Washing Bathmats

[qualin]

This came up in conversation at the local appliance shop as I was ordering some rubber feet and a dispenser drawer removal tool...

I was told by one of the more experienced salespeople that one shouldn't wash bathmats in a front loader because it can damage the machine.

When I have washed bathmats, I've always used the "Delicate" setting without any issue. My FL washer uses a low spin speed of 500 RPM and short tumbling. My old top loader didn't care at all.

What are your thoughts on this? I know that they can cause a front loader to go severely out of balance, but my machine has a limit switch to stop the machine from killing itself.

There is a youtube video of some poor guy with a GE washer trying to wash a bathmat and here's what's happening with him. (Link included) I only recommend watching the first 30 seconds, the rest of the 13 minutes is about him crabbing how much the machine he has sucks. This video was also the reason why I didn't consider buying GE.

 

[tolivac]

should the man trying to wash one bathmat in his GE washer-instead to try do two mats of the same size?Maybe that would fix his balance problem.Blame the user more than the machine.

 

[qualin]

To Tolivac

Perhaps, putting in two bathmats may have helped.

In this case, the GE washer didn't have a functioning out of balance switch so it just kept banging away. Bad engineering or bad design I guess, plus user error.

 

[tolivac]

That is a good point he is making that his GE washer doesn't shut off and alarm when it goes Out of balance.Not a good thing on GE's part-or does the machine have such a thing but it isn't working?In that case GE should fix it under warratee.

 

[coldspot]

Do not know about that ge washer but the ge washer I had made by samsung would do the same all the time.

I never under loaded or overloaded it when it worked but at the end of its short life it done this. Shocks gave out barrings gave out and then direct drive crashed into back of machine. Then creaking the window with it.

I wonder why these washers or do any front loaders have a safety system on them at all. I ask this since the unit I had done a total melt down on its own. I was home but if not I would have had a flood or worst.

I do not see why they can not put a kill switch in them to turn it off in a case of omg it is going to blow up.

 

[retro-man]

The early maytag neptunes had a feature that if the load was way out of balance it would sense it and not spin but basically it would act as if it was washing with no water. It would continue till the cycle was over if you were not at home there would be no damage to the machine.
I know on the new whirpool duets the washer will go into a very slow spin if way out of balance so not to do any damage also, just a little faster than a wash speed.
Jon

 

[ronhic]

What?

Firstly, how large are the bath mats? Are they just heavier toweling or much heavier?

Next, why are you washing them separately to your bath towels? Surely they can take a hot wash?

I really don't quite understand why North Americans appear to have so many issues with front load machines.

 

[launderess]

Bath Mats With Towels?

Oh God no! That would be like washing a mop and your bath linens in the same wash load, IMHO. *LOL*

Unless changed and laundered quite often bath mats become quite filty not just from persons stepping out of the tub, but those using the "powder room" with their dirty shoes.

There are several types of mats, but ones that cause most trouble in laundering are those with rubber backing. Have seen signs a public laundromats forbidding them to be washed in their machines as well.

Apparently there is something about the backing that may flake off or something. Then there is the tendency for such things to ball up and when the washer goes into spin (especially front loaders) you have a big *bang* and or a load so unbalanced as to damage.

Wherein lies the rub for washing bathmats in a front loader. You certianly need other things in that washer to make a balanced load, but what does one want to mix with *that* mat? Oh yes, IIRC the rubber backing can be attacked by LCB so getting around the *ick* factor bunging a cup or two of that substance into the wash often isn't on.

 

[pierreandreply4]

bath mats can not take hot water wash (but this depends on t

well i can say that mine when i have to wash them can not take the hot water temp because under there rubber that prevents the bath mat from sliping the max i can go is warm water if i went to protect the rubber under the bath mat

 

[mrb627]

BathMats

I wash bathmats all the time in my Speed Queen FL machine. I have never had a problem. Always do 2 or 3 per load unless it is the throw rug from the kitchen. That thing is huge. Once in a while, I will have to add an additional spin but that is no big deal.

Malcolm

 

[ronhic]

I've never had a problem washing any sort of rubber backed mat and, in this house, they get washed weekly.

