How to clean the inside of a washing machine and keep it that way

[blr_p]

But after seeing that and me able to rub it and finding it's grimy, I still can't get my mind to forget it.

If its not too much to ask do you care to reply to the last post?

 

[Ssreek]

If its not too much to ask do you care to reply to the last post?

I am actually not at home for couple of weeks, that's why couldn't reply to you.
I thought it would be easier for me to check the machine myself, based on your input, instead of explaining to family members and getting it checked by them.
I'll be back tomorrow mostly, will let you know what I find, either tomorrow or day after tomorrow.
I didn't forget this, it's still in my reminder app waiting for ringing an alarm tomorrow. Still I appreciate you for checking on this.

 

[blr_p]

I am actually not at home for couple of weeks, that's why couldn't reply to you.

You should have said something

I thought you were away from the board but then saw you were still active.

Why does your profile say it restricts who can see your profile? makes it harder to see when people return

 

[Ssreek]

You should have said something

I agree.

I thought you were away from the board but then saw you were still active.

Why does your profile say it restricts who can see your profile? makes it harder to see when people return

I think when I first signed up (without knowing much about this community) and gone through settings, I put it as private and didn't check later. I changed it now.

 

[blr_p]

I think when I first signed up (without knowing much about this community) and gone through settings, I put it as private and didn't check later. I changed it now.

ok, now your profile is visible.

 

[Ssreek]

Did you use the drum clean cycle here with vanish or was it the cottons 60?

You said you were using Turkish towels. How big are they? The wash cycle only uses five litres of water. The tub clean in the LG uses three times as much

If the towels absorb all the water there will be less to go around you might want to use less of them. The idea with the fabric is to have just enough to keep the foam down but enough solution swirling around.

I'm thinking the inside of your machine looks like this Toploader and you can see how he goes at it with Oxyclean. He uses a lot more though since the water volume is higher.

It seems the Vanish isn't taking any of the grime out then. I was expecting some of the black stuff to have come off.

Have to try different products and see what makes a difference. This is a learning process.

Does the Rin Ala you have say it has chlorine bleach mentioned on the label?

Try the rin ala as an experiment. To bring the concentration down to 250 ppm it needs to be diluted at 1:200

Put 30ml of Rin Ala directly in the drum, not the detergent drawer.

That will mix with 5 litres in the wash cycle. No fabric is required. Cotton 60 cycle with intensive. Does it make any difference?

Do an extra empty Cottons 60 wash just to get rid of any bleach residue after so it won't affect your clothes.

Yes, cottons 60C cycle, ran for almost 2 hours.
These are usual Turkish towels, used for bath long time ago. 2 Turkish towels and 1 hand towel, total weight 1kg.
I will see contents of Rin Ala and share you a pic later. We never used it, will go to a supermarket and check.

Am wondering what the origin of that grime is if it isn't the usual mould

In two of the photos where the paddle is, the one you circled there appears to be more of it than in the first. If you notice the spider arm is in the same plane as the paddle.

Can you confirm whether there is a similar accumulation of that grime where the other two paddles are? Turn the drum around to where the paddles and see whether there is more localised grime there compared to other areas of the drum that is visible

I've seen it today. I don't feel like there is more mould/grime near paddles compared to other parts. It feels evenly coated. See if you can observe anything from the attached pics.

Last night a wash was done, the climate is very cold here and I am not sure if it didn't dry well because of this, but still if I rub those marks, it still sticks to my finger.

Do you notice any dark deposits in the clothes when washing?

I never found any dark deposits on clothes. Wash white clothes several times and never faced such issue. Just that some clothes fade over few washes, but that should be a different cause I guess.

Does the machine sound a little louder in operation of late than it used to be?

Louder, rarely. But when there is rinse cycle going on, it shakes more than what it used to shake during early days. I am suspecting if the washing machine isn't perfectly aligned on the stand, but that usually shouldn't be the case though. I am not sure if stands take care of such alignment issues.

The theory and it could well be wrong is whether grease is leaking from the bearing seal. Flowing down the spider arm, under the paddle and making its way to the front.

This is interesting and also spooky. We need to find if this is the case, otherwise repairmen will mostly say like, chalega chalega and go away.

