Thread Number: 37026
Lint Removal On Modern Washers
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Post# 550742   10/20/2011 at 12:42 (4,565 days old) by westyslantfront ()        

I am washing a batch of flannel shirts in my Norgetag Maytag. There is a lot of lint floadting around in the tub. I am not sure if it will all get flushed away during the final spin. Always wonder if all that lint getting expelled from the washer might someday cause a drain clog. Sure miss the old lint filters in washers.


Ross





Post# 550756 , Reply# 1   10/20/2011 at 13:06 (4,565 days old) by spookiness (Alexandria VA)        
Keep this thread going

I had a Norgetag and I did not experience nearly the amount of lint that I seem to have with my Admirpool. I usually ran the Norgetag on the gentle agitation speed, so that probably had a lot to do with it.

I hang-dry a lot of clothes, and when I am in the market for a new machine, I definitely want to research what models are best at both 1) preventing, 2) filtering lint.


Post# 550757 , Reply# 2   10/20/2011 at 13:15 (4,565 days old) by KenmoreGuy64 (Charlotte, NC)        

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Ross - I don't know if your Norgetag has a filter in it or not, but you shouldn't worry about clogging the drain. MANY washers have been expelling lint down the drain for many decades, either like yours is now, or in a self-cleaned filter 'blob' all at once in the initial drain. Unless the drain is prone to clogs or already compromised, I don't think this is an issue.

As to the Admiralpool and recent top loaders, I am unaware of any that come equipped with filters now. WP seems to have eliminated them from their DD machines several years ago, the last used being those disks on the bottom of the baskets. Before someone goes lamenting about the disk filters, they did work, just not as efficiently as some other self cleaning designs. They were definitely the most cost effective to plumb for in the machine (none) and manufacture.

Maybe its just me, but I don't think clothes today make as much lint as they did some years back. It is either that or good detergent isn't causing as much? Neither of my dryers seem to get as much it the screens, and I don't see as much coming out of the washers either. I can leave the filter in my 1979 Kenmore 500 machine, with the manual bed of nails filter, for as many as five or six loads before it needs to be cleaned. Of course it depends what I'm washing, but that would never have happened when I was a kid.

Gordon


Post# 550780 , Reply# 3   10/20/2011 at 14:32 (4,565 days old) by DirectDriveDave ()        

Your washer should be fine :) My bro has a 2010 Whirlpool DD and has not had any lint problems.


Is it possible that maybe brand new clothes will have more lint?


Post# 550803 , Reply# 4   10/20/2011 at 16:58 (4,565 days old) by mrb627 (Buford, GA)        
Tub Design

mrb627's profile picture
Some manufacturers claim that the hole design in their wash tub allowed lint to exit but not return into the inner tub. Not sure if it works or not.

Malcolm


Post# 550805 , Reply# 5   10/20/2011 at 17:11 (4,565 days old) by whirlcool (Just North Of Houston, Texas)        

I think that manufacturers gave up on lint removal in washing machines and let the customer depend on the dryer to remove the lint.

Post# 550816 , Reply# 6   10/20/2011 at 18:17 (4,565 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)        

dadoes's profile picture
 
Some manufacturers claim that the hole design in their wash tub allowed lint to exit but not return into the inner tub. Not sure if it works or not.
F&P touts that method of lint control.  My IWL12 drains where I can observe the flow.  I have seen what appears to be lint particles flushing out.  I can't say if they're actually being held outside the basket or flowing freely through it during agitation, but I've never had a lint problem with either of my F&P machines.

I've also observed linty-looking water draining from my Neptune TL, but don't know what claims for handling lint.


Post# 550841 , Reply# 7   10/20/2011 at 19:41 (4,565 days old) by yogitunes (New Jersey)        

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Even though a few of my machines have the manual filter, I never leave it in during use, and never notice a lint problem on the clothes, or in the drains......

