A common problem when washing laundry is when the clothes come out of the wash very badly creased. There are several possible causes of this creasing to investigate.
First, make sure the drum isn’t overloaded. It’s easy to overload certain types of laundry because although you may have a large drum capacity the manufacturers only advise using this full capacity with cottons. Everything else has a much lower wash load capacity (check your instruction book). For example my washing machine has a 6kg drum, but the instruction book shows the following maximum loads –
- Cottons – Max load 6kg
- Minimum Iron – max load 3kg
- Delicates – max load 2kg
- Woollens – max load 2kg
- Silks – max load 1kg
Some of these load sizes seem very small, but silks and delicates for example weigh much less than cotton towels so it still might take a fair amount of laundry to reach that capacity. Even so, overloading may cause creasing, so make sure you follow instructions if you are having excessive creasing issues.
Spin speeds and creasing
Like load sizes, spin speeds are surprisingly low for many types of laundry. So make sure you aren’t spinning any affected laundry at too high a spin speed. This is a list of maximum spin speeds from my Miele washing machine –
- Cottons: 1400 rpm
- Minimum iron: 1200 rpm
- Delicates: 600 rpm
- Woollens: 1200 rpm
- Silks: 400 rpm
- Shirts: 600 rpm
- Denim: 900 rpm
So you need to make sure you are washing your laundry on the right wash and spin cycles and not overloading. You should check out your own washing machine instruction book. These guides are for a 6Kg 1400rpm washing machine and yours may well differ.
Creasing caused by rinsing in hot water
Another more rare cause of creasing is if the washing machine is rinsing in hot water. This would seriously crease the clothes. It is relatively rare, but I have seen it many times over the years.
Either the fill hoses, or water taps are misconnected. The hot water goes to the cold valve and cold water goes to the hot valve.
These days most washing machines only have a cold valve, but the wrong water supply can still get connected to it by mistake. Here are the reasons why this can happen –
1: Simple lack of attention to the job when connecting the hose pipe(s).
2: Someone correctly connects the right coloured hose to the right valve (red for hot, blue for cold). They just assume that the water running through will be the right type. However, previously someone has attached the hoses to the wrong taps at the plumbing end.
3: Someone correctly connects the hoses to the washing machine but the person who did the plumbing fitted the taps to the wrong water supply, or incorrectly identified the taps by fitting the wrong colour lever or marker. The taps have a red mark or lever to signify hot water and a blue mark or lever for cold. No attention was paid to making sure they were on the right supply, so someone connecting the hoses up correctly wouldn’t realise the water supply was wrong.
You can check by simply putting the washing machine on rinses and ensuring the water going in is stone cold, and stays cold. Don’t forget that even hot water can be cold at first until it runs warm. Also don’t check if the hot water hasn’t been on or if there’s none left in the hot water tank. If your washing machine was connected up wrong though it should mean the clothes come out warm and it will certainly waste a lot of hot water too. (More information – Should the washing come out warm or cold?)
Creasing caused by too high wash temperature
Another thing that can cause creasing is washing on too hot a temperature or washing easily creased laundry on a program at the correct temperature but with a final spin speed that’s too fast.
Don’t leave laundry in the drum
Make sure that affected laundry is taken out of the drum as soon as they have spun. Letting laundry lay in the drum for lengthy periods can also cause creasing.
This is why dedicates wash cycles have an anti-crease guard where they suspend the clothes in water until you are ready to spin them and retrieve them straight away. It’s also why many washing machines have an anti-crease action after spinning by regularly turning the drum until the clothes have been taken out.
A last resort option
The above article lists all of the common and possible causes for badly creased laundry that I can think of. However, if your problem has definitely not been caused by any of the above, then it could simply just be that your washing machine is causing excessive creasing. Possibly by the fact that it is not using enough water during rinses.
Check out this Washerhelp forum topic, which gives a possible solution to creased clothes and laundry. It does involve a bit of messing about but it appears to have worked for this contributor. It might be worth trying at least to see if the washing machine is at fault.
(Related links: Download replacement Instruction books (If yours is lost) | Issues related to installing or connecting up a washing machine)
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Let us know if you find anything Alan.
