Too Many Bubbles

[Ilovewashing]

I have a Meile Prestige Plus, it's nearly 2 years old, but this problem has occurred since it was new. On a cotton cycle, all temperatures, there are excess bubbles. Sometimes the excess light comes on but sometimes the lather is just coming out of the detergent drawer! The amount used is carefully measured and amounts strictly adhere to the manufacturers recommendations. The drum is not full and I really can't see what I am doing wrong. I would be grateful for any advice, I contacted the manufacturers when it was new but they were not able to she'd any light on it.

Thank you

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Do you have a water softener system or device fitted to your water supply by any chance? Are you in a hard or soft water area?

[Ilovewashing]

No, I don't have a water softener and live in an extremely hard water area too.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Excessive foaming is usually caused by too much detergent, it's not normally a fault on the washing machine. I've heard of people having problems like this before which appear to be a mystery. The washing machine can't really cause the detergent to foam up so badly it comes out of the dispenser drawer unless it was agitating constantly maybe and even then, with normal detergent in and normal amounts for the harness or softness of the water water it's hard imagine it being so bad.

Have you tried different brands of detergent? Also, is it possible that something is getting onto the laundry that could somehow be reacting with the detergent? That last one is a bit of a long shot but it's difficult to diagnose such excess foaming if the washing machine appears to be washing normally and the detergent is at the correct levels. Foaming is normally a fault with the detergent itself unless the washer has gone mad and is stuck for hours just whipping it up.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Another point is that contrary to logic, not using enough detergent can also cause over sudsing or excessive foam because detergent itself contains an ingredient to suppress foaming. This is because foam is actually bad for washing and cushions the clothes from rubbing against each other. Therefore if there isn't enough detergent in the washing machine it can cause excessive foaming due to lack of this suppressing ingredient. So the important thing is to use the right amount of detergent according to the instructions.

To get rid of excessive foaming during a wash try pouring a cap full of fabric conditioner into the dispenser drawer, the side which takes in water for rinses (usually on the left) and this should react with the foam and help suppress it. This shouldn't really be something you need to do on each wash though, it's just a tip to respond to excess foam that may happen on a wash.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

I've now written a new article especially covering this topic, which hopefully covers everything - Too much foam in washing machine?