 

[blr_p]

Yes, cottons 60C cycle, ran for almost 2 hours.
These are usual Turkish towels, used for bath long time ago. 2 Turkish towels and 1 hand towel, total weight 1kg.

Bath towels will be pretty big. The floor mops I use are no lo larger than 15x15 inches. Just one of those Turkish towels should be enough to control the foam. Alternatively two handtowels.

the reason I'm saying to use less fabric is the cottons cycle does not use as much water as a tublclean which is three times more.

I will see contents of Rin Ala and share you a pic later. We never used it, will go to a supermarket and check.

Do you have any Lizol floor cleaner

I've seen it today. I don't feel like there is more mould/grime near paddles compared to other parts. It feels evenly coated. See if you can observe anything from the attached pics.

Agreed

I never found any dark deposits on clothes. Wash white clothes several times and never faced such issue. Just that some clothes fade over few washes, but that should be a different cause I guess.

Louder, rarely.

This is interesting and also spooky. We need to find if this is the case, otherwise repairmen will mostly say like, chalega chalega and go away.

I don't think you have a leaking bearings seal then which is good news.

 

[Ssreek]

Bath towels will be pretty big. The floor mops I use are no lo larger than 15x15 inches. Just one of those Turkish towels should be enough to control the foam. Alternatively two handtowels.

the reason I'm saying to use less fabric is the cottons cycle does not use as much water as a tublclean which is three times more.

After few washes, I will repeat this drum clean process again this time with only 1 Turkey towel and 30 grams of Vanish.

Do you have any Lizol floor cleaner

Yes, we have Lizol cleaner. I hope you are not saying we should use Lizol to drum clean.

Agreed

I don't think you have a leaking bearings valve

Hmmm..I thought we almost found grime cause

 

[blr_p]

After few washes, I will repeat this drum clean process again this time with only 1 Turkey towel and 30 grams of Vanish.

It's called a Turkish towel btw not turkey

Yes, we have Lizol cleaner. I hope you are not saying we should use Lizol to drum clean.

Why not? If it cleans your floor it certainly will clean the inside of your machine as well. It does the same cleaning in a different way by going after grease and grime. Why not give it a go as Vanish has not produced any visible improvements. Whether it can clean out the gasket as well. Undiluted in a rag and a wipe or left in the gasket for some time should have a similar effect to chlorine bleach.

Make sure it's the floor cleaner I linked to and not anything else.

My experiments with Lizol have been promising. It's a multi-surface cleaner, readily available, affordable, disinfects as well as bleach without the chlorine bleach issues, comes in six refreshing scents and won't harm the machine. What's not to like


Try 30ml (two caps from the one litre bottle) put directly in the drum and not the drawer with one of those Turkish towels in a Cottons 65.

This is under 1% concentration for the 5 litres of water used in the cycle yet good enough to clean according to RB, the same company that makes Vanish. I did a pH test and there was hardly any colour change in the indicator compared to my waters ph. Looks like its a pH neutral cleaner when diluted.

Their dosage is 1 cap which is a 15ml measure per 4 litres of water. I use 4x that with LG's tub clean cycle that uses 15 litres. Three mops keep the foam manageable.

The target is sloshy smelling usually a light/mid-brown coloured layer that has in itself nothing to do with limescale but is more to do with deposits of, well basically, crap, detergent and dirt sludge - this is the stuff that rots out the spider due to attracting bacteria causing a rotted and cracked spider arm/s which is very common these days of "you can save money by using low low temperatures all the time"

Lizol should attack that kind of residue pretty well.

Hmmm..I thought we almost found grime cause

You have mentioned no symptoms of a leaking bearings seal. This might just be a matter of repeated cleaning runs.

If the machine gets louder when spinning say then you will know its the bearings. If it sounds like it always has then you're good.

 

[Ssreek]

It's called a Turkish towel btw not turkey

I thought they are the same. Towels that were famous/invented in Turkey. I wasn't referring to Turkey bird though.

Why not? If it cleans your floor it certainly will clean the inside of your machine as well. It does the same cleaning in a different way by going after grease and grime. Why not give it a go as Vanish has not produced any visible improvements. Whether it can clean out the gasket as well. Undiluted in a rag and a wipe or left in the gasket for some time should have a similar effect to chlorine bleach.

