So, Combo52 and I were talking the other day

[mrb627]

Screen Holes

Aren't the filtering holes in the FF pan finer than the holes in the dryer filter? I would expect more lint in the PAN than before you started.

Malcolm

 

[mrb627]

Real Test

I guess the real test would be to drop the dryer lint in with the wash and see if the FF can sort it out of the load...

Malcolm

 

[jetcone]

Huh?

Interesting comments

 

Don't know what this means  "With only 1.8 grams of very dry lint initially, it will be important that the post weighing is done with equal dry lint. " If I picked 1.8 grams to start and then picked 1.8 grams from the filter pan I'd have 1.8 grams. One needs to weigh ALL the lint left in the filter pan if this is to have meaning.

 

Very scientific , Louis,  but not statistically meaningful. One would have to run this 1,000 times to get a baseline, then calculate the mean and standard deviation.  Someone else can do that.

 

If you read the original premise it was surmised that lint taken from the dryer would not make it thru the wash cycle to the end, it would be drained out, and that the filtering system was so poor that it was a marketing gimmick, thus implying that of any lint in the clothing most of it would not be caught by the filtering system. So simply if the lint is loaded from the dryer THEN at the end there will either be less or more lint in the pan. If less than the speculation was correct , if more then the speculation does not match real world FF washing.

 

 




[this post was last edited: 5/9/2013-21:02]

 

[mickeyd]

I never forget for one minute how smart you are, Jon.

Your films are becoming Rorschach Tests for us, with all the things we read into them. I'm way out on a limb, thinking of Jamie Gumb of "The Silence of the Lambs," whose frantic ravings, "It puts the lotion on its skin," etc. have become the stuff of comedy.

I would love to see you load up the GE with lint and see what the filter does with it.

 

[barcoboy]

I think another filter pan should be set up underneath the drain hose outlet to see how much lint is caught as the washer is draining.

 

[bajaespuma]

Favorite Shares: Almalgamated Lint

As much as I want to confirm the efficacy of the GE Filter-Flo system (I am as prejudiced PRO as Combo is prejudiced CON) I think I remember that Consumer's Reports measured "linting", the generation of lint from the washload, by different agitation systems in all the tested brands. It is possible that Filter-Flo's create at least as much lint as they trap. I also remember their snippy and niggardly observation that "loads washed in the General Electric machine somewhat more lint-free than most".

 

You would have to measure a load washed in a FF without the filter-pan in place and then wash an almost identical load with the filter pan in place. And then I'm afraid we would be dealing with the same phenomenon that the door-to-door vacuum salesman benefitted from; lint can always be gleaned from most cloth.

 

Now that I'm using a horizontal axis machine without a lint filter, I can't say I notice any difference whatsoever. Especially with loads that get the benefit of being dried in a machine. And isn't it true that the dryer filtration systems are more about keeping all the ducts lint-free and preventing lint build-up outside of the machine where it creates a significant fire hazard than preening lint off of the laundry?

 

[philr]

That's an interesting test! I think lint removal in the washer is important for those who wash things that shouldn't washed together and line dry them!

I like to mix loads of things that shouldn't be washed together and when I wash gray stockings with dark t-shirts, I always get gray lint on my t-shirts and need to send them in the dryer for a while as lint will remain very visible if I just line dry them! I guess the "lint away" overflow rinse of solid tub Frigidaire washers didn't do too good!

 

[jmirawm]

welll,

I think combo52 is jealous of Filter Flo's sexy pan

 

[jetcone]

All interesting points

Barcoboy, very good idea about the trap on the drain. That could be another type of test.

 

 

Ken, you bring up a good point, I never worry about lint out of the Speed Queen's nor the Duomatics, they just don't generate any appreciable lint and any they do the dryer takes away. 
I never knew what my Frigidaire's did as there was no way to measure. But the same load washed across the board in each machine with a catch on the drain might be very illuminating.

 

The lint is dry, it will be weighed tomorrow and the number posted!!!! Tick tick  tick...

 

 

[combo52]

Reduliclas Test

Jon if you want to do this test you have to run the washer empty, otherwise your test depends on the type of load that you are washing with the added lint. dud

 

We all know that FF washers do collect SOME lint, [ even the almost useless filter in MT Power-fin agitators collect some lint ] but the amount of lint collected would never make any real difference in the laundries outcome. And I never said that all automatic washers lint filters were useless, their were actually a few that really pretty worked very well. I would say from experience that the first GEs from the late 1940s with their Self-Cleaning filter were very effective as well as the first KM machines with the manual clean filters from 1956-around1966 and all the WP and KM SC filters on belt drive washers were highly effective. GEs first FF washers with the metal pans were also very effective as well as the first MTs with the SS filter with the rubber gasket at the bottom. I am sure I missed a few washers with effective filters, but most filters on washers other than the above were not effective enough to make any real difference.

