Duet Sport Depositing brownish stains on white clothes

[lebron]

Hi, my mom has a Whirlpool Duet sport that is about 5 years old. For over a year she has complained that it sometimes deposits brown/black small streak stains on white clothes. I haven't a clue as to why. Unfortunately, being a washer boy, my mom assumes I can wave a magic wand and it will fix it. She just contacted me tonight asking what to do . I have no idea. Help ? 

 

p.s. one thing that i have been trying to tell her to do for the past year is use HOT. She never really heeded my advice. So I did kinda get to say, "well i told ya so" when she contacted me with the problem yet again. I'm not sure that using hot would prevent it but using all cold over time may be a cause of the problem. I'm just purely speculating at this point though although using hot ofc wouldn't hurt

 

[applianceguy47]

It could be iron in her water supply, or the pipes themselves leaching iron into the water.

 

If it is iron, note that there are a couple of different kinds.  Some are not easy to treat and require an expensive filter system.

 

[matthewza]

Try cleaning out the dispenser and cutting out fabric softener. It might be mould flakes from softener but iron sounds more likely

 

[dj-gabriele]

If it's iron oxide stains just try some clothes rust remover, it will INSTANTLY remove the stains.
Otherwise they're most probably scumm stains coming from inside the washer (many cold/warm washes with liquid detergent and softener isn't it?).
In this case it will be removed by a couple of washes with 200 grams of citric acid (repeat twice) and a bleach wash, both in HOT water.

 

[toploader55]

Had a similar problem here on Cape.

Turned out to be 2 things.

The Hot water Storage Tank had not been "Bottom Flushed in years. So when the Fire Dept. went Hydrant Flushing, it introduced more sediment to the tank and the Water Pressure change kicked up some of the sediment and deposited it on the clothes. (This will only and always happen when your washing whites). And this happened with all the toploaders in the house. Actually, now that I think about this last summer after Miele replaced the 4842 with another one, the Miele produced brown spots and it was only weeks old. Has to be something with the Water Dept.

Maybe check the Water heater for sediment. Hope this may help.

 

[whirlcool]

Reminds me of a story about a couple that bought a new house. When the washer/dryer was installed the woman washed a load of new white towels. She used bleach along with detergent. When she went to remove the towels from the washer and to put them in the dryer the towels were now bright orange colored!

Turns out they had high iron content in their water and the bleach "enhanced" this.
Fortunately a washing with "Iron Out" returned the towels back to white again. They ended up installing a iron filtering system in their house.

 

[lebron]

Thanks for the replies guys. She lives in northern Minnesota on the Iron Range, so iron in the water could be a definite possibility. The water is also known to be hard. The detergent dispenser has acquired an orangish color, possibly confirming high iron content.

 

Washing habits for this machine are mostly warm /cold washes, and by default all cold rinses. Sears powdered HE detergent and NO fabric softener are used. Any idea concerning liquid detergent and or fabric softener won't help.

 

Can anyone elaborate on the bottom flushing of the hot water heater? I will definitely have to perform this.

 

[applianceguy47]

1st- He said Bottom flushing. (obnoxious laughing ensues for several seconds.)

2nd- water heater info attached.

3rd.- If you have iron in the water, you would need to have it tested for the TYPE of iron, and choose the type of filter and/or appliance after that. Bacterial Iron is the most difficult to treat and requires oxidizing the water before softening it.

4th- The pipes in the house. If they are IRON, and old, they could well be a problem. Meaning your water coming in could be fine, but if your pipes are rusting from the inside, Which I've seen happen, you will need new plumbing lines. They could look like this on the inside. I prefer plastic or Pex plumbing lines to avoid this. Good news, if you are DIYer, pex is so easy.

5th- after you fix your rusty water problem, you would want to thoroughly clean out the washer before using again. Vinegar and other products can help with that.

6th- What do you have now. If you don't even have a softner, your using RAW water. There is no telling what kind of deposits you may have built up in the washer.

Draining and Flushing an Electric Water Heater

This Old House plumbing and heating contractor Richard Trethewey shows a quick and effective way to drain a sediment-filled electric water heater.

www.thisoldhouse.com