Blue dye in Kenmore dryer
- Thread starter phamq
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askomiele
Well-known member
Is'nt that caused by drying lots of Jeans and transferring blue dye to the white finish of the drum. Here they make no more white drums for that reason.. Stainless steal doesn't pick up the colors of bleeding fabrics.
I've also been told liquid fabric softeners can do this to a dryer's drum.
I've also been told liquid fabric softeners can do this
I have no evidence of that in my experience. My 1986 LK dryer didn't have any blue hues to it nor does my 1994 Maytag Dependable Care. And I use fabric softner on every load. Mind you, I also only wash a load of jeans about once a month or every 6 weeks. Can't wear them to work and only wear them on weekends to church and in the winter time. But I have seen this when I know families wash jeans a couple, to numerous times a week. I also turn my jeans inside out when I wash them so there is less dye exposure. That also may help.
I have no evidence of that in my experience. My 1986 LK dryer didn't have any blue hues to it nor does my 1994 Maytag Dependable Care. And I use fabric softner on every load. Mind you, I also only wash a load of jeans about once a month or every 6 weeks. Can't wear them to work and only wear them on weekends to church and in the winter time. But I have seen this when I know families wash jeans a couple, to numerous times a week. I also turn my jeans inside out when I wash them so there is less dye exposure. That also may help.
I think it's called
OVERLOADING! That dryer has continuously been packed way beyond full with jeans. My mom had a white dryer like that and we never had blue inside. Nice normal sized loads, and Low to Med drying temps.
I wonder if you could wipe the inside with a spong and bleach water?
Laurent
OVERLOADING! That dryer has continuously been packed way beyond full with jeans. My mom had a white dryer like that and we never had blue inside. Nice normal sized loads, and Low to Med drying temps.
I wonder if you could wipe the inside with a spong and bleach water?
Laurent
Indigo dye is one of the most unstable and will bleed onto anything, especially when garments are new and indigo concentration is highest. The white powder-coating on dryer drums is particularly susceptible to dye transfer and virtually nothing but sandpaper or sandblasting will remove it. Since it's been "heat set" into the paint, it won't transfer onto other fabrics being dried and other than being rather unsightly, it's harmless.
A new drum will solve the problem.....8^)
lasvegasrox
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2007
- Messages
- 88
omg its like common sense
OK...All you need to do is take ajax and make a paste and with a little elbow grease it comes right off, then dry some rags and it will be all clean...lol sandblasing that just made my day
-luke
OK...All you need to do is take ajax and make a paste and with a little elbow grease it comes right off, then dry some rags and it will be all clean...lol sandblasing that just made my day
-luke
Why doesn't Sears and Whirlpool just paint the drum a nice shade of blue in the first place? Or does that just make too much sense?
What happened to stainless steel?
For a while, it seemed that all dryer's where coming in SS, then the last year or two, seems all the dryers are going back to the cheaper white drum. Is it even porcelain anymore or just painted white?
I just got my new frigidaire set and got the SS dryer. I think it was only like $40 more for the SS. Well worth the 'extra' cost in my book. Certainly worth it as opposed to scrubbing the drum with ajax! Of course, I can't seem to keep a washer/dryer for more than a year, TWO at the most, so I suppose I really shouldn't even worry about it. LOL
For a while, it seemed that all dryer's where coming in SS, then the last year or two, seems all the dryers are going back to the cheaper white drum. Is it even porcelain anymore or just painted white?
I just got my new frigidaire set and got the SS dryer. I think it was only like $40 more for the SS. Well worth the 'extra' cost in my book. Certainly worth it as opposed to scrubbing the drum with ajax! Of course, I can't seem to keep a washer/dryer for more than a year, TWO at the most, so I suppose I really shouldn't even worry about it. LOL
Never a blue drum in nearly 30 years of use with the 1981 series 70 Kenmore dryer, and I use fabric softener with every load. It would actually be nice if I did have a blue colored drum since the original paint completely wore off the entire drum/baffles ect MANY years ago. It makes me wonder what the internals are made of since I haven't had a rust issue........yet.
Well, I have a 94 Kenmore purchased new. Up to now, its drum is still in original color. But we have few jeans and sun-dry our clothes whenever weather permits. I thought somehow liquid ink (from markers maybe) accidentally gets into the dryer. It's new to me that other brands get dyed too.
It's blue jeans
It's not overloading with jeans. It's just simply drying jeans. I've had a couple of white drum Kenmores and I was a single guy at the time who wore jeans alot. The most I ever loaded was 6 pairs. Within a year the drum was blue. That's all it is.
