Twisting & Tangling

[whirlcool]

I am having a problem with my sheets. Whenever we wash two queen sized sheets together(one fitted and one flat) they get so tangled up it's like one long knotted sheet at the end of the cycle.
What I've been doing is stopping the cycle (wash and rinse) to untangle them so they get cleaned. I've tried a lot of things, adding a few pillowcases or towels to the load but these things get wrapped up in the mix too.
Any suggestions as to how to prevent this? The machine is a Whirlpool Direct Drive top loader.

 

[coldspot66]

Sounds like there is too much rollover. Maybe trying delicate speed/cycle will prevent it? I've never had that happen...I've been fixing/using them for a long time and very seldom have anything tangle up.

 

[danemodsandy]

It's a Whirly DD

Allen:

I had the same problem when I had a Whirly DD; king-size sheets would come out as one huge knot. I've known several other people who've complained of their Whirly DD's doing this.

It seems to be a characteristic of the Super Surgilator design; I was never able to find a cycle setting or technique that helped avoid the problem. I lived with that machine for so long (seventeen years) than when I got a centre-dial Maytag, it felt downright strange not to be un-knotting sheets any more!

 

[cycla-fabric]

I was having that problem too when doing the bed sheets. I finally found that if I fold the sheets in half and then put them in the machine they are less likley to tangle up give it a try as it works in my Whirlpool.

Doug

 

[frigilux]

Allen-- I had the same problem with my Frigidaire FL'er and its uneven agitator stroke/indexing tub.

Now, I put one sheet in at 12:00, then tuck the ends under the sheet (it looks a little like a ball). I do the same with a sheet at 6:00. I have 6 pillowcases to wash, so I put three each at 3:00 and 9:00. This takes care of the problem about 90% of the time.

Give it a try and see if it works for you!

 

[panthera]

Net bags

I would try those net bags which are sold for washing "delicates". The larger ones are roomy enough to hold the sheets and, with todays detergents and the, hmm, shall we say "brisk" activation in that washer series, thing should come out clean as a whistle but not tangled.
Other possibility, don't laugh, how about tying little knots in the sheets at two or three places before washing? I've read that this helps, never tried it.

 

[laundromat]

place the sheet on the floor,grab the very middle of it lift it up and load it middle part first and feed it in around the tub loosly and evenly.The Westinghouse Laundromat laundrofile booklet shows that in an illustration and I have followed that practice ever since I got that book 20 some years ago.My sheets,bedspreads and blankets never tangle.

 

[fa_f3_20]

Given the company here, I never know when I see titles like this in the Super forum, whether it's about laundry or something else...

 

[mrboilwash]

Ball up each sheet before loading. Just wrap each large item loosely around your hand like Daniel Day Lewis did in My Beautiful Laundrette, then toss into your washer.
It`s fun, looks cool and might prevent to end up with one large knot.

 

[laundromat]

"My Beautiful Launderette"

What I wouldn't give to have been there to murder those thugs that ruined those beautifull FRIGIDAIRE Comercial washing machines!!! LOL

 

[brettsomers]

boilwash and laundromat are spot on. load each sheet into its own area of the tub, Frigidaire style. never load in a circular pattern, thats the same as wrapping the items around the agitator. put a few pillowcases, or even a towel or two between each sheet, to help keep them separate. and as someone already said, the longer you agitate, the more likely to tangle.

8 mins in hot water seems to get out the heaviest body soil. this is for a tl, of course.

 

[rickr]

I just sort of pick the corners up and place the sheets in the tub without wrapping around the agitator. That seems to work for me. I used to own a 1964 Filter-Flo, and that machine was the ONLY washer that I could ever wind sheets around the agitator without having a huge tangled mess.

 

[pturo]

Wash them in seperate loads with variying size garments and towels. While not always convenient, washing too much similar fabrics of the same size don't rollover well and tend to nest.

 

[whirlcool]

Wow! That's a lot of suggestions! I'll start at the top and give them a try.
This WP DD machine has tremendous roll over with the dual action super surilator design. It never dawned on me that that's what could be causing the problem, especially when I up the cycle time to 12 minutes. I'll just let the machine default to the normal time for "delicate" the first go around and let you all know what happens.
Thanks again for the info, I certainly appreciate it!

 

[whirlcool]

OK, better luck this time.....

I put the sheets on the floor and grabbed them one by one in the middle. I placed one at the 12 o'clock position and the other at the 6 o'clock postion and set the machine to delicates.
The result?
The sheets did not tangle together at all. But they did tangle slightly within themselves. I still had good rollover during the wash. This is most definitely an improvement over my previous methods.
I'll continue trying the other methods soon!

 

[jetcone]

Allen

you need a Bendix Duomatic.

jon

 

[whirlcool]

OK, this morning I washed another set of sheets (we tend to let our laundry build up before washing) and I did the following:

Used the delicate cycle
Set the wash time to 8 minutes
Folded the sheets in half and stuck one at 9 o'clock and the other at 3 o'clock.

Results:
Virtually no tangling at all. But the roll over wasn't that good. So next time I try it, I'll try the folded sheet trick with the normal cycle.

 

[retro-man]

You think your sheets knot up, I have connected top and bottom water bed sheets. When I was using a tl they would come out totally in knots. Now in the Maytag fl I just throw them in and they usually are a little twisted but not knotted. Just hold them up and they untwirl and into the dryer or out on the line.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I guess it must be different with your washer than with Maytag or KA washers. I just let each king sheet, opened full length, drape down on each side of the tub and put the pillow cases between them with the open end facing up. They do not tangle.

Some of the dryers like to ball up sheets so I try to load one sheet to the back and one to the front. That is important with the GE and I do that with the Cabrio and the KA. The drum of the DE806 is small enough that balling up is not a problem. There was no problem with the big mouth GE dryer. It did not tangle or ball up sheets. I think that modern dryers should have a laser sensor to vary the tumble speed to prevent sheets from tangling by tumbling faster and adjusting to tumble slower so that single items and light weight loads don't just ride the baffles, but maintain a proper tumbling pattern.

My mom always loaded sheets around the agitator with our Kenmores and they always developed an air pocket or two during the rinse fill. Loading the sheets like I do allows any air that might form a bubble under a sheet during the rinse fill in the Maytags to be quickly dispersed once agitation starts.

I'm glad you are finding solutions to your problem.