Washing machine - sud city! Why won't the soap suds drain???
 

Just got a new machine (Sears Kenmore) at a house I just bought, but even a
minimal amount of soap won't seem to drain. The pipe going to the septic
system is a little high (about 6 1/2 feet from the floor) - could that be
the problem?

Appreciate any thoughts...

-Dave

"waywardguy" wrote in message
...
Just got a new machine (Sears Kenmore) at a house I just bought, but even
a minimal amount of soap won't seem to drain. The pipe going to the
septic system is a little high (about 6 1/2 feet from the floor) - could
that be the problem?

Appreciate any thoughts...

-Dave

Can you be a bit more specific? What do you mean the soap won't drain?
the soap is mixed with the water. Then you drain the water. Do you mean the
soapy water won't drain? Of the water drains and leaves suds behind?

Sorry. Yes, the water drains, but soapy clothes and the inside of the
machine (sides) still has suds. On this particular load, I washed very few
things and used very little detergent (liquid)... So, I don't believe it
was "overstuffed" with clothes, nor do I believe I used too much
detergent...

Any thoughts?
Thx,
-D
"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
m...

"waywardguy" wrote in message
...
Just got a new machine (Sears Kenmore) at a house I just bought, but even
a minimal amount of soap won't seem to drain. The pipe going to the
septic system is a little high (about 6 1/2 feet from the floor) - could
that be the problem?

Appreciate any thoughts...

-Dave

Can you be a bit more specific? What do you mean the soap won't drain?
the soap is mixed with the water. Then you drain the water. Do you mean
the soapy water won't drain? Of the water drains and leaves suds behind?

"waywardguy" wrote in message ...
Sorry. Yes, the water drains, but soapy clothes and the inside of the
machine (sides) still has suds. On this particular load, I washed very few
things and used very little detergent (liquid)... So, I don't believe it
was "overstuffed" with clothes, nor do I believe I used too much
detergent...

Any thoughts?

Does the wash basket completely drain of water before it starts
the spin cycle? If not, that's what's causing all the suds. I've
seen this design flaw in many washers.

On Sun, 26 Jun 2005 05:14:34 GMT, "Rick" wrote:

"waywardguy" wrote in message ...
Sorry. Yes, the water drains, but soapy clothes and the inside of the
machine (sides) still has suds. On this particular load, I washed very few
things and used very little detergent (liquid)... So, I don't believe it
was "overstuffed" with clothes, nor do I believe I used too much
detergent...

Any thoughts?

Does the wash basket completely drain of water before it starts
the spin cycle? If not, that's what's causing all the suds. I've
seen this design flaw in many washers.
do you have one of those E models that uses less soap?
they also use soap that has less suds. if you're using the
wrong soap, bingo.
....thehick

"waywardguy" wrote in message
...
Sorry. Yes, the water drains, but soapy clothes and the inside of the
machine (sides) still has suds. On this particular load, I washed very
few
things and used very little detergent (liquid)... So, I don't believe
it
was "overstuffed" with clothes, nor do I believe I used too much
detergent...

Any thoughts?

Is your water very soft? If so, cut the soap down even more. Are you using
a low sudings detergent? Some are better than others in that respect.
You are using laundry detergent, not dishwashing right?

I don' thave proof of this, bus supposedly the detergent makers use
different formula for regions of harder water than thosw ieht naturally soft
water. If you have a hard water formula and have a softener, that would
make lots of suds. I hardly see any during the wash cyle in our machine.

frank-in-toronto wrote:
On Sun, 26 Jun 2005 05:14:34 GMT, "Rick" wrote:


"waywardguy" wrote in message ...

Sorry. Yes, the water drains, but soapy clothes and the inside of the
machine (sides) still has suds. On this particular load, I washed very few
things and used very little detergent (liquid)... So, I don't believe it
was "overstuffed" with clothes, nor do I believe I used too much
detergent...

Any thoughts?

Does the wash basket completely drain of water before it starts
the spin cycle? If not, that's what's causing all the suds. I've
seen this design flaw in many washers.

do you have one of those E models that uses less soap?
they also use soap that has less suds. if you're using the
wrong soap, bingo.
...thehick
Hi,
Sounds like another case of RTFM, LOL.
Tony

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 23:45:18 -0400, "waywardguy"
wrote:

Just got a new machine (Sears Kenmore) at a house I just bought, but even a
minimal amount of soap won't seem to drain. The pipe going to the septic
system is a little high (about 6 1/2 feet from the floor) - could that be
the problem?

Appreciate any thoughts...

-Dave

If it's new, it's under warranty. Call the company! They should be
able to help you troubleshoot (there's nothing about this in the
manual, right?).

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

"waywardguy" wrote in message
...
Sorry. Yes, the water drains, but soapy clothes and the inside of the
machine (sides) still has suds. On this particular load, I washed very
few
things and used very little detergent (liquid)... So, I don't believe it
was "overstuffed" with clothes, nor do I believe I used too much
detergent...

Does the house have a water softener? If so wash the clothes with out any
soap until the suds stop.

Then reduce by half the amount of clothes washing detergent your using.

I'd cut the pipe down to less than the height of the washer if its feasible.
The pump may not drive all the soapy water 6+feet uphill, Allowing it to run
back down back into the machine once the pumping action stops. Then try half
the soap indicated on the measuring cup device

Just got a new machine (Sears Kenmore) at a house I just bought, but even
a minimal amount of soap won't seem to drain. The pipe going to the
septic system is a little high (about 6 1/2 feet from the floor) - could
that be the problem?

"waywardguy" wrote in message
...
Just got a new machine (Sears Kenmore) at a house I just bought, but even
a
minimal amount of soap won't seem to drain. The pipe going to the septic
system is a little high (about 6 1/2 feet from the floor) - could that be
the problem?

Appreciate any thoughts...

-Dave



I recently had this problem after moving to a house with a softener. My
washer pumps water to about 4 feet above the washer top to get the water up
out of the basement and does just fine. It's about 8 to 8.5 feet from the
floor.

You just need to use less soap. No matter how you crack it: if you have too
much suds, then you have too much soap.

If you need to knock the suds down pour in a capful or two of liquid fabric
softener.

Also, many washers today will start spinning the load when ever the lid has
been opened and closed (or the machine has been turned off and back on)
during the drain cycle... even if it's full of water. This is hard on the
motor and transmission and makes even more suds.

I learned to use an extremely small amount of detergent in the laundry
(especially with the towels and washcloths), there's a trick to getting just
the right amount so you get some suds, but not too much. It is amazing how
long a jug of detergent will last.

You can peek in a few minutes before the end of the wash cycle and pour in
some fabric softener to knock the suds down if necessary.