It's not overloading with jeans. It's just simply drying jeans. I've had a couple of white drum Kenmores and I was a single guy at the time who wore jeans alot. The most I ever loaded was 6 pairs. Within a year the drum was blue. That's all it is.
fredfred9633
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- Aug 10, 2008
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it also happens when you leave mealtable objects in your pockets
christfr
Well-known member
I HAVE TO CLEAN MINE ABOUT ONCE A YEAR. I USE EITHER A GOOD CAR WAX OR A SUPER FINE RUBBING COMPOUND THAT YOU WOULD USE ON A CARS FINISH. TAKES A LITTLE TIME BUT COMES RIGHT OFF
jeff_adelphi
Well-known member
I have noticed that dryers with very long vents or vents that are clogged up, have more problems with dye transfer. I have one customer with a very long dryer vent, who has bright red bath towels, and the dryer drum is all pink. With poor air flow a dryer gets hotter and steamier inside and this might help the dyr transfer.
All -
I don't think this is due just to blue jeans only. Like many things, there is not one simple culprit, rather I think it is a combination of things.
I have a 1986 Kenmore dryer, which I bought new. It is one of the earliest models with the white finish drum. Years ago it was developing that blue hue, which I didn't like, so I called the Whirlpool help line and asked what was going on. They told me it was due to fabric softener sheets, and film build-up that was getting discolored, not the drum itself.
At that point I quit using dryer softener sheets for many years, and the blueness (which was never as healthy as in the pics above) eventually wore off. I certainly never quit wearing or washing my jeans though.
So, I'd venture a suggestion that fabric softener film has built up on many dryer drum and bulkhead surfaces, then a transfer prone garment such as jeans, new towels, etc. transfer their color to the softener build-up. I think it a lot more likely that softener film could be discolored vs. high-heat enamel.
What is odd is that I have a 1978 Kenmore dryer as well, which has the previous gray finish (what hasn't worn off) and I've never seen any sign of discoloration in it, though it's harder to see. It must be something particular to the white finish that attracts or retains the softener. I think the comments about the venting efficiency are especially smart - higher internal temperatues (due to poor venting) probably would encourage softener build-up.
I suspect a cleaner/polish capable of removing surface stains and oxidation from a car paint would remove the discolored softener film.
I didn't want that blue color in my dryer, and it was all my clothes in there. If that were a dryer I bought used, I'd especially want it gone.
Gordon
I don't think this is due just to blue jeans only. Like many things, there is not one simple culprit, rather I think it is a combination of things.
I have a 1986 Kenmore dryer, which I bought new. It is one of the earliest models with the white finish drum. Years ago it was developing that blue hue, which I didn't like, so I called the Whirlpool help line and asked what was going on. They told me it was due to fabric softener sheets, and film build-up that was getting discolored, not the drum itself.
At that point I quit using dryer softener sheets for many years, and the blueness (which was never as healthy as in the pics above) eventually wore off. I certainly never quit wearing or washing my jeans though.
So, I'd venture a suggestion that fabric softener film has built up on many dryer drum and bulkhead surfaces, then a transfer prone garment such as jeans, new towels, etc. transfer their color to the softener build-up. I think it a lot more likely that softener film could be discolored vs. high-heat enamel.
What is odd is that I have a 1978 Kenmore dryer as well, which has the previous gray finish (what hasn't worn off) and I've never seen any sign of discoloration in it, though it's harder to see. It must be something particular to the white finish that attracts or retains the softener. I think the comments about the venting efficiency are especially smart - higher internal temperatues (due to poor venting) probably would encourage softener build-up.
I suspect a cleaner/polish capable of removing surface stains and oxidation from a car paint would remove the discolored softener film.
I didn't want that blue color in my dryer, and it was all my clothes in there. If that were a dryer I bought used, I'd especially want it gone.
Gordon
maytagwc401
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- Apr 15, 2007
- Messages
- 91
I have a Whirlpool dryer for 10 years now. White Drum. I used liquid fabric softner in every load. I never used dryer sheets. I hate them. I always wash jeans with other dark items. (I never do exlusive jeans loads). I always use the lower temperature for all clothing except towels. My drum is still very white. The only blue tinge is the bottom part of the inside of the door.
I remeber a post on here a couple of years back about a guy's Dad who had an old dryer, Kenmore maybe, that he exclusively used to tumble his pecans to polish them. I thought that to also be a nice gentle way of also polishing the drum. Noisy as hell but gentle. Never tried it. I have 3 pecan trees but still never tried it. I can only imagine the noise of such. Can you also roast peanuts in a Kenmore?