Make sure it's the floor cleaner I linked to and not anything else.

My experiments with Lizol have been promising. It's a multi-surface cleaner, readily available, affordable, disinfects as well as bleach without the chlorine bleach issues, comes in six refreshing scents and won't harm the machine. What's not to like


Try 30ml (two caps from the one litre bottle) put directly in the drum and not the drawer with one of those Turkish towels in a Cottons 65.

This is under 1% concentration for the 5 litres of water used in the cycle yet good enough to clean according to RB, the same company that makes Vanish. I did a pH test and there was hardly any colour change in the indicator compared to my waters ph. Looks like its a pH neutral cleaner when diluted.

Their dosage is 1 cap which is a 15ml measure per 4 litres of water. I use 4x that with LG's tub clean cycle that uses 15 litres. Three mops keep the foam manageable.

This sounds quite an experiment. Let us first see the results with just 1 Turkish (bath) towel this time and 30gms vanish. I am still fearful of Lizol. If it doesn't work with Vanish, next will be Lizol.
One thing to note is, the washing machine doesn't run for 2 hours default time if less clothes are used. It calibrates weight or something, shows that animation like we saw in Predator movie, and then adjusts to 1 hour 20 mins or so when I was using towels. But for regular load of clothes, it runs for 2 hours. Only happens for cottons cycle. So, this time 2 times cottons cycle with 1 towel is what I will do.

The target is sloshy smelling usually a light/mid-brown coloured layer that has in itself nothing to do with limescale but is more to do with deposits of, well basically, crap, detergent and dirt sludge - this is the stuff that rots out the spider due to attracting bacteria causing a rotted and cracked spider arm/s which is very common these days of "you can save money by using low low temperatures all the time"

The only detergent we ever used was Surf Excel Front Load Matic. Not even powder, just the liquid all these years. But used low temps or no temps for quite a while.

Lizol should attack that kind of residue pretty well.

You have mentioned no symptoms of a leaking bearings seal. This might just be a matter of repeated cleaning runs.

If the machine gets louder when spinning say then you will know its the bearings. If it sounds like it always has then you're good.

Here is what I observed with regards to sound and vibrations:

1: Sound is a little bit more than what it used to sound when bought first, it sounds like an airplane taking off (not volume but the sound/music). When drawing water from tap, that's the only well audible sound. Sometimes there is also that rubber squeaking sound. Feels like bearing issues, I will record this clearly so that atleast repairmen will understand well.

2: Vibration has definitely increased than it first used to be. Perhaps I will not use any stand at all and see if that would help understand the issue. This vibration happens 'more' during rise cycle, but comparatively less during spin cycle though. I stopped using 1000rpm mode due to fear or more vibration/sound.

 

[blr_p]

I thought they are the same. Towels that were famous/invented in Turkey. I wasn't referring to Turkey bird though.

I'm just saying they're called Turkish towels not 'Turkey' towels. I did not even catch this at first. Turkish towel is the unique style of towel. Very thick and soft.

My southern preferences for a bath towel are thinner and more scratchy

This sounds quite an experiment. Let us first see the results with just 1 Turkish (bath) towel this time and 30gms vanish. I am still fearful of Lizol. If it doesn't work with Vanish, next will be Lizol.
One thing to note is, the washing machine doesn't run for 2 hours default time if less clothes are used. It calibrates weight or something, shows that animation like we saw in Predator movie, and then adjusts to 1 hour 20 mins or so when I was using towels. But for regular load of clothes, it runs for 2 hours. Only happens for cottons cycle. So, this time 2 times cottons cycle with 1 towel is what I will do.

What is the fear about? Allergies are the only thing that comes to mind. Having used it a few times now and have not had any problems. It's pH neutral and the less than 1% concentration won't even hurt your hand when used for mopping which many still do using their hands and no stick.

And you should be doing these tub cleans with the 'Intensive' option selected. That will extend the wash cycle. The tub clean on the LG is about that duration as well with no manual control but it uses a much higher water level.

I got the idea chatting with someone in the UK who had been using a floor cleaner with his machine for nearly two decades. Since that floor cleaner brand was not available here I found the closest equivalent and given this guy also lived in a hard water area and got the machine to last 18 years without a spider failure thought this is definitely worth trying. That long in a hard water area is unbelievable. It is proof that WM maintenance can be done with everyday products.

