Most & Least Effective Washing Machine Lint Filtration Systems.

[launderess]

Thread in another section had one thinking, what do people think were the best and least effective lint filtration systems on washing machines?

To one's surprise the Maytag metal in agitator lint filter/dispenser (used with my wringer washer) works remarkably well. Currents of water are forced from outside of tub down through center which greatly aids in helping that device catch lint.

OTOH "Magic Mix" brush filter on my vintage WP portable was sort of Meh to middling. Darker items often came out covered in lint regardless.

Had a GE portable with bed of nails filter which was simply useless for catching anything but larger bits of fluff.

Found with WP and GE filters if you let things go for a bit, they actually seemed to catch more lint. Guess a light buildup of fluff helped trap more I suppose...

 

[gizmo]

Well you can guess what I'd have to say about Miele Honeycomb Care...

 

[mb1974]

Filter Flo

 

[maytag85]

Maytag power fin lint filter, GE Filter Flo, Whirlpool magic mix dispenser.

 

[ozzie908]

Hotpoint

Filter Flo or whatever its called.... ?

 

[tomturbomatic]

The Maytag Lint Filter Agitator did not work as well at the lowest water level in the automatics. You can see that in a lot of machines with agitator-mounted lint filters like the Wizard, Hotpoint, Whirlpool (aftermarket for wringers and automatics without circulating filters) and Speed Queen. I put in the parenthetical note to avoid expostulations and protests on the part of those who do not know about this device. The filtering action in your wringer Maytag was no doubt helped by the more powerful water currents and greater room for the load to circulate in the larger tub.

I think dryer lint filters work better than washer lint filters.

 

[turquoisedude]

I've had Maytags with the in-agitator filters and didn't find them particularly effective, but they still caught some dog hair. 

I've got Whirlpool-built machines where one has the 'self-cleaning' built-in filtering system and one Magic-Mix system.  I'd rate the self-cleaning one higher than the brush of the Magic-Mix.  

I don't use it that much anymore, but the over the agitator 'filter' on the 66 Blackstone is suprisingly good at catching dog hair. 

But, there are two Filter-Flos currently in service - a 57 with the solid tub and a 64 with a perf tub.  I should really try a 'same load, side by side' comparason test, but it seems to me the 57 does a better job at lint removal, thus living up to GE's claims of the day.  

I know better than to mix fabrics too much in any of the Frigidaires - dark t-shirts washed along with something that 'sheds' like socks or towels is a recipe for disaster.  The Lint-Away rinses in the 55 and 59 don't quite live up to their potential.  

As for the combos, I can't say that I notice a great deal of lint left on clothes after the drying cycle has completed.  However on some loads just washed in them, there can be lint in a mixed-fabric load as with the Frigidaires.  

 

[goatfarmer]

Frigidaire 1-18 nail filter.

 

[rpms]

How much lint did an old wash board kick up?

 

[qsd-dan]

I've used multiple EJN Maytag wringers with the lint filter agitator, pre '66 Maytgs with 54 OPM stroke and smaller/coarser lint filter, standard capacity Maytags with 63 OPM and finer lint filter, Maytag large capacity tub with the early coarse nylon lint filter, large capacity Maytag with the common fine mesh lint filter, early turquoise orbital agitator with lint filter, small capacity 80's GE filter Flo with ramped agitator and lint filter, and 80's Norge with its useless agitator filter.

 

The Norge was the absolute worst performing filter, catching virtually no hair. When I washed some white throw rugs in there, it caught no lint but there was a thick even layer at the bottom of the tub when the load was done after thrashing the living hell out of them. Why Norge bothered putting a lint filter in their washer is something I don't comprehend.

 

The GE filter flo did a mediocre job. At that time period, the dogs and cats I had, had fine hair and which floats to the top and is not pulled under by the pump to be recirculated into the filter pan. The dryer caught more hair than the washer.

 

In the Maytag line, the wringer lint filter is the worst performing with the pre '66 54 OPM automatic washers and their smaller/coarser being a close second. The orbital small mesh lint filter is next in line. The finer lint filter with the standard capacity tub with 63 OPM gears follows. The early nylon filter used in the 66/67 large capacity machines wins by a hair. The best is the common large fine meshed filter in the large capacity washers used from the late 60's through the late 80's in machines with the pitman based transmission.

 

I made a video washing two dog beds used by 3 dogs (cats used them too) in my HA806 a few years back. Unfortunately, the program I was using at the time only had high resolution for the 10 minute Youtube videos that was standard back then. I really should upload it with higher resolution that the newer software provides but I haven't bothered figuring out if I can reload it without deleting the old video and comment section (probably not). Anyway, here it is. Click "Show More" in the description and I have all of the filter cleaning increments listed which will fast forward the clip to those points.

