What fixed it

The accepted advice was to try cleaning the inaccessible area with a small toothbrush to reach under or around the fixed plastic cover. No dismantling repair or confirmed part replacement was documented.

Checks to try

• Softener not being taken from the dispenser
• Drawer had already been thoroughly cleaned previously
• Black cloggy/jelly-like residue was present
• Access to the water holes was restricted by a fixed plastic cover

Parts or tools mentioned

• Small toothbrush