 

[recyclewasher]

I'm leaning with Barcoboy's suggestion of

The 2nd filterflo pan under the drain hose while draining, but you

Might have to use a large funnel or maybe a bucket with a hole, then to the funnel over the ff pan to slow down the volume and speed of water coming out of the drain hose and overflowing the pan losing whatever lint that might be collected.

And thanks for the Imovie tipoff, I'll checkit out later, didn't mean to send the thread off kilter. I just got caught offguard by it and was thinking of the thought process of the cop at the end- (WTF!... Kaiser Soseg!) in The Usual Suspects, only you did it in the middle of the clip. Got a good chuckle from it and the coneheads too. Makes you wonder if IMovie can replicate the Enterprise's slideing door 'swishhh'

 

[alr2903]

It will be interesting to see how it "pans" out. It would also be interesting to wash dark clothing in a filter flow, an overflow rinse machine, and maybe a vintage maytag. Lets add one kleenex to each load and see how things turn out. I was thinking more of how does the laundry come out of the machine. Similar to the famous "Westinghouse" sand test. A missed kleenex is a mess. alr2903

 

[kb0nes]

Jon,

Sorry I poorly worded my earlier comments, allow me to clarify:

>>Don't know what this means "With only 1.8 grams of very dry lint initially, it will be important that the post weighing is done with equal dry lint. "

What I meant was to insure the dryness at both pre and post weighing. With only 1.8 grams a small amount of moisture will skew the numbers.

>>If you read the original premise it was surmised that lint taken from the dryer would not make it thru the wash cycle to the end, it would be drained out, and that the filtering system was so poor that it was a marketing gimmick, thus implying that of any lint in the clothing most of it would not be caught by the filtering system. So simply if the lint is loaded from the dryer THEN at the end there will either be less or more lint in the pan. If less than the speculation was correct , if more then the speculation does not match real world FF washing.


Testing the effectiveness of the filter is a great test. My point is that doing a weigh in before with the added lint, then a weigh in after running a cycle with an undefined amount of lint and hair added in the load really tells nothing. We have no idea how much lint was missed. Or how much of the added lint from the load was caught to alter the final weight.

To me a more interesting test would be to run a load empty. When the wash cycle starts introduce a known weight of lint into the tub. Allow the cycle to run for the desired wash time. Dry and weigh the lint caught in the pan. Then you'd have an idea of what was caught without any unnormalized variables distorting the results.

I'm not sure that the lint from the dryer is a fair test for the washer though. A lot of dryer lint is pretty fine dusty stuff. I think the fines will wash right through the FilterFlo pan...

I am curious to hear what you come up with. My suspicion is that the post wash weight will be higher due to added weight from the load.

 

[jetcone]

Phil

that is an interesting idea. We should explore that next!!

 

Well people here is the result:

 

We started with 1.8 grams of dryer lint added to the pan, at the end of the cycle after 3 days of drying we wound up with:

2.2 grams of lint. So there was more lint at the end of the cycle than at the beginning - so FF is not a gimmick it actually catches lint. How much now we could determine using Phil's idea of adding a set amount to an empty tub. Also I think catching the drain water is an interesting idea too.  Everyone with Filter Flos - get going !!

 

 

 

[turquoisedude]

Woo-Hooo! Just the kick in the pants I needed to start working on the 57 Filter-Flo!!

 

[gansky1]

Interesting results.

We had a filter flo as a kid growing up and I would put dryer lint into the wash cycle to see how much I could get into the filter pan through the recirculating system. I was always amazed at how much it could retrieve from the wash & rinse water.

Hmmmmmm. May have to do more experiments now that mom isn't looking!

 

[yogitunes]

I think were on to something here....a little fine detailing of variables to make all parts equal.....

but seems the best would be to add the lint to a tub of water only, no clothes, how much lint would be caught by the filterpan, and using a screen colander or nylon sock, measure how much lint goes out the drain...

even to wash a load of towels.....how much lint is the filtering system catching, versus how much lint is still in suspension, and going out the drain hose?

it just seems though, as a marketing gimmick is suggested, that in the 60/70's, clothing gave off a large amount of lint, compared to todays materials.....

the biggest thing was that lint for the most part floated, as in wringer washers, and then the solid tubs used an overflo to flush this top layer away.....perforated tubs had this lint mixed in, detergents held this in suspension, better than soap, to be flushed with the draining process....

filters do work, but at the same time, you could leave them out, and not see a difference....as long as you seperate clothing, and use proper detergent...I rarely have my filters in place

 

[mickeyd]

The alien lint spider looks alive !

How fitting!

What a great shot!

What fun this was!

 

[foraloysius]

Interesting too would be testing with two colors of lint, for instance use red lint and do a load of whites. When you filter the drain water, it will be visualised how much of the red lint is being filtered by the filter pan.

 

[jetcone]

Oh good idea Louis

c'mon over and help me this summer!!!

 

Alien Lint Spider LOL! Love that!