Foaming Problem

[AfxTwn]

Hi, I am having trouble with large amounts of foam leaking from the detergent dispenser drawer on my Beko WMA 767 washing machine and was hoping someone here might be able to help. I have been to excessive foam in washing machine page here: too much foam (those are my comments under the article) so that should give you an idea of what's been happening and what I've tried.

I have recently moved house but used to have a similar issue in my old house only not as often as it is occurring now, it's now happening pretty much with every wash. I normally would use the Tesco own-brand liquitabs but since the foaming I read it was perhaps an idea to use powder instead so I have now switched to Bold's 2-in-1 powder but this hasn't helped at all.

I know that generally the cause of too much foam is using too much powder but I get the problem even when I use half of the recommended doe for a 5-6kg load (which is 95ml on the box, so I've tried using roughly 50ml). The washing machine appears to be working fine, it is spinning correctly in both directions and not using too much water (or not enough) and the foaming only happens in the last 20 minutes of the program when it starts to go through the spin cycle and starts getting towards it's top spin speed.

Normally I wash all my clothes and towels in the same load on a cotton wash at 30 degrees at 1400 spin speed, this means the wash takes 2 hours 8 minutes. I have tried just washing the towels on their own on a cotton wash but using the quick wash function so that it only takes 1 hour 22 minutes. The foaming still happens regardless and I'm sick of having to mop up the water and foam leaking out of the machine onto my floor.

I have dragged the machine out from it's little space under the work top (it is located separately from the sink and has it's own waste water pipe).The cold water pipe is connected correctly and turned on fully and the drain water hose is inserted correctly into the waste water pipe. I have levelled all the feet on the machine so it won't move about as much. I've even bought some washing machine cleaner powder and done a wash with that to get rid of any dirt or limescale in the system, I've also done a few washes without any clothes in the machine to get rid of any detergent left in the machine.

I'm running out of ideas now and so I'm hoping someone here might be able to help. Is it because the powder and liquitabs I was using is a 2-in-1 variety that has softener in it, could this be causing a build-up of soap suds? The only other thing I can do is see if I can get a plumber or washing machine repairman to come and take a look but I think they'll just say I'm using too much powder and fob me off, plus it may prove expensive for nothing.

Any help would be great!

Thanks.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Not using enough detergent can cause it too, but if it only happens at the end of rinses I would try using normal good quality detergent and proper good quality fabric conditioner. Proper fabric conditioner actually suppresses soap suds and is described in my article as a way of getting rid of suds if you have them foaming out of the machine.

Also you need to make sure the pump filter is clear and there's no partial blockage in the plumbing where the washer pumps out into as partial blockages and obstructions can cause the washer not to rinse properly.

[AfxTwn]

I think what I'll do is as you said, I'll switch to using separate washing powder and softener and see if that helps. I was looking at the Which website and they recommended Aldi's Almat as the best closely followed by Ariel with Actilift, so I'll buy one of those and some softener.

I've checked the pump filter and it seemed fine and had no blockage and I've just put the washer on twice without any clothes in to flush out any remaining detergent so I'll see if that makes any difference on my next proper wash.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

With faults like this it's a question of painstakingly working through a process of elimination. Thanks for keeping us informed on this, I've had a lot of people with this problem and it seems to make little sense. It would be great if we can get to the bottom of it.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Just bear in mind that if there was a partial blockage in the system somewhere, such as in one of the 90 degree angle waste pipe bends, or inside the plastic spigot on the u-bend under the sink if it pumps into that - or even inside one of the pump chambers or the drain hose - then it wouldn't cause a problem when the washer runs with no laundry inside. The way this partial blockage manifests itself is that it only cuts the flow rate of the pump down by lets say 10 - 20 % so it manages to pump out ok and spin. But when you put washing inside, particularly anything that absorbs a lot of water, when it goes into spin and starts forcing the water out of the laundry it can't cope and a lot of water gets thrashed around when it first spins which can cause some to back up into the soap dispenser.

This problem should only really be presented with cottons etc. You could try washing a full load of something that hardly absorbs any water (nothing cotton) and see if the fault still occurs or if it's reduced. This may or may not be relevant in your case as I know you've done some experimenting but it could be a problem for some with water coming out of the drawer when it spins.

[AfxTwn]

Thanks for explaining clearly what's going on and possibly how a blockage may cause a problem with or without clothes in the machine. Unfortunately most of my clothes are cotton, I only have a few items that aren't, such as my waterproof coat or some 100% polyester t-shirts. I'm going shopping tomorrow so I will buy some separate detergent and softener and maybe try a load of my non-cotton clothes, probably just do a quick wash as this is more suited to small loads in my machine.