Oh, and I'd suggest that people stepping out of the tub are clean...and if their shoes are that dirty that the mats get 'filthy', then they should have taken them off at the door.

 

[georgect]

Personally, I NEVER wash bath mats...just a good vacuuming every week (mine never get dirty).

If I had to wash them (in any type of washer), I would do more than one at a time so there would be some balance.

Shame on any washer (my TL Whirlpool included) that doesn't shut off if WAY out of balance.

 

[appnut]

I have some bath mats I got a Target and at Sams.  They are both sourced from the same mfg.  they're all cotton and extremely heavy without rubber backing (I purposely chose these so I could wash them).  There are two large size and two smaller size in the 4 of them total.  I put the two large and one small one in a load in the Fridgemore.  I may have washed them more than once, but no more than 3 times at the absolute most.  They were so heavy when saturated I thought the tub was going to come totally unhitched from the struts.  And I was using the handwash cycle so very little tumbling.  Even with the tub quite full with those three mats, it still had some difficulty in balancing.  They did cause one of the struts to come undone most likely.  Garment care instructions say to wash them in cold water--they're made in India.  I really don't have any extra towels I could have thrown in there to help balance.  That was the last time I washed them in the machine.  If needbe, I just wash them in the tub by hand.  Pretty mad at myself for kinda messing up my machine. 

 

[retropia]

I've been washing rubber-backed bath mats and throw rugs in our front-loader Kenmore for 11 years, and no problems. If I'm washing a large mat, I'll throw in a couple of small ones to balance the load. I line-dry the rubber-backed rugs, as opposed to tumble-drying with heat, which seems to keep the rubber backing in good shape.

 

[iheartmaytag]

I wash mine in the FL'er.  I wash on cold, gentle cycle (slow tumble/medium final spin) and hang them to dry.  When washing just two, one large, one small, there was a balancing issue.  So now I wash four, two large, two small and no problems.   There is a little fuzzing when they are dried that is taken care of quickly with the hose end of the vacuum.

 

[this post was last edited: 11/9/2011-14:51]

 

[cfz2882]

in the neptune 3000

i wash mine in mah 3000 neptune-no problems at all.

 

[dj-gabriele]

In my front loader:

I wash 4 (90x50 cm) bath mats with rubber backing every week when I change them in the bathrooms, my machine is rated at 5 kg (the drum is 46 litres) and they fit just fine. They get washed on "synthetics" at 40°C.

Washing just one is both wasteful and frustrating as no machine will handle it, it will either abort spinning or self destroy trying to spin.

If I wash "towel like" mats, that are indeed just heavier cotton than standard towels, I throw them in the first 60° or more wash with kitchen rags and other sturdy stuff.

Both ways the machine is happy to carry on the wash and won't give problems

 

[hoover1100]

Bath mats

I just throw our (all white, non-rubber backed) bath mats in with our weekly towels/whites boilwash.

A full machine will rarely go off balance, but if ours does it just spins regardless so it isn't an issue anyway.

I hang my bath mat over the side of the bath to dry out between uses anyway, so no one should be walking on it with shoes!

My Mum always washes her rubber backed bath mats at 60c in with her coloured towels and the rubber has never perished in the 6 years she has owned them!

Matt

 

[nrones]

I have a wired bath mat

I have a bathmat in the room where my Candy GO510 is. It is not made of cotton, it is just a wired material.. like some kind of sponge (but it looks like a normal one). It is almost as flexible as non-rubber backed cotton bath mat. I wash it on R32 almost always, and I never had problems with spin in any way (dimensions are 1m x 1.5m).

Dex

 

[ptcruiser51]

Definition please?

Everyone I know refers to a bathmat as the rubber thing with (usually) suction cups that goes INSIDE the tub to prevent slippage. What you stand on when you exit the tub is a drip mat. Then there's regular bathroom throw rugs and toilet lid covers. I don't use a bathmat, but if I did I think I'd just leave it in the tub when I wash it out once a week with some LCB. As for dripmats and throw rugs, the drip mat gets hung over the side of the tub to dry, then washed with the throw rugs that get washed once every two weeks in the commercial Maytag TL's we have here, and dried on a rack. Commercial dryers are murder on rubberized backing. When I replace them, I try to look for ones without that. Bed, Bath and Beyond usually carries them.

