Best Washing Machine for Lint Removal

[rdmatos]

Hi all. I am curious if any one here knows what brand/model washer is best at lint removal. I have 3 dogs and getting their hair off my laundry is a nightmare. Does anyone know if they still make machines with manual lint traps? I have searched with no luck. Any feed back would be great!

 

[toggleswitch2]

I'm just gonna say this once.

General Electric Filter-flo.

 

[appnut]

Robert, the last of the GE Filter-flos wer made in 1994. Keep an eye out on CraisList and ask us to verify something you find.

 

[scrubflex]

Keep an eye also for a 1972-1974 GE Filter-Flo Versatronic PROGRAMMED FABRIC SELECTION washer that has the timed bleach and fabric softener dispensers. I want this washer.

 

[volvoguy87]

GE Filter Flo.

The best lint removal, Bar None!
An old Maytag with the turquoise agitator is nothing to sneeze at, but a GE Filter Flow will out perform ANYTHING on the market today or in the past in terms of good lint removal, regardless of efficiency, or top or front loading.

A GE Filter Flo (GE FF) works by using the pump to pump the wash water through a flume all through the wash and rinse cycles. The flume dumps the water into a huge filter pan on top of the agitator. You must remove the ball of lint from the filter at the end of the wash cycle.

GE FF, it was good then, it's better now,
Dave

 

[mrb627]

Modern Washers

Why does it seem that for modern washer manufacturers that lint removal is of little concern? Almost a non-issue in the washing machine. And the lint screen in he dryers have gotten smaller. Seems that the older machines used to have ultra large lint screens (like the Whirlpool top pill out that was 3 feet long). Now it is a little square inside the front door.

What are they thinking?

Malcolm

 

[toggleswitch2]

~Seems that the older machines used to have ultra large lint screens (like the Whirlpool top pull-out that was 3 feet long).

Some filters of the 29" wide engeeered Whirlppol/Kenmore/Roper family were a yard/meter long in that the exhaust outlet was near the floor. [Their airflow was in and out from the rear bulkhead]. The exhaust outlets were near the top of the machine with other models [i.e. much older versions] of those brands and models.

Their 27" engineered dryers hae a different air-flow pattern (back to front) putting the lint filter near the main loading door.

 

[laundromat]

Agitator washers cause lint. The difference between the tumble type and agitator type washers is irremarkable.I had so many customers that I converted from top to front loaders come back to ask why there was no lint collecting in their new dryer or current one that was originaly drying clothes out of their top loaders.I explained to them that theagitator washer's vigorous agitation with the sharp blades as aposed to the smooth,perforated arms in the front loaders create ware on the fabric and cause the fibers to tare or break which causes lint.

Front loaders will more thoroughly remove sediment like dog,cat,human and dust hair easily without taring the fabrics.The clothes rubbing against each other along with gravity and hundreds of perforations in the wash cylinders are how it works.no need for recirculating water or filter pans.I do check my "button trap"once a month but never much lint there. Just a few coins and other debres that had acumulated.The worst case was when I was with my room mate of 12 years,Orma,in florida and a metal part of one of her bras had come apart getting stuck in between the inner and outer tubs.removing the arm in my kitchenAid Ensemble unit helped to get parts of it broken down enough for it to reach the button trap and remove all the residue left.Whirlpool needs to make their button trap accessable to the owner/user instead of having it hidden behind the front service panel.Frigidaire too.

 

[mixfinder]

LIne 'em Up

Less housewives used a dryer for everything in the 50's and 60's so more effective lint removal was indicated in line dried clothing. When the American populace went to machine dried clothing the dryer removed a large portion of the lint from the wash and so mega filtering became a lesser priority to the buyer.

 

[volvoguy87]

Lint.

My mother has a GE Adora front loading washer and dryer. A normal cycle on the Adora washer is about an hour and a half and it could not remove cat hair! I put my laundry in it with the cat hair and it looked like it hadn't been washed at all once it had been dried. I understand that front loaders are supposed to be easier on the clothes and wash better, but I have yet to experience it in any front loader I have used.

I'll stick with my Filter Flo for the linty stuff,
Dave

 

[toggleswitch2]

Maybe the gentler wash-action in a tumble washer
(front-loader) is gentler, but a super fast 1,000+ RPM spin CAN'T be good on fibers.......

 

[ronhic]

There is a difference...

