Using the washing machine

Am I overloading my washing machine?

If you overload a washing machine it can cause physical problems, but it will also affect the efficiency of the wash. An overfilled washing machine can result in the laundry moving round in one large mass. The clothes will not agitate against each other properly and the washing machine detergent won't be able to circulate properly. The washing will not be washed properly. ( Potential serious consequences? - Baby badly burned by washing machine detergent - article on my Blog )

However, you do need to fill the drum in order to get the most economical use from your machine and to prevent under-loading. Under-loading the machine causes problems by making the weight of clothes more likely to accumulate on one side of the drum. This can make the load out of balance and cause violent banging on spin. (See next section below for further details)

How much washing should I put in the washing machine?

Fill the drum for economy, but pat the clothes down lightly and make sure you can feel a reasonable space between the top of the clothes and the top of the drum. Bear in mind that the drum may look really full, but once water comes in and the drum turns, many items will shrink in bulk. Leave a gap of approximately 3 or 4 inches between the top of the laundry and the top of the drum (roughly a hand's width).

The advice above however is assuming you are washing laundry that can be washed in big loads (usually cottons). Washing machine instruction manuals usually state that most other fabrics shouldn't be full loads. Here's a recent blog entry of mine which mentions this and gives examples of some maximum loadings for various fabrics - Laundry comes out of washing machine badly creased?

Under loading the washing machine

Under loading the washing machine can also cause problems. In the old days it could cause violent out of balanced loads causing damage to the washing machines it is likely to simply refuse to spin. If you have issues with some loads reaching the end of the cycle and simply not going into fast spin one possible cause could be if you have under loaded it or are trying to spin just one item. For a full explanation of the out of balance protection systems used by modern washing machines check out my Blog article - Washing machine won’t spin just one item or very small loads

Laundry (washing) isn't coming out clean (still dirty) or has marks on it (marks on clothes)

It can be possible for collapsed drum bearings, or a cracked or broken drum shaft, to allow the inner drum to scrape on the inside of the outer tub causing greasy marks on clothes, but this is rare, and should also generate excess noise. If there is no other obvious fault, such as the drum not turning, and the washing machine goes through the wash cycle as normal, and spins the clothes dry at the end, then the problem may not be caused by a fault on the washing machine.

Common causes of poor wash results are -

• Using poor quality detergent or letting it get damp
• Using an inappropriate program
• Using economy buttons inappropriately
• Overloading can cause poor wash results
• Not using enough detergent - especially in hard water areas
• Using non-biological powder on low temperatures for heavy stains
• Using washing machine detergent with no bleach in it (colour friendly) on whites
• Using half load button on fuller loads preventing proper rinsing
• Partial blockage in pumping system preventing water being pumped out properly causing poor rinsing (Washing machine won't empty water )
• Drive belt come off, or other fault causing drum to not revolve ( Drum not turning )

Here are some links to articles on my white goods blog related to the topic of washing quality problems

• Grease marks or spots on laundry
• Whites coming out of washing machine looking grey, coloureds losing their colour
• White streaks or residual washing powder after washing

More on next column...