When washing is not being cleaned properly, or comes out with marks on, most people blame the washing machine. But there are other explanations for this problem and sometimes the user is at fault. So you need to eliminate all user faults before blaming the washing machine.
There aren’t many faults on a washing machine that allow it to work apparently normally and complete the cycle in normal time, but just not wash properly. Listed below are a few possibilities.
Possible washing machine faults
1: Maybe the washing machine has become so dirty inside, and full of grease, gunge, or black mould that it is causing marks on laundry – Causes and cures for grease, slime black mould and smells in washing machine.
2: A partial blockage in pumping system could be preventing water being pumped out properly causing poor rinsing (Washing machine won’t empty water)
3: The drive belt could have come off, or some other fault causing drum to not revolve. If you can see that the drum is not turning during the wash cycle read this article Drum not turning.
4: Heater not working? Some washing machines may not give an error code if the heater fails to heat up the water and instead can just carry on washing. This can result in poor wash results as described in the following article washer not heating up water
Possible causes of washing not getting clean properly
The majority of causes for a washing machine not washing properly are not actual faults on the machine. So it’s worth properly checking out all the following explanations.
If you have a new washing machine and your previous washer washed better it’s possible that either something’s changed (maybe you’re using different detergents, washing different loads or using different wash cycles). Or maybe the new washer just doesn’t wash as well. Wash results can vary a lot between different washing machines (check out Which? washing machine reviews).
This list covers the most common causes of poor wash results and they are all user faults
Overloading the drum causes poor wash results because laundry needs to move about and rub against each other and detergent needs room to circulate. See how to properly load a washing machine for best cleaning and avoiding out of balance loads and White streaks on laundry.
Using poor quality, or not enough detergent – especially in hard water areas. Try to use good quality detergent, they aren’t all the same at all. Use the proper amount recommended on the pack for the level of soiling and the hardness of the water (related Causes of grease spots on laundry).
Using an inappropriate programme: Some wash programmes are quicker, and use lower temperatures – but they won’t clean dirty laundry properly. Use only for very lightly soiled laundry (related Pros and cons of washing at 30 degrees – do you even save that much money?)
Using option buttons inappropriately: Read the manual to understand exactly what many of these option buttons do before using them, especially ones claiming to save water or electricity. Cutting down the amount of water and temperature can reduce wash efficiency and is usually designed for smaller loads with light soiling not a normal wash with dirty clothes inside.
Using options to reduce water usage (or even using a washing machine claiming to use hardly any water) can reduce the effectiveness of rinsing. (related article Washing machines not rinsing properly.)
Using the wrong type of detergent: Biological detergent needs lower temperatures and a lot more time to clean laundry. It also contains living enzymes, which die once they reach higher temperatures so pick appropriate wash cycles.
Conversely, non biological detergent isn’t as effective at low temperatures. Liquid detergents, and “colour friendly” detergents don’t contain any bleaching agents, so they won’t keep whites brilliantly white and will allow whites to gradually go greyish. (related article – Are you using just one type of detergent when they do different jobs?)
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Putting the detergent into the wrong compartment in the soap dispenser drawer. This would mean the detergent goes into the drum too early or only on rinses. It would not only affect washing performance, but would expose the heating element to damaging limescale build up.
If there is no obvious fault on the washing machine, such as the drum not turning, and the washing machine goes through the wash cycle as normal, and spins the clothes dry at the end, with no errors showing, then carefully eliminate the list of user faults above before calling an engineer or complaining to the retailer.
Maybe the washing machine is just not very good at washing
You would think it impossible for a modern washing to just be incapable of producing good quality wash results, but according to Which? many washing machines that they test are just “poor” at washing no matter how well you use them.
This is of course ludicrous. How hard can it be for a washing machine to wash laundry properly? All they have to do is fill with water and detergent, heat up the water and agitate the laundry. Then drain the water, rinse a few times and spin.
However, it does appear many are much better at it than others and some are so bad that Which? warns against buying them. Check out the Which? appliance reviews and recommendations to find out which are good and which are poor – Which trial offer
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Hi Lesley. Always using 30 degree washes and liquid detergent is perfect for making a very smelly washing machine. The chances are it’s covered in horrible slime and gunge inside, which may be very difficult to remove. I would ditch the liquid detergent, and use 40 degree washes unless extremely lightly soiled, wash towels and cotton bedding at 60 degrees and do the boil maintenance wash every several weeks.
Hi there. I have the same problem as the person above regarding the wool cycle on my indesit (2 yrs old). We use powder detergent and maintenance wash the machin regularly. The wash usually works fine. But when I do a wool/handwashing cycle with Ecover wool and silk liquid, clothes come out covered in bits of gunk and flakes. Gross! Any advice?
Hi, hoping someone can assist because I’m going crazy with this issue, sorry for the long post.