...between 'lint' which is created during the washing process and animal hair/fur.

Front loaders, generally speaking, produce much less actual lint during washing which is why they don't have lint filters. As an example, I have just dried (ok, last night) a full load of mixed items in the dryer and got less than a tightly 'scrunched up tissues' worth of lint off the screen....

Front loaders, however, are not good at removing pet hair....that generally needs water to 'float' them off and a decent filter, such as a GE filter-flo, to catch them.

....which is part of the reason we have 'non-drop' dogs...

Go the Soft Coated Wheaten terriers!

 

[favorit]

are you sure med and high spin speeds are really wearing ?

Toggles,
you can't make a statement that applies to every fabric.

For sure 1000 rpm are bad on silk fabrics, but not on wool. Vintage Mieles spin wool @ 900 rpm, modern ones @ 1200 rpm.
Actually wool can't bear any agitation while wet (felting and shinkage) but it can be spun at these medium speeds. Cotton and linen haven't any problems with 1600 rpm or even more.

Anyway even dry cleaning machines have high extract speeds to save money on perc distillation during the drying cycle. Usually drycleaners deal with those garments one wouldn't ever dare to handwash

In my household vintage sheets and towels last longer than kitchen/table clothes. Both have been spun @ 1100 (lately 1200) rpm in the last 25 years. The factor that makes difference is LCB ... my gran was addicted to it *LOL*

Carlo

 

[jons1077]

Maytag or FilterFlo

Honestly, having both an older filter flo and Maytag, I've noticed a pretty big difference between the filtering abilities as well as two different substances being filtered out of the wash. Ronhic pointed out that "lint" is in fact comprised of small fibers of fabric mostly created by the washing action of the machine. Pet hair is totally different and some ways of filtering work better than others for this.

Many say the filter flo is best for removal of lint and pet hair. The difference I've noticed between the Maytag and Filter-Flo is there being generally more LINT found in the filter pan of the GE. The Maytag generally does not produce much lint. This would make some since considering the wash action seems to be more of a gentle nature compared to the GE on normal speed.

Our golden retriever has been shedding buckets of hair lately and the hair is on EVERYTHING!!! Particularly, hair is on the bedding. I can say that the GE catches a fair amount of hair, but hair generally seems to float in the wash water. Since the filter stream is pulled from the very bottom of the outer tub, a lot of the hair is being missed and can be seen floating along the upper rim of the inner tub.

The Maytag's filtering is completely different and more of a passive approach. On higher water levels the agitator post filtering system is VERY effective with hair removal. I literally have to clean the filter twice (once after the wash and again after rinsing) because it is completely full of dog hair. This most definitely has to be due to the filtering of the water from the center of the wash action, the agitator.

Having said all of this I have to say the Filter Flo is great with lint removal and some pet hair, but if it's really pet hair that is a concern the Maytag central agitator filter wins in my books.

Just my observation though...

Jon

 

[alr2903]

Ditto that Jons1077, the lint filter in the barrel type Tag filter, is a pet hair magnet. alr2903

 

[qsd-dan]

Ditto that Jons1077, the lint filter in the barrel type Tag

X2

During the beginning of summer when all 4 animals are massively shedding, the couch covers get covered hair and the 712 filters that stuff out like nobody's business. I actually have to stand over the machine and pull the filter out every 3 minutes to peel off the pet hair that wraps around it. This is one of the major reasons I'll NEVER own a front loader!

 

[ronhic]

Have any...

...of you tried vacuuming the hair off before washing?

My sister uses a 'turbo' brush on her couch covers and gets the vast majority off before it goes in the machine....

 

[toggleswitch2]

Toggles,
you can't make a statement that applies to every fabric.

Carlos:
Sure I can. (can means "to be able to").
It just may not be accurate

saluti!

 

[joelippard]

Here's my opinion on the subject

Back in the late 80's early 90's Mom had a Filter Flo, we had 2 cats in the house and it really caught alot of lint in the pan, you could see the cat hair in it.

I have a Black Labrador Retriever who sleeps with me. I vacuum the sheets off every day, but on wash day I just pitch them in the Frigidaire. The Solid Tub Rollermatic is great at floating that stuff off the top of the water, when the sheets come from the dryer the filter has between 5 and 10 hairs on it. It's not quite as good in the 1-18 but the filter in it does catch a great deal. I can't imagine trying to get rid of hair without alot of water and a filter to aid the process.