'90's Maytag Top Loading Washer Leaves Lint Marks on Clothes

I got this washer from some in-laws who purchased it new.

This washer works great.  This problem usually doesn't happen on most cotton clothing.  It is a microfiber or polyester clothing that it happens to.

I don't believe it is from the detergent as it looks like lint, it will scratch of with your thumbnail..  Not specks but large patches like it might look if you rub up against a chalk board.

Probably it wouldn't be a problem if I used the dryer ... I don't know since I hang my clothes on the clothesline.

My microfiber bedspread came out dirtier than it was before I washed it.

I have used "google", cleaned the washer with vinegar, used more water, etc.  I can't find a lint filter.

My solution has been to just wash my clothes in vinegar and take out before it get to the rinse cycle.  For the bedspread I used the water hose to wash off the lint though it didn't all come off

My clothes look worse than the ones in this video:

I thought of this thread when I was folding up the sheets after drying them on the line ... they looked like I cleaned a chalk board with them.

Since it has been raining and the window to hang clothes on the line is small, I have a new strategy.

I thought it was a great idea until I went to hang up a black pair of pants.  Still it is an improvement!  Though it wastes a lot of water.

I used the rinse only cycle with vinegar and stop it before it spins.

My washing machine does this, too!

Hopefully someone knows how to stop this from happening. It's not as bad when I put the clothes in the dryer in the wet months, but even then, they come with lint. The lint is just a bit more concentrated, rather looking like we rubbed against a chalk board.

I'm nobody's laundry guru, but I do get a little curious.

Do I understand right that it doesn't manifest when the clothes are run through a dryer, but only when line dried?  I guess that means that this "lint" gets rubbed off or redistributed in the tumble drying, at least sufficient so you don't notice it.  I've never seen lint on clothes that looks like a chalk encounter. What I sometimes see is little balls (tiny pin heads) or tiny short threads. Have you tried a second wash and/or rinse? If the clears it up, it would indicate that the source _is_ from the washing cycle and it has something to do with the regular cycle not cleaning fully.  Is there static electricity involved somewhere in the drying? That can make small stuff stick to things really well. Can you see anything while the clothes are wet, or only after that have dried on the line?

Oh, and vinegar? What's with that? Like I said, not a guru... <g>

Anyway.
Cheers
Rufus

I wonder if this could be caused by something as simple as filling the machine too full of clothes?  
There needs to be room for all of that lint to slosh around and leave with the water.

I grew up with a washing machine repair person and he was always reminding us to fill the washer with water first then add the clothes and not to just stuff them in there.  He was wrong about many things but I think knew what he was talking about on this one.

I've never had this happen and my top loading maytag is almost thirty years old now.  
The exception, of course, is when I've left a bit of TP in a pocket and  it gets loose in the wash but there's no mystery there

...and I don't have a dryer.

Rufus Laggren wrote:. Can you see anything while the clothes are wet, or only after that have dried on the line?

Oh, and vinegar? What's with that?

Rufus, as for the vinegar ...  I read on the internet that one way to solve the lint problem was to wash the washer with 1 or 2 cups vinegar and very hot water using the wash cycle.

I also use the vinegar to wash my clothes because I only put them in the wash cycle and take them out before the rinse or spin cycle.  This was my solution to the problem and since I don't use the rinse cycle, I can't use soap.

And yes, I see the chalky smear as soon as I hang the items on the line, before they dry.  It just looks really sad when I put them on the bed and they look dirtier than before I washed them.


Judith, I think your are right.

Judith Browning wrote:I wonder if this could be caused by something as simple as filling the machine too full of clothes?  
There needs to be room for all of that lint to slosh around and leave with the water.

I grew up with a washing machine repair person and he was always reminding us to fill the washer with water first then add the clothes and not to just stuff them in there.  

I think the problem with big bulky items like the bedspread and sheets is the they are don't have space to let the lint float away.  Next time I wash, I will try washing them without the other clothes and see if this helps.


I think the problem with my clothes is that they are polyester and are a lint magnet when in the washer.  Unfortunately, they were bought when I had a job that I dealt with the public and had to look professional.  

I consulted the laundry queen - my sister - and she thinks the lint is normal, depending on how full you fill the machine. Dryers are what deal with lint, when that proves necessary.

She has always thought vinegar is used to set the color of dies in the clothes, a one time process. That begs a few questions, but I didn't go there.

Rufus

That happens to me too, super annoying. I just deal with it since the lint usually comes off after you wear the clothing for a bit but I have to be honest I’m considering getting a dryer so I can tumble the clothes a bit to get the lint off.

Because I never place my clothes in the dryer (have had too many things shrink and socks lose elastic), I minimize lint marks on clothes by washing items which shed lint (fuzzy socks, flannel shirts, towels) separately from those that don't (like t-shirts and jeans).  I further sort the lint shedding items according to color.  It works pretty well for me.

I recently had a sick dog which resulted me in having to wash my mattress pad.

I washed it alone without any other clothes or items.

My white mattress pad came out of the washer with blue chalk marks all over it.

In a way, this confirms my belief that not all the water from the previous wash is drained out.  I don't know what was in the previous load because that was probably several days previously.

After replacing the pump on our old Maytag and several other little switches over its 20 year life with us, we decided to buy a new washer this year. We bought the Speed Queen, which broke three times in the first few months. I should have read the repair forums before we bought that piece of junk. Oh well live and learn. We have dealt with lint on clothes often in both washers. My wife figured it out, bless her heart. We don't put clothes in with towels anymore. I don't know why towels release so much lint, but after this simple change the laundry especially black clothes come out lint free.  My wife was always aghast at my laundry technique, and it took a long while for me to not just put everything I needed washed in the same load and fill it to the brim. That advice to put the water in first is something she often does as well, I'll add that to my unique laundry style. It makes sense to me finally, as our home appliance mechanic. Live and learn for certain.
One more item you might want to check is the level of the drain pipe. I believe the "U" flexible drain pipe needs to be exactly the same height  as the top of the wash basin. This helps the washer drain all the way and quickly, I believe.
Brian    

Anne Miller wrote:....In a way, this confirms my belief that not all the water from the previous wash is drained out.

Sometimes washers that don't drain completely could be from the drain standpipe being too high off the floor, which can result in incomplete emptying of the washer, and not necessarily the washing machine itself. The washer connection box set in walls that have the hot, cold and drain in them are supposed to be a minimum of 36 inches but not more than 48 inches from the floor. A lot of washing machines drain the wash/rinse water based on a timed cycle, and the pump runs for x amount of time based on the load size setting. If the drain pipe is set too high, the rate of flow which the pump pumps out is reduced, and the timed cycle may not be long enough resulting in leftover water staying in the washer. The timed cycle is true for the older washers, but I am unsure if the new fancy ones actually have sensors in them telling the pump to keep pumping until all the water is removed.

Thanks, Brian and James
Looks like the washer is 36" tall and the washer connection box is at 39".

I did a quick search for the standard height of a washer connection box and it looks like that 42" is it, however I've always had it level with the top of the wash basin thinking in case the pump malfunctioned it would overflow into the drain instead of on the floor. Plus back in the hippie days we often wanted the option of gravity draining the basin if needed. Honestly it doesn't make sense to me to have the connection box so high above the washer, making us rely on a washer pump to work correctly every time. The spin cycle can move water out of the washer through centrifugal force.
Brian