His DIY cleaner was a citric acid-containing product in the drawer and the floor cleaner in the drum. I mixed a teaspoon of citric acid and a cap of Lizol yesterday to see what happens. No reaction at all which is what we want. Didn't have much faith in this two-in-one idea but am understanding better now. This is a DIY two-in-one cleaner that will descale and clean at the same time.

Earlier the products I used would not play well with the other and had to be used separately. For example, you could not mix citric acid with Vanish or the more infamous bicarb with vinegar. As they would counteract each other.

The only detergent we ever used was Surf Excel Front Load Matic. Not even powder, just the liquid all these years. But used low temps or no temps for quite a while.

Still need to keep the machine clean

How low temps are we talking about? Use a food thermometer or IR thermometer if you have one. I've learnt not many do in spite of so many reviews using them over the years for phone temp measuring.

In Bangalore, the water is in the low twenties when I want to do a wash for at least 6-8 months of the year. You are not going to get great quality cleaning at that temperature. Already borderline for light to medium soil and questionable stain cleaning. You have to use more detergent which is harder to rinse off, and a more intensive wash which will lengthen the cycle to compensate for the low temperature to get a somewhat better result. More intensive puts strain on clothes and will fade them sooner. I rarely use the intensive option with clothes and don't mind longer cycles at warmer temperatures than shorter more vigorous ones.

Tap temperature is fine if you live in a part of the country that gets 300 days of sun per year. Tap temperature is going to be close to 30 or above for most of the year and maybe five degrees lower in the rest.

Here is what I observed with regards to sound and vibrations:

1: Sound is a little bit more than what it used to sound when bought first, it sounds like an airplane taking off (not volume but the sound/music). When drawing water from tap, that's the only well audible sound. Sometimes there is also that rubber squeaking sound. Feels like bearing issues, I will record this clearly so that atleast repairmen will understand well.

2: Vibration has definitely increased than it first used to be. Perhaps I will not use any stand at all and see if that would help understand the issue. This vibration happens 'more' during rise cycle, but comparatively less during spin cycle though. I stopped using 1000rpm mode due to fear or more vibration/sound.

1. if it sounds like an aeroplane engine then that is the sign of a failing bearing. It will get louder with time. But that is not what you said in your post #206. This is something you will need to track with time. I get the rubber squeaking sound too sometimes, it's a little more after I do a citric acid wash. The drum rubs up against the gasket and that's why the noise is there. Comes and goes.

2. It should not be on a stand to begin with as the machine isn't designed to work that way. Try without the stand but you will have to level it properly preferably with a spirit level. I don't notice much noise during the rinse cycle on my machine but it can happen during a spin cycle if the load is unbalanced for whatever reason. LG tries at least ten times to balance the load before giving up. I don't understand why it's the other way around for you.

 

[blr_p]

Hi @blr_p , Can you advice on what to do for Top Load Washing Machines without a heating element.

Will Vanish powder work without hot water?

The short answer is oxygen bleach works faster with hot water so no. You just use water from your geezer.

Another possibility is Lizol which should work with tap temperature. We don't need to use hot water when cleaning the floor with Lizol so it should work just fine in a top loader. In addition to cutting through grease and grime, Lizol also goes after mould and bacteria so it will also disinfect as well as chlorine bleach without the downsides.

But for a top loader, you will need to use 150ml of Lizol with the machine filled close to the brim. The dosage is one cap which is 15ml for every 4 litres of water. So with 50+ litres in the machine that works out to 150ml of Lizol. Or you can use 200ml. Just make four equally spaced lines along the height of the bottle with a marker so you will know how much to use per go.

If you also have hard water just add 200gm of citric acid to the machine. Lizol and citric acid do not react with each other which means you have now made your own DIY two-in-one cleaner. That descales as well as cleans and disinfects

Citric acid however works faster at hotter temperatures. So if you have hard water then it's better to go with 50 degree water.

In terms of cost, Lizol works out cheaper than Vanish. With a top loader, because more water is needed you will need to use at least 200gm of Vanish per go with 50+ litres of 50 degree water in the machine.

Whereas with Lizol you will get 5-6 goes for the cost of a 1 litre bottle of Lizol. Vanish in this case is 2-3x more expensive to use for tub cleaning than Lizol.