 

[washerlover]

Hey Wait a Minute (or wait a “Lint-a-Minute”

So as some of you already know, I’m a huge Norge/Wards fan and therefore a big advocate for the burp-a-lator agitator with lint filter pan. I have a GE Filter-Flo, Wards Signature, Maytags, Whirlpool bed of nails filter, Amana circular lint filter, and hate to say that GE wins hands down with lint removal and Wards comes in second. I’ve owned Frigidaires before and lint removal is less than remarkable. I say GE and any burp-a-lator agitator are best in top-loaders.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I remember walking through Rich's downtown store's appliance department in the late 50s where a salesman was demonstrating a Norge washer's lint filter to two ladies. As the machine agitated, he pulled sheets of Kleenex out of the pop-up box and dropped them into the washer. Soon they puked up into the lint filter pan. It was quite visible and a little gross, like a powerful sneeze had shredded a tissue.

 

[adam-aussie-vac]

Laundress

Please do tell me more, I am very much interested in listening to this

 

[jetaction]

Early Kenmore (1959) waterfall lint filter gets my vote. Always gets the most lint compared to my 1-18 bed of nails, GE Filter Flo, Maytag powerfin and Norge/Wards when I had that machine. Also the most difficult to clean.

 

[combo52]

Best top loading washer lint filter’s

Far. And away were the whirlpool and Kenmore top load washers with the self cleaning or the older manual clean filters for capturing the greatest amount of lint and keeping it off the wash load in the end result.

The active self cleaning filters where the pump is sucking water through the filter really worked well you can demonstrate this by watching the machine start to drain and putting a screen under the hose and looking at that just globs of lint that are being flushed harmlessly down the drain.

Yes I agree Don the earlier manual clean lint filters with the screen also collected a lot of lint and actually weren’t that hard to clean I always just rinsed them underwater and rinsed the lint harmlessly down the drain.

John L

 

[kenmoreguy89]

Filter Flo and Whirlpool are great
With older whirlpool filter being the winner IMHO.
But with the filter Flo being a Little more convenient but Whirlpool being a lil more effective, and i will explain why.
I will start with saying that even though I didn't try one myself I picture the earlier Wp Washer with top mounted brush like filter or the early KM brush waterfall to be better at filtering vs the later ones mounted on the ring.
This is because I think the brush like system would really catch anything small and big lint.
The other ones that just had plastic spikes like in my '84 one would let bigger lint pass,when totally clean.
That is why I like not to totally clean the finest portion as I think the lint stuck in it helps fitering small lint itself.
I could also witness the filter filtering zeolite in detergent using zeolite Laden powder such as anything made by Reckitt Benkiser (30% zeolite) as what I got out was lint and a white chalky mud.
Never happened with the filter flo, even because the lint was constantly flushed and "strained" so to speak by the pan movement.
I said that filterflo is more convenient because it is much easier to clean vs the latest whirlpool one, but not more than the top mounted brush like of older whirlpools that again I picture being not only more effective but even way easier to clean, matter of flushing it.
Another good thing is that in filter flo the lint is spun and usually collects in one or few lint balls you just pick with your fingers and put in a bin.
Because of the size of the holes in the filter flo pan very small lint would not be collected/strained tho, it seems that metal pans used to have smaller holes vs plastic ones thus perhaps being more effective.

I always wanted to try but I never did, wanted to tie up a stocking on the filter pan to see if it would improve filtering.
Both are anyway great in their own way.[this post was last edited: 2/22/2022-10:34]

 

[kermit]

Montgomery wards

I’ve loved my norge’s filtration system. Mainly because it’s so easy to clean. The agitaton rolls the lint into little balls that are easy to clean, unlike some of my other machines. I’m generally pretty happy with it. Plus, I have to give it some points for looking so cool, the burpulator is one of my favorite agitators

 

[robbinsandmyers]

The only thing my Maytag lint filter attracts is goo lol

 

[panthera]

Depending on the water level

The center filter in the non-Whirltag Maytags worked quite well at highest water levels and with cleaning after every use.
Nothing approached the Filter-Flo ring.
The bed-of-nails Whirlpool design caught VW Microbusses on a good day.
Our Thumper (and she's PANK!) has a lint-a-way ring which is very good at pounding the lint back into the washload.
The Speed Queen accessory filter for the solid tubs wasn't too bad at the highest level, but I haven't seen one in use for over 55 years now, so memory may be less than perfect on that.
Our burp-a-lator filter is sometimes good and sometimes useless and I have never figured out why.
I had a Miele with that honeycomb tub and it was worse than useless at filtering lint.