O wise interwebs...

[strange_complex]

...what manner of thing might be wrong with one's washing-machine if it performs the spin cycle in an apparently normal fashion, making all the usual judders and space-ship-about-to-take-off noises that washing-machines make, but the clothes still need wringing out by hand before you can hang them up to dry?

If it makes any difference, this is definitely A Change - it was fine a month ago, but has developed this problem over the last few weeks.

Edit: I've now cleaned the filter by opening a little panel at the front, which yielded quite a lot of water, a few bits of fluff, and one of those ivory-coloured plastic toothpicks which slots into the end of a Swiss Army knife. If anyone wants the latter, I'll gladly post it to them - I'm the kind of person who never lost mine, but I know a lot of people do.

Comments

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

Oh, right. I did just clean a filter at the front, but didn't realise this was anything to do with the drain. (I have no clue about these things, sorry!)

Well, maybe that's solved the problem - I'll see what happens next time I run it, and if it's still not draining properly, assume that something more serious needs doing at the back.

[rich-r.livejournal.com]

By any chance is your machine a Bosch or AEG? They tend to have the drain filter at the front (ie useful German design, putting it where you can actually get at it!). The drum sits in a big plastic bucket, and there's a pipe from the bottom of this that goes to the filter. From the other side of the filter a pipe leads to the back of the machine, out and off to where it connects to your kitchen sink drain (or wherever you have it).

I was amazed how many buttons I found in the filter on our old machine (which coincidentally died because the drain pump burnt out). Neither of us can recall having lost that many buttons off clothes! I suspect the dogs were sneakily putting buttons and pebbles in the machine when we were out, so that we wouldn't put it on when they're trying to sleep.

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

It's a Baumatic, actually, but it does have a little door in the bottom right-hand corner on the front, and the filter living behind that door is what I cleaned out. The instruction book is pretty vague, but judging from the diagrams in it, that filter may well be connected with the drain, as the drainage hose seems to leave the back of the machine in exactly the same place as the filter is located at the front. Plus, the way it was full of water does support it's being at least part of the problem - the book warned me to put down a plate in front of it to collect any water, but more than a plateful came out!

I'll save testing it for another time, though - it's a bit late tonight.

[captainlucy.livejournal.com]

From what you've said here, it definitely sounds like it was the filter. It doesn't take that much to block them (I've managed it with a single tissue in a pocket before!) but thankfully it's normally not that difficult to undo the damage, as you seem to have done already. :)

I would put the washing machine through a short wash cycle with nothing in it, just to make sure it's worked. If it was just a blocked filter, it should drain quite easily (plus being on an empty cycle it should help flush out any stray gunk you didn't get when you cleared the filter out).

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

I've left it doing an experimental cycle this morning - actually with stuff in it, since the problem isn't so bad I expect to come home and find the floor awash, or the drum still full of undrained water. We'll see what happens when I get back...