In a front loader, I use 60 degrees with Lizol because hotter makes for more effective but I think the real value of Lizol is with top loaders which don't have a heater as it is still effective at lower temperatures, unlike Vanish. Given that top loaders never see hot water in operation they likely get more filthy than front loaders so a cleaner/disinfectant like Lizol should help a lot.

Recommended to do a tub clean once every three months. You will need to do two rinses after to wash away the residue. With Lizol pH neutral and dosage of under 1%, any leftover traces in the machine should not affect clothes or skin. Unlike chlorine bleach.

 

[Ssreek]

I'm just saying they're called Turkish towels not 'Turkey' towels. I did not even catch this at first. Turkish towel is the unique style of towel. Very thick and soft.

My southern preferences for a bath towel are thinner and more scratchy

Same regarding preferences. However, I'm the only one in my family who uses these bulky Turkey and Microfiber type towels. They are great.

What is the fear about? Allergies are the only thing that comes to mind. Having used it a few times now and have not had any problems. It's pH neutral and the less than 1% concentration won't even hurt your hand when used for mopping which many still do using their hands and no stick.

Fear about -

1. whether machine/bearings/drum gets damaged;
2. allergies if lizol residue is stuck somewhere.

And you should be doing these tub cleans with the 'Intensive' option selected. That will extend the wash cycle. The tub clean on the LG is about that duration as well with no manual control but it uses a much higher water level.

I got the idea chatting with someone in the UK who had been using a floor cleaner with his machine for nearly two decades. Since that floor cleaner brand was not available here I found the closest equivalent and given this guy also lived in a hard water area and got the machine to last 18 years without a spider failure thought this is definitely worth trying. That long in a hard water area is unbelievable. It is proof that WM maintenance can be done with everyday products.

His DIY cleaner was a citric acid-containing product in the drawer and the floor cleaner in the drum. I mixed a teaspoon of citric acid and a cap of Lizol yesterday to see what happens. No reaction at all which is what we want. Didn't have much faith in this two-in-one idea but am understanding better now. This is a DIY two-in-one cleaner that will descale and clean at the same time.

Earlier the products I used would not play well with the other and had to be used separately. For example, you could not mix citric acid with Vanish or the more infamous bicarb with vinegar. As they would counteract each other.


Still need to keep the machine clean

What I feel is, you have LG washing machine, mine's Samsung. Someone will have IFB/Whirlpool etc.
But we discovered recently that Samsung machine is throwing up detergent/other powders within 10-20 mins, but LG doesn't. All these days I thought all these machines work on similar principle and even being made by 1 or 2 local companies. My doubt is what worked for your LG might not 100% work for Samsung/IFB etc.
IFB and Bosch themselves sell those drum cleaning powders. In that case why not try them in Samsung machine, some people tried and posted in amazon that they got different/bad results.
This is the doubt.

How low temps are we talking about? Use a food thermometer or IR thermometer if you have one. I've learnt not many do in spite of so many reviews using them over the years for phone temp measuring.

In Bangalore, the water is in the low twenties when I want to do a wash for at least 6-8 months of the year. You are not going to get great quality cleaning at that temperature. Already borderline for light to medium soil and questionable stain cleaning. You have to use more detergent which is harder to rinse off, and a more intensive wash which will lengthen the cycle to compensate for the low temperature to get a somewhat better result. More intensive puts strain on clothes and will fade them sooner. I rarely use the intensive option with clothes and don't mind longer cycles at warmer temperatures than shorter more vigorous ones.

Tap temperature is fine if you live in a part of the country that gets 300 days of sun per year. Tap temperature is going to be close to 30 or above for most of the year and maybe five degrees lower in the rest.

After our discussion only, I've started using the wash cycles with min 40C every time. There are times when machine selects only 30C for few types of washes and I am increasing it to 40C atleast.
Maybe this needs several drum clean cycles to remove that grime. Done with drum clean this month. Will do next month again.

1. if it sounds like an aeroplane engine then that is the sign of a failing bearing. It will get louder with time. But that is not what you said in your post #206. This is something you will need to track with time. I get the rubber squeaking sound too sometimes, it's a little more after I do a citric acid wash. The drum rubs up against the gasket and that's why the noise is there. Comes and goes.