 

[dyson2drums]

Bath mats

I always wash bath mats on cottons 60oc with steam wash and 1400rpm spin. They're just standard white cotton but are quite heavy and the other set are white too but rubber backed. We've never had any problems, my old machine (dyson) used to lower the spin to 1100 or 800 in unbalanced conditions but the LG seems to go all the way to 1400 and balances really well!

 

[iheartmaytag]

"Everyone I know refers to a bathmat as the rubber thing with (usually) suction cups that goes INSIDE the tub to prevent slippage."

 

That one stays in the tub and is soaked in bleach water.   Then hosed down with the sprayer.    I pull it up so the suction cups get a rest and a cleaning during this process and then it is hung on the back of the tub to dry until next usage.  For those afraid of chlorine, I guess you can just hose them off with a milder cleaner.  I don't believe in taking germ prisoners, My Dad used to fight athlete's foot all the time.  I don't worry about it--Chlorine is your friend.

 

 

 

 

[henry200]

I always had out-of-balance issues when washing rugs (or anything else heavy for that matter) in TL washers but have never had any trouble in either my Maytag or Whirlpool FL machines.   The kitchen and entry area rugs get washed in a load by themselves and then are line-dried.  My bathroom rugs are reversible cotton chenille and they get washed with bath towels in hot water and go in the drier.

 

[jamiel]

Tub mat: rubber suction cups
Bath mat: thick terry cloth
Bath rug: bound synthetic potentially with rubber backing
Bath carpet: unbound synthetic potentially with rubber backing, cut-to-fit

I can see that a tub mat would not necessarily be good in a FL...bath mats would need to be done 2 at a time...rugs/carpets as they fit

 

[logixx]

Washing bath mats is not a problem in my Whirlpool. I did once wash a large door mat in it, though. While it went pretty okay and it did spin eventually, I don't think I'll do it again. The final spin was rather violent compared to a usual spin cycle. Watch:

 

[mattl]

To me a bath mat is the rubber thing you put in the tub.  I toss those in the washer often.  A Bath rug is what you step out of the shower/tub onto, these often have the annoying easily destroyed rubber backing.  I've managed to keep some of the rubber backed rug lasting a lot longer by simply not placing them in the dryer - for me it's doubled or tripled their lives.

 

[mrb627]

Confusing

I assumed that the bathmat was the same as a rubber backed throw rug. But I guess it can be that heavy terry rectangle that you often find hanging over the edge of the tub in a hotel room. Or it could be the solid rubber anti-slip mat for use in the tub while showering.

So confusing.

Malcolm

 

[passatdoc]

Costco spa mats

I haven't had problems washing rubber backed mats in my Frig FL, but I use delicate cycle and cold or warm water. After 3-4 years, however, the backing seems to flake no matter how carefully I treat it.

I recently bought three very thick "spa" bathmats from Costco which have no backing, they are reversible and have the same woven finish on both sides. They are heavy, so I wash all three at once to balance the machine. I don't use delicate since there is no rubber backing. They are very thick and absorbent, and hence hold a lot of water, even if spun at high speed. They thus take longer to dry, but they come out clean and don't seem to give the washer any trouble.

 

[qualin]

Thanks for the responses everyone. The consensus seems to be:

1. Buy straight cotton ones, don't buy rubber backed ones. This will allow for better washing action and they can be put in the drier.
2. Don't put just one bathmat in, put in a few or balance the load out by putting other items in with it.
3. Use the low spin speed cycles.

Well, a trip to Ikea is now in the works!

Thank you very much everyone!

 

[qualin]

Response to Ronhic

Ronhic says:
 
> I really don't quite understand why North Americans appear to have so many issues with front load machines.
 
Hi Ron. Part of the problem is that we grew up with Top loaders and for the majority of us, we've always had top loaders. It's only within the last few years that front loaders have become affordable here. It doesn't help that North Americans can't seem to build a decent front loader. (Speed Queen/Huebsch excluded.)
 
So, while it may seem stupid to some degree, there's a little bit of different thinking that has to be done on my part now. Like, how I don't have to worry about putting the washer on a low agitation speed setting for fear it'll destroy my pillows.