Hi Does anybody know how to get the creases out? I dont really want to replace my clothes! Ive tried soaking them in fabric conditioner and letting them drip dry but its not working! help?
There is a lot of anecdotal information on the Internet about using distilled white vinegar to remove excessive creasing. Check it out.
Hello Andy The problem with the very wrinkled shirts from my Candy washing machine has been investigated by a local repairer who concluded it was because of excessive water temperature. I could see evidence to support this. Due, I was told, to the controller and not the thermostat. Thank you for your interest and suggestions. I shall now hold a requiem for an elderly machine that has earned its keep.
Alan
Thanks for the update Alan. If the thermostat goes faulty it would normally seriously over heat the water on an old machine so maybe the controller wasn’t responding properly when the stat closed.
Hi Andy
We have just purchased an integrated Indesit washer/dryer IDWE126 (as Jean Henry did above). We previously had a vented standalone dryer which was excellent. This new one creases the hell out of everything we put in and the clothes are scalding hot when we go to take them out after a drying cycle. Can you advise on how we can reduce these creases. There doesn’t seem to be a temperature dial for the dryer and only 2 programmes (cottons and delicates), and damp to the touch the touch (which I’ve read is normal for a condenser dryer?)
Thanks Chris
Hi Chris. There should be a 10 minute cooling down period at the end of a dry cycle where the heating element is turned off. Lots of cycles have automatic temperature control now. Clothes shouldn’t be “scalding hot”, so if they are (which will clearly crease them) there’s a fault stopping the heater being turned off for the last 10 mins or it’s overheating so an engineer needs to check it out. Never stop a dry cycle without letting it run through the last 10 min cooling down section.
My new washer was hooked up incorrectly with hot and cold backwards so I washed every bit of my good clothes on HOT and rinsed in HOT! I’m fighting with the store who installed it for damages to my clothing. Lots of things came out creased like you said for the reason you said. My question is will those creases come out if washed again in cold water or is it totally ruined?
I am just fizzing, bought a Hotpoint WDL754 washer/dryer a few months ago to replace my old Hotpoint WD420 and ruined 3 super pairs of jeans they came out creased and would not iron out not with steam nothing. I’ve had to completely change my washing routine, no drying. My old machine was so good chuck everything in dirty switch on go back and hey presto all nice, clean and dry. My old machine when drying went onto low heat by default and was a hundred times better a machine than this piece of junk I am lumbered with, I hate it, it’s a thought to wash my clothes now. Eco my backside this thing is using more electric and I’m having to use electricity to do ironing now. Grrrr. I have read all your reports from other folk on this forum and they are all saying the same, I never thought things could be so bad if I had known what I know now I would have got my repair man to fix my old machine no expense spared!! I am going out tomorrow and just ruined two more shirts tonight. Not Happy.
Hello George. If the washer dryer is faulty you need to get them to fix it whilst under guarantee and hopefully get them to give compensation for the damage clothes. It would be weird if the washer dryer creases clothes by default. In other words there must be a reason why your jeans came out so badly creased, and it’s unlikely to just simply be that the washing machine is rubbish. It may be different from your old one and needs using differently, which I can see why that would be annoying but the machine must have been tested during design and they’d have surely noticed if it just creased everything?
To try and determine if the washing machine has a fault or not you need to eliminate all other possibilities such as it being connected up to the hot water supply by mistake, overloading, setting the wrong program, not looking at the wash label on the items etc. I cover all of the possibilities I could think of in this article above. Also is there are Reduced Creases setting on your machine? I can see that this feature is on another model very similar to yours.
I have a Siemens IQ100 washing machine for £500 3 years ago. I HATE IT !!!! Creasing the laundry in EVERY cycle program really badly. I called SIEMENS customer service to help me to idetify the problem . The assistant guy was rude and unhelpful. I would expect more from Siemens . I live with this crapy machine for 3 years and I have to iron everything. I double checked the water which goes in which is deffenetly cold. I use less ironing program on 40 c and results are the same. I read through all the comments here . I think the problem might be that the washing machine does not let in enough water into the system. Is there any way to fix it ?