2. It should not be on a stand to begin with as the machine isn't designed to work that way. Try without the stand but you will have to level it properly preferably with a spirit level. I don't notice much noise during the rinse cycle on my machine but it can happen during a spin cycle if the load is unbalanced for whatever reason. LG tries at least ten times to balance the load before giving up. I don't understand why it's the other way around for you.

1. I am worried about the same thing, failing bearings. Is it too complex or costlier to get it changed?

2. I don't know why people prefer stands. I don't like them at all. People think - lets keep it on a stand so that whatever dust gets settled at the bottom, we can clean it easily, without the need to move away the washing macine. They do it for the first time. Later forget and finally find a lot of garbage after a year. For my next washing machine purchase, I will prefer LG/Bosch.

 

[blr_p]

Fear about -

1. whether machine/bearings/drum gets damaged;
2. allergies if lizol residue is stuck somewhere.

1. I don't see anything in the ingredients that will harm the machine. Won't affect the door seal, plastic tub, stainless steel drum or aluminium alloy spider at the dosage or use frequency which is once every three months. You likely could use it neat to clean a mouldy door seal if wearing gloves. What else is left? Rather it's being recommended to protect the machine. Irony.

2. Look up benzalkonium chloride and Lysol allergy. The ironic thing here again is Lizol will help kill the microorganisms that could cause allergy. See SDS

Conclusion/Summary
Skin: Slightly irritating to the skin.
Eyes: Moderately irritating to eyes.

Ingredients are listed on the back and attached. Google them individually. It says causes eye and skin irritation. If it falls on your skin or eyes neat then maybe. I've had that happen on my fingers. No burning sensation, just wash a few times with soap and you're done.

If someone in your house develops a problem stop using it. After ten goes, I'm fine with it. One possibility where allergies can spring from is mould growing in the machine and its spores getting onto clothes. Know why that happens. Because the machine was not cleaned in the first place. This is a personal thing, people can develop an allergy to anything. If the product was likely to cause such problems it would not be selling as it is. It's a well know product from a branded company. The same that makes Vanish and is sold worldwide. Only in India does it have the weird spelling due to someone else trademarking the name before them.

This is more about a fear of the unknown, isn't it? You are unlikely to find anything when googling Lysol in the context of cleaning a washing machine but I'm going on the experience of someone who used a similar floor cleaner going by the ingredients for a long time with zero issues. I'm a believer until someone tells me otherwise. I swear this has got to be one of the best kept secrets out there

What I feel is, you have LG washing machine, mine's Samsung. Someone will have IFB/Whirlpool etc.
But we discovered recently that Samsung machine is throwing up detergent/other powders within 10-20 mins, but LG doesn't. All these days I thought all these machines work on similar principle and even being made by 1 or 2 local companies. My doubt is what worked for your LG might not 100% work for Samsung/IFB etc.

Am open to suggestions if anyone has any

The only difference is Samsung's drum clean program makes using cleaning products harder. The workaround is to bypass it using regular cotton 60 wash or even 95. That was the standard way to do drum clean before drum clean programs existed. Longest hottest wash with some oxygen bleach. The cleaning is done chemically, and the brand of the machine is irrelevant and works whether top or front loader. Dosing depends on the volume of water used. Dosing can make a difference.

The machines all work on a similar principle. The program details in some cases might be different. If I'm used to a Cottons 40 or 60 on the LG then you can be sure a similar result can be had on the Samsung with those settings as well.

IFB and Bosch themselves sell those drum cleaning powders. In that case why not try them in Samsung machine, some people tried and posted in amazon that they got different/bad results.
This is the doubt.

IFB's powder does nothing as I've shown in an earlier post. Bosch likely has a higher concentration of percarbonate than Vanish with less foam. And if you read the opener you would know it does not last long before expiring. Go ahead and try it if you want. At this point in time, you need to experiment and find what works for you.

The trouble with these cleaning products is they are several hundred rupees a pop. You are supposed to use ALL of the Bosch cleaner in a go. who is going to do that? Maybe in your case you need to.

So people end up using such products only once a year which is not enough in my opinion or much less than recommended in order to stretch it to the point of it not being effective to start with.

