Detergent clogged my lint filter, I'm confused..

[vintagekitchen]

I have been noticing for a while now the gradual decline in performance of the lint filter in my Maytag A107. Of course, I have also been on crutches and attending physical therapy due to an injury, so lint wasn't ranking very high on my priority list, but I digress...

Tonight I finally took the time to remove the filter and hold it up to the light, after I washed a load of towels and there was absolutely no lint at all in the filter. It was completely clogged. After scrubbing, scratching, rinsing, etc, I finally gave in and started banging the filter on the counter to knock the crud out of the holes. Within a few minutes, I had a small pile of the pretty blue and green speckles from my detergent. No mineral build up, no white detergent powder crud, just the blue and green speckles.

Once I realized what the speckles were, it made sense. A few weeks ago I purchased a bucket of the Kroger Value brand powdered detergent, with the blue and green speckles, which an archived thread on the site had said looked, smelled, and performed nearly exactly like vintage Oxydol. The detergent wasnt spot on for the Oxydol of my childhood, but it was close, and 10 bucks for a 150 load bucket of detergent was a great deal. What I hadn't realized was that the slow decline of my poor A107's linter filtering abilities began shortly after I started using the new detergent.

What on earth are they putting in detergent as those blue and green speckles? I wash exclusively in warm or hot water, often rinse in warm, and only use cold water for delicates which are washed in woolite. I have never had an issue like this. It is as if the speckles weren't even really water soluble, and it's frightening to think of the unseen mess they could make in a self cleaning lint filter.

In short, does anyone have any ideas why this happened? And, does anyone want to suggest a new detergent for me? I would prefer an old style, high sudsing detergent, preferably with oxygen bleach and enzymes, but most especially the enzymes, and preferably a powder, but I suppose that part is negotiable. Lastly, I would prefer something that doesn't reek of cheap perfume or imitation tropical fruit. Help me out here guys, I'm a frustrated little guy tonight, lol.

 

[strongenough78]

It's just not dissolving. Take a small amount and put it in very hot water, even try some boiling water and stir it around. If you still see the speckles even in boiling water, then you'll know what the problem is. You may have to grind it down even finer to make sure it completely dissolves. Are you noticing residue on your clothes?

 

[arbilab]

I'm a huge fan of Kroger house brands but I'd stay away from the BOL "value" stuff, same as I would in any store. Just can't expect nominal performance from "the cheapest stuff they sell". I mean, you said it yourself. Insoluble speckles.

I'm on a VERY strict budget. Social Security and I live in a shirthole HUD building that's like a waiting room for a morgue. But I still buy Tide.

 

[jamiel]

My grandmother had a MT and used cheap powdered store-brand detergent...the stuff in the 5 gallon pail from the grocery store...the washing soda caused buildup of calcium carbonate on the filter was amazing. Her water was relatively hard (suburban Chicago) and they outlawed phosphates in the early 70s. I acquired another MT later at a house I bought and ended up just replacing the filter it was so clogged.

 

[tomturbomatic]

One of those acid-based lime removers like Lime Away will remove the stuff from your filter without banging it on anything. The cheaper detergent does not have sufficient water conditioners to sequester the minerals in your water. If you are using hot or warm wash water, there should not be any reason for the detergent not to dissolve, but if you are not conditioning the water with something like STPP, the calcium-magnesium salts can show up as a precipitate. Check to see if the detergent has Borax or Washing Soda in its formulation. Both will form a precipitate. This was seen frequently in the 80s when detergents dropped phosphates and people did not use enough of them to deal with the minerals in the water so their washers developed bad mineral encrustations. Even though they were using the same brand, the water conditioners that were substituted for phosphates were not as effective at sequestering the minerals so they needed to use more to achieve the same results. I suspect that is the situation with your detergent. The water is not being sufficiently conditioned for the little colored crystals to dissolve, unless you are trying to use this product in water that is too cool for the crystals to dissolve, but you did not state that so I am eliminating it as a cause. Having to use more of off-brand detergents is what makes them not so economical after all unless you have very soft water.

I hope your healing is progressing.

 

[MikeS]

May I Suggest...

Sears Ultra (Orange box). I've sung the praises of this wonderful detergent in the past, but to recap: Light smell, excellent cleaning and quick dissolving in all temperatures. Plus, it has enzymes. (Another version has bleach alternative, if you're so inclined.) My suggestion: Wait until Sears puts the powder on sale. I'll be buying another box with my rewards points!
Good luck with your Maytag lint filter!

 

[danemodsandy]

There's Hope....

....For any clogged Maytag filter; Lime-A-Way, a scrub brush and elbow grease do the trick. This puppy came with my Almond 806, and if I can get this clean, yours should be a snap. What you're looking at on the left is Beelzebub's own amalgam of lint and lime buildup; it was about the consistency of concrete, and just about as much fun to remove:

 

[frigilux]

If you want both old-school suds and excellent cleaning, by all means give powdered Tide Vivid (formerly Tide With Bleach) a try.

I'm also a recent convert to the Sears detergent referenced by MikeS above, although I use the green box version, which claims two types of enzymes. It rinses very cleanly, which is why I like to use it in the front-loader. However, I find it to be low-sudsing. Tide still takes the checkered flag for stain removal, but the Sears detergent is no slouch.