I'll let you know how I get on

[AfxTwn]

UPDATE: Well I think I've fixed the foaming problem, hopefully forever. On Tuesday night I ran the washer twice on a full cotton wash at 90 degrees without any clothes in, I thought doing this might get rid of any remaining detergent and give the machine a good clean out. Then yesterday I tried a short synthetic wash and put some acrylic jumpers and some mixed fabric clothes in (mainly polyester) and used some old Tesco non-Bio detergent I found laying around, I put the wash on at 30 degrees and as it was a synthetic wash it only span at a maximum of 800rpm. I think it took around 1 hour 20 mins to do the wash but I didn't have any foaming at all!

Well today was the real test as I bought some Ariel With Actilift detergent and some Lenor softener and did 3 separate washes. One load was just my usual cotton-based clothes (shirts, longsleeve tops, underwear etc), one load was just towels and a final load was some more synthetic materials like my waterproof coat, a running jacket, some walking trousers etc. The towels and synthetic loads were small, about 2kg and my cotton clothes were a little more at about 3kg. Anyway, I did the towels on a Mini 30 wash as there were so few of them, the spin speed was 1400 and I used the new Ariel and Lenor detergent/softener in the machine, I used about 100ml of Ariel and around 1/2 a capful of Lenor.

The towel wash was fine albeit a slight problem were the final spin would carry on for ages as the load was unbalanced but this was rectified once I paused the program, opened the door and re-adjusted the towels and then started the program again, it counted down the time remaining correctly and most importantly, no foam! The cotton was was next, I did a quick wash for a small load using the same amount of detergent/softener, same spin speed and temperature and no foam! Finally I did the synthetic load on the synthetic quick wash using the same detergent/softener amounts as previously and the same temp/spin setup and again no foaming!

So it seems that perhaps running the washer empty twice earlier in the week may have rinsed out any remaining residue but more importantly I think dividing my clothes up into separate loads depending on what they're made of and washing them accordingly, this really helps to stop foaming. It seems that the advice given on clothes' labels and on washing powders and washing machine manuals is right, it really is a good idea to separate your clothes and was by type.

The only trouble with this is that realistically for me living on my own I probably won't have enough towels and/or synthetic clothes to warrant a separate wash every week, I think the loads will just be too small and will cause the machine to become unbalanced and the wash program to not work correctly. I think I may do these types of items once every couple of weeks and let them build up to a sufficient sized load. My other cotton-based clothes will be fine for a weekly wash as I'll always have around 3kg for the machine.

Well thanks very much for the help Andy and it looks like I've finally got it sorted, perhaps you could amend your other page about foaming to suggest to people to try washing based on fabric types, this at least works for me.

Thanks again.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Thanks for the update. As most people bung everything in the drum (including my wife) and never separate laundry as they should, but don't have this issue I'd be tempted to think it was more to do with swapping the detergent and using proper fabric conditioner. Can you do a test with the new detergent and fabric conditioner and use it as you always did to see if it still foams?

Updated article - what causes too much foam in washing machine?

[AfxTwn]

Will do, I'll report back next week with my findings lol.

[AfxTwn]

Well hopefully this will be my final update on the subject as everything seems to be running fine now. I did a normal wash today (like I used to) with all clothes types bunged into the same 30 degree cotton wash and using the Ariel powder and Lenor softener. Everything was fine, no foaming at all and clothes came out perfectly fine.

It looks like you were right Andy in saying that it was switching my detergent that helped solve my problem. I'm sure running my machine empty a few times helped to clean out and remaining old detergent but switching to Ariel/Lenor has sorted everything.

Thanks very much for all your help, now I can look forward to trouble-free washing in the future...touch wood!

[Frank baldwin]

Hi I seem to have same problem with my Beko model no WMB 71442S only happens on the wash cycle and washing towels the suds come out of the draw and run down the front of the machine any other clothing items don't get this problem. Have tried lowering amount of soap added has no effect.

[AfxTwn]

Hi I seem to have same problem with my Beko model no WMB 71442S only happens on the wash cycle and washing towels the suds come out of the draw and run down the front of the machine any other clothing items don't get this problem. Have tried lowering amount of soap added has no effect.

Hi Frank, I think the overflowing suds coming from the drawer is primarily a problem with overfilling the machine with clothes etc. Despite this being a big washer and having a 7kg capacity, you still need to be a little cautious when filling it. I now wash my towels separate from clothes and make sure that I don't put too many items in the machine.

Also, try using powder rather than liquid in the drawer or powder tablets (which is what I use) as washing machines seem to like these a lot better. I also use liquid softener but not a massive amount, just under a capful. Then once a month I do a service wash and put two cupfuls of bleach into the detergent drawer and put the washer on a 90 degree full wash and leave it to run empty without any items in the machine. This helps to keep the washer clean and somewhat mould free (although I have found I still need to give the drawer and inside a good clean with a toothbrush and cloth.

Hope this info helps.