I started this thread so people could find available, affordable alternatives that work so they could use them regularly. That cost would no longer be a barrier. Regular maintenance is key to keeping a machine healthy and for it to have a long life. Not to mention just for general hygiene.

The cheaper ones are of dubious value. I see these tabs pushed heavily. I doubt they work, at least not what we get in India. Goes for $13 in the States but here in India the price is under $2. Really now Things can cost less here compared to there but not 6x less !!

Here is another that is trying to look like Affresh with the box colour. How good is it I wonder? Affesh tabs weigh 40gm, these are 30gm so a quarter less. They say to use two at a time. They need 50% more quantity than Affresh which means they are only half as concentrated. About as strong as Vanish.

Here is the problem. Doubling the tablets does not double the concentration because the percarbonate % will still be the same as a share of the total weight of the two tablets. Isn't it? The tablet needs to have a higher percentage of percarbonate, to begin with as Affresh does.

Feel free to pick them up, do a boiling water test, and see how much foam comes out. The Affresh tabs and the foam came out slowly, could see a stream of small bubbles but that is because it was in a tablet form and as designed. The test here would be to see if any bubbles appear.

After our discussion only, I've started using the wash cycles with min 40C every time. There are times when machine selects only 30C for few types of washes and I am increasing it to 40C atleast.
Maybe this needs several drum clean cycles to remove that grime.

It might be the concentration of percarbonate isn't enough in Vanish and needs to be boosted. For that pure percarbonate is available. Just add a third of Vanish to it and try that. Two-thirds pure percab + one-third Vanish by total weight will double the percarbonate concentration. Now you have the equivalent of Bosch's oxygen cleaner or Affresh tabs for a fraction of the going price.

I've already suggested Lizol.

Done with drum clean this month. Will do next month again.

Why wait for a month? When I am experimenting I would do several drum cleans in the same month. I did four last week with Lizol on different settings.

1. I am worried about the same thing, failing bearings. Is it too complex or costlier to get it changed?

No, because Samsung's tub is not sealed like Bosch's. Labour and materials depend on where you live may be around Rs.5k. This isn't a difficult thing to do but rather a standard thing to do. No need to worry.

The question is when should you do it? It depends on how loud the machine is. I still don't know why you only mentioned it after. Leads me to think the problem isn't as bad so far. Not being on site I would say chalega chaelga for now too Why don't you post audio recordings of where you think it sounds like an aircraft engine and maybe someone with a Samsung that is younger can post what theirs sounds like doing similar work and we can discuss it.

If it makes you feel better, get a repair guy in and ask for an opinion. You will have to pay visiting charges. 500 odd maybe. Enquire as per the repair cost and how long it takes to fix. There will be no downtime, he will be able to fix it in a couple of hours.

2. I don't know why people prefer stands. I don't like them at all. People think - lets keep it on a stand so that whatever dust gets settled at the bottom, we can clean it easily, without the need to move away the washing macine. They do it for the first time. Later forget and finally find a lot of garbage after a year. For my next washing machine purchase, I will prefer LG/Bosch.

That's what I think as well. It can also help the bottom from rusting but that really is cosmetic. Stay away from Bosch as it's a sealed tub and consider LG.

You will not need to replace it for a long time though. After a bearings change the machine should be as good as new assuming it's even necessary at this time.

What I will ask you to do is remember to take photos of the metal drum, the inner plastic tub and the spider and post them here so we can see how clean and in what state the spider is in. Replacing the spider will cost a little more but still much less than replacing it with a new machine. They will have to open the tub up to change the bearings so you should get a ringside view. Since you only used liquid detergent I expect it will look something like this IFB drum, it won't look too dirty but it's the state of the spider that matters. There you will have to take a call on whether to replace it as well if it is worn out and chewed up. This will delay your repair if they don't have the part readily available. I'd also check the shocks. Maybe one or two might need replacing. This is why you noticed more noise during the spins.

Finally, see if you can get them to manually clean the tub and drum. No point in dissembling and not doing a manual clean. Just Cif and a sponge should do it. Don't use anything abrasive like the green scourer on the other side of the sponge as that will scratch the inner plastic tub. In that IFB video, the guy changed the drum and just screwed it back together again without doing any cleaning inside

 

[rr9]

...
But for a top loader, you will need to use 150ml of Lizol with the machine filled close to the brim. The dosage is one cap which is 15ml for every 4 litres of water. So with 50+ litres in the machine that works out to 150ml of Lizol. Or you can use 200ml. Just make four equally spaced lines along the height of the bottle with a marker so you will know how much to use per go.

