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[tickmike]

This may seem old but do any of you clean out inside your Washing Machine,   , eg putting some sort of strong cleaner in it to remove the muck  out of the inside and the pipes.
My wife show me her new blouse and our daughters school shirts all ruined with small black spots on them that will not come off.
I set about poring lots of 'domestos' in in filling with cold water, let it stand and drained it and  filled it etc. 10 times and it seemed to remove black mess from inside the pipes.
It is about 12 years old and works well .

Anyone else had any problems like this.

[kitz]

About 2 weeks ago I noticed the rubber seal on the inside door had started to go black..  I managed to scrub most of it off with MrMuscle, but wasnt happy about the thought that it may rub off onto my clothes.
It was the kind of black mould that also sometimes accumulates inside the washing powder drawer that has to be cleaned out every so often.

Mine is about 3-4 years old I think... and I decided to do a rinse with Milton to try and clean it out.

[oldfogy]

I once used "Caustic Soda" in my dishwasher which also did the trick.

However a word of caution.
The machine was given to me by a friend of mine because the door switch had packed-up, so I had bypassed the switch, well there was only me in the house and I'm "never" going to open the door when it's working (so said he)

However, 6 months later I decided to clean the pipes because it was not filling properly.
So I filled a bowl of water and put the Caustic Soda into the bowl of water, opened the door and poured it into the machine.

Unfortunately, the machine was still switched on and the amount of water was enough to start the machine and I got a face-full of the Costic Soda mix.

Fortunately the kitchen sink had a bowl full of dishes waiting to be washed, so I dunked my face into the bowl, but still withing seconds my face started to burn and skin peeling off.
For the next few weeks my face was as red as beetroot with the exception of two big white spots around my eyes, because I wear specs my specs protected those and I looked like a red-faced panda.
Or someone with a very bad case of sunburn fortunately there was also no long lasting problems

The moral of the story is, if ever using Caustic Soda, for whatever reason, make sure the machine is turned of to begin with.

[roseway]

Caustic soda is really dangerous stuff. I wouldn't recommend anyone to use it unless they are absolutely certain that they know the proper way to handle it - always add the powder to the water, not the other way round.

[oldfogy]

Caustic soda is really dangerous stuff.

Yes, it not only cleaned out the pipes, but gave me one hell of a facial-scrub to-boot.

[fudgem]

It sounds as if it's a blessing you wear glasses, just think what it might have done to your eyes

With regard to the black stuff, I had my last machine for 20 years and never got any on the rubber seals, this one is only 4 and has two large patches.  It must be due to the type of rubber they're using now.  I'm definitely not trying caustic soda on it though 

[Yorkie]

Think I'll give that a miss as well

Someone on moneysavingexpert had a similiar problem, but I cann't find it now, it was black grease spots and I think someone said the bearing was probably worn.

Not a lot of help, sorry.

[jazz]

It's obviously a general problem as there are products sold to deal with it - for example:-

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/F/keyword/hg+service+engineer/product/20348

Once the mould is "in the system" you never seem to be able to get rid of it - only control it

[tickmike]

Hello all.
Thanks for reply's and link 
I think I will get some costic soda, I'm ok at using it (trained at using acids and alkaline's when I worked in research  )
That will clean the drain out as well.

[oldfogy]

Don't forget to be most effective Caustic Soda is activated by hot water, so don't just put it on a rinse cycle.
Put it on a boil was cycle.

Needles to say, also make sure you give it at least 2 rinse cycles to complete the process.

& Good luck.