Ok I’ve always done my own washing, drying, and ironing and never in 20 yrs had an issue with clothes not washing properly using a variety of washing machines over the years, whether they have been cheap, expensive, old, or new. I moved in with my girlfriend about 2 yrs ago and within a week I noticed when I came to iron my work shirts there were two types of stains appearing. Some had black marks on, like smears or splodges, not like ink but personally I thought like mascara (cue domestic incident!), other shirts had marks on that I can only describe as clear grease spots and patches ranging from a few mm diameter to an inch diameter. Occasionally the washes were fine but only maybe 3 out of 10 times, I put this down to my girlfriends 8 yr old washer and coped with it and replaced the shirts as necessary.
Three months ago we moved into our newbuild home, very expensive kitchen and utility room with top of the line (price-wise anyway) integrated Zanussi appliances. Within a couple of washes the same issue! All new drains/pipes/washer, really dirty clothes are never washed e.g. muddy/heavily soiled, things like tea towels, bath towels are washed separately, colours are washed separately to white/delicates, the missus uses 40 degrees, and fairy non bio liquid in the little cup. I always used 30 degrees and various top brand powdered detergents and never in 20 yrs had a problem, since we moved the issue is a lot worse, this year I’ve actually gone through 9 shirts, almost one a month! It’s that bad that last weekend I bought two new shirts, washed them and they’re both ruined with black marks. What can this be? The missus swears blind its not makeup, I have no idea what it could be but its driving me crazy and costing me a fortune!
We’ve always both done monthly maintenance cycles, leave the washing machine door open for the evening after use, and check the seal/door for grime/gunk build-up. Any ideas what this could be?
Hello Matt. If the problems have been on multiple washing machines it’s fairly safe to assume it’s something to do with how you use the washing machines. Two things you mention jump out at me as explanations, “I always used 30 degrees” and, “the missus uses 40 degrees, and fairy non bio liquid “. These are the two most common causes of a nasty build up of slime, grease, gunge and bacteria inside a washing machine. You need to wash towels and cotton bedding on 60 degree washes to kill bacteria, underwear should be washed exactly as advised on their wash labels. 30 and 40 degrees aren’t hot enough. Regular maintenance washes will help but they can only do so much against a relentless build up.
Also, liquid detergent contains no bleaching agents, that’s fine for being kind to colours but combines with mostly low temperature washes it can be disastrous for washing machines.
Try to find time to read all of the related articles I’ve linked to on this article and some of the links within them to get a full understanding.
Hi Andy, thanks for your reply and I’ve since read through the articles. Some things I’ve never really though about to be honest So yes I’ll be trying out your suggestions, also we’ve just ordered some washing powder, the missus finally caved in since I showed her your articles on liquid! Hopefully I’ll start to see an improvement, thanks a lot.
Dear Andy,
I’ve a Bosch Logixx9 Vario Perfect. It’s fairly new – possibly less than a year old. It’s been working fine, without any problem. We came back from 2 weeks holiday (always leaving the door of the washing machine open) and since then the washing machine doesn’t wash the clothes clean and leaves a smell on the clothes. I haven’t changed anything about how we wash our clothes – same setting, same detergent. The drum turns and it obviously spins as the clothes come out as normal on the 1600 spin. I’ve done an empty 90 degrees wash and used household white vinegar to do a clean but the next wash was just the same. Any thoughts? I’m now at a loss what to do.
Hello Jean, I’ve put all possibilities I can think of in the article above. Sometimes cleaning a dirty washing machine can loosen gunge and make things worse at first. Related washing machine smells | smells from washing machine plumbing
Hi Andy,
I can try to do more high temperature empty washes again. The machine itself (from what I can see) doesn’t have mold or grease in the rubber area of the front opening or in the soap dispenser. Is there somewhere I can open to have a look – I don’t know where the filter is try that – it’s obviously not accessible from the front.
I also did pour some drain cleaner down the u-bend to see if that helped.
I don’t see anything other than more hot washes to try to clean it which relate to my problem. It’s more the fact that the clothes aren’t getting clean than a problem of a smelly washing machine. I’ll try more hot washes and let you know. Any other thoughts in the meantime would be appreciated.
Many thanks Andy – it’s great to be able to put such problems to someone with experience…and actually get fast responses – much appreciated! Thank you!
Thanks Jean. The only other thing I can suggest is to slowly go through all the points in my article above, I can’t think of anything else other than some fault on the machine. Make sure no option buttons have accidentally been selected such as economy or half load, quick wash etc. which may impact on wash cycle’s efficiency.
Dear Andy,
I persevered with hot washes and bough soda crystals and specialist cleaning powder for washing machines and it seems to be getting better. I still don’t understand why it happened so quickly – could it have been because we didn’t use the machine for 2 weeks (although leaving the door open)?
Many thanks for your help – much appreciated.