If you also have hard water just add 200gm of citric acid to the machine. Lizol and citric acid do not react with each other which means you have now made your own DIY two-in-one cleaner. That descales as well as cleans and disinfects

Citric acid however works faster at hotter temperatures. So if you have hard water then it's better to go with 50 degree water.
...

Thanks @blr_p Did my first drum clean with ~ 120ml Lizol. Did it at noon to maximize temperature (without a heating element).
Mine being a Samsung, I added the Lizol and stopped power to the machine for about 20mins. (read in a previous post that Samsung dumps the first water in 20 mins or so. If that is the case, with this the cleaner will have more time) I was not present for the fulll 2 hour cycle afterwards.

I am not sure how to judge effectiveness (more so with this being a new machine).

 

[blr_p]

(read in a previous post that Samsung dumps the first water in 20 mins or so. If that is the case, with this the cleaner will have more time) I was not present for the fulll 2 hour cycle afterwards.

Uh, dumping after a few minutes is with Samsung front loaders. Since yours is a top loader I don't think that happens. You will have to monitor it again with no product to verify.

If you can record it with your phone it's easier. It's important you know how long the tub clean cycle is and how many rinse cycles there are after?

If you understand well how this cycle operates you will get the most benefit from it.

You want to rinse out the Lizol so I would do two rinses and here the water has to be the same level as the tub clean

@gopal_agrawal can you confirm whether any water is dumped early during the drum clean cycle with your top loader?

I understood it would fill close to the top as you posted earlier, run the tub clean for the best part of the duration and then empty it out towards the end with a rinse or two. Is this the case?

I am not sure how to judge effectiveness (more so with this being a new machine).

There is no visual feedback when it is clean. Just be regular and hopefully, you never will see any meaning the water becomes dirty or stuff comes out.

That is the problem with this topic. No one thinks it's necessary because you can't see inside the machine and what you can see ie. the steel drum is shining. Then you run a tub clean and nothing shows and over time you wonder why it's necessary. The first few runs go without incident and then you get lazy. You used to do it every three months it then becomes every six months, then once a year and finally never. At some point, a problem develops and you scramble until which time you were doing laundry in a dirty machine and were none the wiser.

 

[gopal_agrawal]

@gopal_agrawal can you confirm whether any water is dumped early during the drum clean cycle with your top loader

Currently I am not at home for few months so cannot actually verify.

 

[SkyWreak]

Hey guys so i just decided to dismantle my IFB front loader last weekend the reason was it getting stuck on drain during dry spin cycle despite using the regular cleaning procedures provided by IFB there was so much lint/dirt/hard water deposits that the water pump which is responsible for throwing dirty water out and also recycling the water during wash cycle has clogged .
The deposits are as follows:-
1. hardwater scaling / washing powder residue in powder adding section
2. The water heater was coated the scaling / dirt and lint.
3. the drum outer chamber was full of slurry mess which looked like clay
4. the water pump also had the dirt which also clogged the water recycling pipe
5. water outlet pipe was fully clogged it needed the pressure from pressure washer to clean

Other observations :
1. Rusting in lower side of machine ( scrubbed with wire brush and painted with spray paint)
2. Dust / Water seals which are at backside of drum were in pristine condition
3. Other parts such as Bearing, Belt and wiring looked pretty good considering the machine is 5+ year old

After the assembly the machine is running fine also i observed the flow of water intake / outlet/ recycle is increased greatly and also the washing quality also improved a lot.

 

[rr9]

Hey guys so i just decided to dismantle my IFB front loader last weekend the reason wa......
1. hardwater scaling / washing powder residue in powder adding section
2. The water heater was coated the scaling / dirt and lint.
.....
Other observations :
1. Rusting in lower side of machine ( scrubbed with wire brush and painted with spray paint)
.....

May I ask for a few pictures? Thank You

 

[SkyWreak]

May I ask for a few pictures? Thank You

What kind of photos ? As mostly i didnt document the process just have few photos for reference for assembly.