Some people who have their machines draining into laundry tubs will use a filter or a screen of some sort, because strings of lint will clog the drain at the bottom.......and I only do this because my tub drains into a sewage ejector, lint really isn't the issue, loose strings are!.....

Proper sorting, temps, and detergents will minimize lint issues....your mileage may vary....

but there is something about watching a manual filters water flowing........


Post# 550918 , Reply# 8   10/21/2011 at 00:32 (4,565 days old) by laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii)        

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Lint filters were a way for washing machine manufacturers to upscale from the bottom of the line models to the more deluxe ones.Lint is caused by the loose fibers from daily wear and tear to the vigorous agitator blades causing those fibers to loosen and come off the fabrics.If you have a front loading washer AND a top loading washer, after their cycles are over, put each load in the dryer seperately. top loading load first. Once they're dry, take the lint out and put it on a plate. then, put the front load washer load in and,once dry, remove the lint and you'll see close to half because the clothes weren't as damaged in the front loader as they were in the top loader.I may be incorrect here but, if I remember correctly,Whirlpool introduced the washer's lint filters back in the early to mid 50s.GE was close behind with their Filter-Flo pan.Bendix had a trap similar to the ones on most of the newer front loaders and WCI in their earlier years had one similar to GEs.Norge too.My thoughts are that,if they worked so well, why was there so much lint accumulating in the dryer after the clothes were already "filtered out"?

Post# 550928 , Reply# 9   10/21/2011 at 01:37 (4,565 days old) by alr2903 (TN)        

Some of the older dryer manuals stated "new users may be shocked by the amount of lint in the filter"  followed by if i remember correctly, "as fabrics dry on the line, the lint blows away".  Of course that only applied to first time dryer owners,  and is really not new information in 2011.  For clothing i could really go 2 or 3 loads with a Kenmore 29 inch dryer.  Towels and bathroom rugs are the big lint producers here.  As Yogi posted strings are another issue, Id rather have to buy new towels than pay a plumber.  We had a new frigidaire gas dryer that came with the house when i was using it, i could empty its small filter twice while drying towels.  Thank goodness for Craigs list.  Yogi you are right there is something about a flowing water filter. alr


Post# 550932 , Reply# 10   10/21/2011 at 02:47 (4,565 days old) by whirlcool (Just North Of Houston, Texas)        

I had the same experience recently too. I bought 12 dog drying towels. They are made of 100% Cotton and are very fluffy and really suck up the moisture off of a dog after bathing. I washed them before use and when they were in the dryer it stopped due to a clogged lint filter three times! I have a Whirlpool dryer with the filter on top. And you know how big those filters are!
In successive washes, the lint from those towels is almost down to normal lint that would be expected of such items.


Post# 550982 , Reply# 11   10/21/2011 at 08:40 (4,564 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

Washer manufacturers gave up on lint filters when phosphates were removed from detergents and mineralization began to ruin machines and clog up lint filters. Detergents, fabric softeners and clothes dryers probably deal with lint better than lint filters in washers alone.

Post# 551186 , Reply# 12   10/22/2011 at 03:08 (4,564 days old) by MatthewZA (Cape Town, South Africa)        
well...

on my 13kg samsung top loader, pulsator type, it has a "majic filter" (cartridge filter) and i must say its fantastic at getting lint off, even in full loads. my 8kg LG has a sck filter and only reali works on loads bigger than half (luckily because of the smaller drum on that 1 i always have a full load). our previous speed queen was bad though. there was quite a bt of lint and it woud cause jerseys to bobble (so i washed them in the front loader that time. i never had lint issues when i had a whirlpool heavy duty for about 3 months, not even on jerseys.
so bottom line get a pulsator machine with a cartridge filter
Matthew


Post# 555084 , Reply# 13   11/8/2011 at 13:17 (4,546 days old) by Jsneaker ()        
Lint Filters

Wow, does alr2903 actually let his dryer lint filter go for 2-3 loads before cleaning? That is not good! I always empty my Lady Kenmore 27"'s lint filter after every load-it pays to do so. Yes, front-load washers make less lint from laundry, I noticed that fact immediately after my first washed load dried last year. I never ever use fabric softener, it actually softens fibers so they break faster, thus producing more lint. Also, the vapors from softener, along with lint, clog dryer filters, ducts and vents. Besides, softener perfume stinks to high heaven!

