Maytag Performa washing poorly/ dirty water?

[dustin92]

We have a Maytag performa washer, and I thought the issue was our water, or my loading/ seperating techniques, but now both have been ruled out (washer downstairs is performing well with the same conditions). The clothes are coming out dull and just overall not looking clean, and the water looks filthy gray/brownish even on white loads. I know we have an issue with the water coming out gray in the kitchen, but the water looks clean and clear as the washer fills. I just started a load of whites/ light colors, and got dirty gray water as soon as the agitation started. I have used several different detergents (currently using arm & hammer liquid) with the same results. The machine is getting plenty of hot water, and appears to be agitating properly, although it seems a bit slow to me, and the 2 piece agitator is functioning properly. It sounds pretty normal, a swishing type shhhh..shhhh...shhhh sound, and it is spinning well. I am completely stumped as to what is causing the problem. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[dustin92]

I am posting a pic of the rinse water to show the gray. It does look like fs was added, but it was not.

 

[cfz2882]

that is weird-try running the washer without a load and see what happens...Washers with turbine type drain pumps can pump drain water back into the tub running in agitate direction if drain hose sealed into standpipe.

 

[dustin92]

Will try tomorrow. The drain pipe is not sealed into the drain, and it drains straight down under the floor, then about 10 feet, then straight down into the main sewer line.

 

[dustin92]

I filled the washer with warm water, and it looked pretty normal, started agitation on the delicate cycle, still looked normal. I added 2 very lightly soiled sweaters and a very lightly soiled pair of jeans. Still looking normal. I then added the detergent, and the water started turning gray, first light, then gradually toward a medium gray. First pic is filling, the water is not that yellow, my camera just caught it that way.

 

[dustin92]

Next pic, clothes and detergent have been added.

 

[norgechef]

I have a 2006 Maytag ensignia which is the same as performa

And it does the same thing! I always figured it was just the harshness of the detergent making the colors run a little but I wouldn't worry. Since you ran the machine before you put the clothes in you can see that its not oil or something from the transmission so I think its fine, my clothes always come out fine. Just a little linty because these machines don't have any lint filtering mechanisms.

 

[dustin92]

It does this even on white loads, and the clothes come out dingy grayish looking. The Speed Queen downstairs gets clothes much cleaner and whites stay white.

 

[DirectDriveDave]

This is only a guess, but maybe it's scum build-up on the outer tub?

 

[dustin92]

I had the top of the tub off when we moved in this summer, above the water level was nasty and scummy, which I cleaned of course, but below the water level was squeaky clean.

 

[norgechef]

well mine probably come out dingy too lol

Thats a Maytag performa for ya.....I can never get my dingy whites back to really white in that machine, even with bleach. Im thinking of buying a newer Speed Queen/Huebsch...or a filter flo...im sure they would work much better

 

[dustin92]

Ok, I guess its not just mine then lol. We have an older speed queen downstairs, and the performance is much better. Maybe we will come across a nice vintage set... The only catch is we don't have hookups for an electric dryer... only gas. The dryer has pretty poor performance as well, so if the washer goes, the dryer goes too!

 

[combo52]

Bad Detergent

Try using a better brand of detergent, I have never seen great results with any A&H detergents, I would put these in the cheap detergent category along with AmWay, Sears, Purex and several other brands.

 

[teknikleespekng]

Dingy whites

What detergent works for whites? My whites tend to grey and I cant get stubborn dirt out of socks. Could it be a combination of detergent and water temperature? My water heater is only at 120 degrees due to my special needs son. I use sodium carbonate as my "bleach". I dont use regular bleach because of elevated iron in my water supply.

 

[gansky1]

Try the Tide with oxygen bleach. That should help with small amounts of iron in the water supply as well. It costs more, but John is right, good detergent makes all the difference.

 

[norgechef]

Tide with bleach

When I use it even in my performa it seems to slowly bring back the liveliness of the whites after a few loads.....though I don't care for the smell of regular or clean breeze tide so I don't use it much. Maybe try using new tide vivid white (The same as tide with bleach) with the boost packets....never tried them but who knows....they might help.

 

[supersuds]

Tattletale gray

Launderess gave a great response to me when I asked about it in this thread from a few years ago.

Banishing tattletale gray

In the 1940s, Fels Naptha soap advertised that it would banish tattletale gray from white laundry. What's the best modern way to do that? The reason I asked is that a friend approached me as a "laundry expert." He had been washing in cold water with regular Gain. I suggested: 1) Hot water; 2)...

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[dustin92]

I tried a bag of the Tide Vivid Boost pacs, and while they worked ok, they left everything scratchy, and the smell was horrendous, even for me.

 

[alr2903]

Combo52, is it possible Dustin has trasmission oil leaking? I do not know if it is even possible with this design. Before we had our infamous Amana, we had a Magic Chef, that I think is similar. I really liked everything about the Magic Chef, timer failure was why we junked it. alr