UPDATE-LOSING IT-brand new clothes & old coming out of wash/dryer with dark spots???!!!!

[ellairiesmom]

nak-clothes are coming out with dark spots on them that resemble an oil or water stain.  it doesn't happen every load but eventually, it has hit most of our clothes, basically ruining them-or at least making us look like we are wearing clothes with stains on them everyday.  anyone ever see this or have any idea wtf is going on????  

we switched detergents, but that hasn't changed anything yet.  and i can't tell when they are wet if there is a stain coming out of the wash.  

my next steps are starting today, i am doing experiments to see if i can narrow it down.  i am washing a load of the girls clothes, a few new items from christmas & then the rest worn.  i will put 1 or 2 new items in the dryer, then the others hang dry.  i was also thinking of hand washing an item or 2 & then putting them in the dryer.  

i kind of dragged my feet on reacting to it & missed the warranty window on both appliances so it will cost $150 each to have someone come out & look at them plus any repairs/parts.  

additional info:

Washer-Kenmore 800 series ($500) almost 2 yrs old;

Dryer-Kenmore Gas Dryer ($400) just over 1 yr old;

Laundry Detergent-7th Gen Baby liquid (no dyes etc); switched recently to 365 Brand gentle powder but stains continue;

Water-town/public water, not from a well;

PLEASE HELP ME!!!  

[heathenmom]

I don't have an answer for you .... we're dealing with exactly the same issue!  Grrr...

[ellairiesmom]

really??  omg.  i just remembered i had asked about this once before here (i'm so crazed by this i don't recall who i've ranted to about it & who i haven't) & someone brought up hard water potentially being the culprit & to try using vinegar to rinse & once a week to run it thru the washer too.  do you have hard water?  

we are really unhappy with our washer & have since come across tons of horrible reviews on this series & the auto water level detection function so i wouldn't be disappointed to boot it out the door but we really can't afford to either.  

[CallMeMommy]

Do you use liquid fabric softener?  I had that problem with our new washer and figured out it was coming from the softener, and I gave up and switched to dryer sheets. 

[ellairiesmom]

we don't use any fabric softener at all.  gave it up awhile ago.  

[staceychev]

Dealing with the same problem here, but ours isn't even consistent enough to troubleshoot the way you're describing. If you or anyone you know is handy, there are instructions on the web on taking apart the agitator and cleaning/re-greasing it as a fix for one cause of grease spots. A google search and some poking around should help you find them.

[Night_Nurse]

I've had that problem before (and still do every so often). I asked about it on here before. What has worked for me is after finding the spot (post-dryer usually) is rubbing some liquid dish soap that will cut through grease (I use liquid Dawn) and re-washing it. It takes the spot out the majority of the time.

I have no idea why we get these spots. There is no rhyme or reason and we don't always get them. It's annoying but for us, it has nothing to do with our washer or dryer or even the detergent or our home water. 

Try some dish soap to spot treat. It's an easy (and cheap) way to see if it works. If it doesn't work for you, I have no idea.

Good luck!

[Denvergirlie]

Originally Posted by Night_Nurse 

I've had that problem before (and still do every so often). I asked about it on here before. What has worked for me is after finding the spot (post-dryer usually) is rubbing some liquid dish soap that will cut through grease (I use liquid Dawn) and re-washing it. It takes the spot out the majority of the time.

I have no idea why we get these spots. There is no rhyme or reason and we don't always get them. It's annoying but for us, it has nothing to do with our washer or dryer or even the detergent or our home water. 

Try some dish soap to spot treat. It's an easy (and cheap) way to see if it works. If it doesn't work for you, I have no idea.

Good luck!

I too was going to recommend treating with Dawn dish soap. I find that oil and grease can come off one item of clothing and deposit onto another, just transferrance. But using Dawn in the laundry room hgas saved countless items of clothing for me.

best

[A&A]

It happens on your cottons when you wash/dry them with polyesters.  So, separate your loads by material type.

[ellairiesmom]

wow-great advice!  i will buy some dawn ASAP.  And I never thought of sep by fabric type....i'm brainstorming about what polyesters I have.  hmmmm...gonna start paying attention to this.  

[ellairiesmom]

So-I have had a week of laundry come out of the washer WITHOUT oil spots (knocking on wood repeatedly)...here's where we are at...

I did a bunch of research on our washer model & found that it is known for it's "auto water level control" feature to be really inaccurate, so I changed my settings to include a second rinse.  I also realized that every time we were opening the lid after it filled partially so we could add detergent (before clothes), we were resetting it, so we are actually pausing the cycle once some water fills up, then adding the below list of ingredients, letting it fill more, then pausing it again, then adding the clothes.  (we feel like idiots about that one-neither of us realized the water level would reset just from opening the lid)

Here's the mix:

2 scoops of 365 brand powdered detergent (an extra scoop because of our hard water)

generous amount of baking soda 

2 loops around of a drizzle of Dawn with Vinegar

Vinegar in the Fabric Softener dispenser (we don't use FS)  

So I am wondering if our hard water combined with washer trying to conserve water was resulting in hard water build up on our clothes or our clothes just not getting clean enough?  

My brother is going to help us figure out the water softener we think might be located behind our furnace next time he comes over.  

I am also now running a cycle of vinegar through our washer & dishwasher every 2 weeks or so from now on.