DoulaClara
01-26-2010, 07:47 PM
... for the love of all things holy, check your fabric softener dispenser! :sick
We do not use fabric softener of any sort, whatsoever, and haven't at all used the center-agitator dispenser of the machine that came with the house when we bought it in July of 2006. But in the process of pulling apart the machine (a basic Maytag, run of the mill thing) and trying to figure out what is causing it to leak from the bottom (a worn out pump seal thing), DH decided to take apart the dispenser portion that is in the middle of the central agitator.
Wow, gross. Holy, holy moly. Old, cemented fabric softener with tons of black mildew all over it. He removed the center altogether and cleaned the whole thing with white vinegar and lots of hot water. The dispenser portion is now soaking in a bowl of white vinegar to get rid of the crustacean-style grossness in the middle of the pieces of it.
So, this machine is going to be in top shape now that we've cleaned it all out, and are replacing the pump (and the belt, while we're at it, as the Internet seems to suggest that's the second most likely thing to go on this model). No matter- I think we've decided to bump "new washing machine" up to a higher priority level, and will be looking into that for the next many months (until we find a squeal of a deal).
In the meantime... yuck. I'm so grossed out by what has been in my machine this whole time. I'm so glad he took it apart, and cleaned it, and I highly recommend finding a good way to do so yourselves, especially if your washing machine came with your house.
We do not use fabric softener of any sort, whatsoever, and haven't at all used the center-agitator dispenser of the machine that came with the house when we bought it in July of 2006. But in the process of pulling apart the machine (a basic Maytag, run of the mill thing) and trying to figure out what is causing it to leak from the bottom (a worn out pump seal thing), DH decided to take apart the dispenser portion that is in the middle of the central agitator.
Wow, gross. Holy, holy moly. Old, cemented fabric softener with tons of black mildew all over it. He removed the center altogether and cleaned the whole thing with white vinegar and lots of hot water. The dispenser portion is now soaking in a bowl of white vinegar to get rid of the crustacean-style grossness in the middle of the pieces of it.
So, this machine is going to be in top shape now that we've cleaned it all out, and are replacing the pump (and the belt, while we're at it, as the Internet seems to suggest that's the second most likely thing to go on this model). No matter- I think we've decided to bump "new washing machine" up to a higher priority level, and will be looking into that for the next many months (until we find a squeal of a deal).
In the meantime... yuck. I'm so grossed out by what has been in my machine this whole time. I'm so glad he took it apart, and cleaned it, and I highly recommend finding a good way to do so yourselves, especially if your washing machine came with your house.