Help! - Too Much Washing Liquid In Machine
hello
i have just put a very muddy wash on, and like a wally have put in tons of liquid thinking it would clean the clothes better... instead, i have a foaming washing machine, that isn't making happy noises, and has foam coming out onto the floor.
I've turned it off for the moment, but does anyone have any advice? Also, my girlfriend comes back from a weekend away a bit later on this evening, it would be great if she didn't have to find out about this!
any help or ideas much appreciated
cris
Solution Summary
AI-generated from this discussion
This thread was marked as solved. Here's a summary of the problem and the fix, generated from the discussion below.
Washing machine over-foaming after too much liquid detergent
- The problem
- A muddy wash was started with far too much liquid detergent, causing excessive foam, unhappy machine noises and suds coming out onto the floor.
- Likely cause
- Overdosing with liquid detergent created heavy soapsuds. The accepted reply explains that when the pump runs, the impeller can whip the suds up so much that draining may be poor or stop altogether.
- What fixed it
- The accepted advice was to let the bubbles settle, then drain the machine without running the pump if possible, such as by lowering/removing the drain hose or using the pump filter if fitted. After draining, refill with clean water, turn the drum briefly, stop, and drain again. Repeat until the suds are diluted enough for the pump to cope, then run a rinse or full wash programme with no detergent or laundry to clear the remaining residue. The exact repair outcome was not confirmed by the original poster.
- Checks to try
- Leave the bubbles to settle before further action
- If fitted, check whether the machine has a pump filter for draining
- After disturbing plumbing or removing the drain hose/filter, check carefully for leaks afterwards
- Parts or tools mentioned
- Bowl or container for draining water
Safety: If removing the drain hose or opening the filter, be prepared for water spillage and check carefully for leaks afterwards. Further diagnosis should be carried out by a suitably qualified appliance engineer.
5 Answers
Hello Cris. It's certainly an unusual problem and I must admit I can empathise with your dilemma. As a man of integrity I have to advise that you should come clean to your girlfriend ;-)
The problem you have is that each time the water pump is energised the pump impeller will just whip up the bubbles. It can even whip them up so much that no water gets pumped out at all. What you need to do is to keep diluting the soapsuds but stop creating suds with the water pump.
First let the bubbles settle down by leaving it a while. If your washing machine has a pump filter you could try draining it through the filter but unless there is drain hose built in this can be very messy. The best way to deal with it is to remove the drain hose and lay it down outside the back door or maybe into a bowl and just let the water drain away. Depending on how it is plumbed in though this could be a fair bit of messing about. I have some instructions regarding draining the washing machine on this section, which you might find useful - Washing machine won't empty water
Once the water has drained away let it fill up with water again and do a few turns of the drum. Then stop it, and manually drain the water again. You may have to repeat this several times. Eventually you should dilute the soapsuds down enough to allow the water pump to drain the water. It may kick up a few soapsuds again but after a certain amount of diluting the pump should still be able to cope.
Once you have got rid of most of it try putting the washing machine on a full rinse programme with no detergent inside or even a full wash programme with no detergent or laundry to get rid of the last dregs. If you do disturb the plumbing to take the drain hose out, or remove the filter, make sure you check carefully for leaks afterwards.
Need Professional Help or Spare Parts?
thanks - i'll give it a try...
cris
Pour 2 capfuls of fabric conditioner (hair conditioner works too) into a jug, mix with water and pour into the machine via the drawer....the suds should clear instantly, you may need more or less conditioner depending on how much detergent you used.
I've since written a new article on Washerhelp especially covering this topic, which hopefully covers everything - Causes of too much foaming in washing machine?
Need Professional Help or Spare Parts?
A bar of ordinary hand soap will kill bubbles/foam. Haven't tried it on a washing machine specifically but it's worth a go.
Personally, I'd cut a cheap bar of soap into small chunks, then mix with some boiling water in a bucket until dissolved. I'd then run some of this liquid (Strained if necessary) this through the machine on a hot cycle. Not too much or you might end up blocking things.
Alternatively, try a bit of liquid soap, but make sure it is actually soap and not a foaming handwash!
Failing this, most Janitorial suppliers should be able to sell you 'defoamer' for use in carpet cleaning machines (Most carpet cleaners use hand soap though, believe it or not)
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