help me with my washing machine re: cold water

[Tilia]

I have been staying at my mom's since my husband left me, and her washing machine is driving me crazy!

Its not very old, but it was used at a house with HARD well water before she moved to town with city water. She doesn't have a water softner, and the problem started at the old house.

The problem: When it is running cold water, the water just drips in, as in a tiny little trickle. It is especially annoying while I am trying to run cold rinses on the cloth diapers. It takes about a half hour to fill up the washer on cold.

Is there a way to de-lime the inside of the water pipes? I assume it is some sort of calcium or lime build-up.

The hot and warm water run fine, its just the cold.

Anyone have this problem, and is there a way to fix it?? Thanks!

[Meiri]

Is it the hose from the spigot to the machine or the lines inside the machine?

Try changing the hoses first to see if that helps.

Soaking where the water comes out with a delimer (or vinegar) might help.

Maybe pouring a de-limer slowly through the hose into the machine after detaching it from the cold water line?

[EricaLeigh]

We had the same problem when we bought our house. It is such a simple fix! If you remove the hose, there should be little screens on the end of it. They need to be cleaned/changed, they sell them at the hard ware store! HTH

[Alkenny]

The screens probably just have limescale in them. It can be as simple as detaching the hoses and removing the screen and rinsing it out.

[onlyzombiecat]

I have the opposite problem- trickling hot water in washing machine. I assumed it was the pipe. I'll have to check the hoses.

[Abarat]

Yeah, check the screens, there's probably gunk or actual pieces of matter in there. We have insanely hard water and I'm not sure if it's connected, but the pipes in our system send chunks of black stuff through. We have a filter placed at the entrance of the main water line, just before it hits the house and the amount of gunk in there is amazing. Before that filter was put out there we'd have the same problem with just a trickle of water, especially with the washing machine.

[Tilia]

Update

Woot woot! Thanks for the suggestions! It worked.

I turned off the cold water and removed the hose from the wall to the washer. The hose was fine, but when I looked into the end on the washer, it was dark. Further investigation with my fingernail reveal a metal screen covered with brown particles and gunk.

It wasn't removable, so I sprayed it with vinegar and scratched it with a knife for a while until the vinegar ran out clear.

Then, I poured vinegar into the hose for good measure, and reattached it. I turned the water back on and set the washer to a cold cycle. A big burst of brown water came out and now it works fine!!!

Thanks to everyone!