Post# 555092 , Reply# 14   11/8/2011 at 13:32 (4,546 days old) by DirectDriveDave ()        
Not much lint difference.

I honestly have not found any lint differences between a TL and a FL.

I always used a FL when I was in college and the lint filters on the dryer seemed to be the same amount regardless of the type of washer.


Post# 556396 , Reply# 15   11/13/2011 at 21:15 (4,541 days old) by KenmoreBD (Mass, usa )        

Kinda off topic, did whirlpool dryers hum when the lint filter was full? Or was that just do to the venting? Any who The Shredmore looks kind of linty sometimes. The ge washer seem to not have this issue the dryer filter looks clean after a load. Maybe it has to do with wash action and not with the filter so much?


-Andrew


Post# 556412 , Reply# 16   11/13/2011 at 23:44 (4,541 days old) by sudsmaster (SF Bay Area, California)        

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Older Whirlpools had automatic self-cleaning lint filters. It was a sort of rubber disk affair with internal hooks that caught lint during recirculation, and then expelled it during drains. Later Whirlpools shifted the lint filter to a plastic comb at the recirculation outlet above the tub. From the one I had in the 80's and 90's, it never seemed to catch much and it was a PITA to clean anyway. The GE Filter Flo design seemed to be better at it. But if the original Whirlpool self-cleaning lint filter was any indication, lint down the drain was no big deal.


Post# 556503 , Reply# 17   11/14/2011 at 13:08 (4,540 days old) by kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC)        
Wow, does alr2903 actually let his dryer lint filter go for

kenmoreguy64's profile picture
JSneaker, the lint filter in a 27" dryer does not have the surface area that the top mounted screens have. I do the same thing that alr does - my 2 in service 29" dryers fill at max. about 40% of the screen in one load, and that's on a linty load. It is not going to hurt anything to let the filter go for two loads.

When I wash a load of gym clothes, which consist of old washed-out towels, t-shirts and nylon lint-free shorts, there is hardly any lint at all in the screen. My thought has always been "why remove the screen if its hardly got anything on it, it just wears the screen faster by taking it out."

Gordon


Post# 556506 , Reply# 18   11/14/2011 at 13:48 (4,540 days old) by revvinkevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land)        
Lint going down the train…..

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My best friend and his wife have a 5 or so year old WP set in their detached garage and what ever they are washing is pretty linty.   So much so that the utility sink drain backed up and they had to have a plumber out.   Turns out there was so much lint going down the drain that it was causing the drain to clog.    My friend had to buy the wire mesh “lint catchers” and add one to the drain hose to catch all the lint.   He has to replace this lint catcher every 3 - 4 weeks due to it getting clogged.

 

It seems to me that lint filters (at least in most washer built and sold in the US) went the way of the dinosaur about the mid-80's.

 

Kevin


Post# 556514 , Reply# 19   11/14/2011 at 14:03 (4,540 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)        
More Whirlpool Filters

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Older Whirlpools had automatic self-cleaning lint filters.  It was a sort of rubber disk affair with internal hooks that caught lint during recirculation, and then expelled it during drains.  Later Whirlpools shifted the lint filter to a plastic comb at the recirculation outlet above the tub.  From the one I had in the 80's and 90's, it never seemed to catch much and it was a PITA to clean anyway.
Manual-clean recirculating filters of the comb and cartridge type into the 80s were on lower-end belt-drive machines.

There were several designs on the self-clean/recirculating filter.

Later belt-drive machines went to a passive self-clean which was a disc/comb piece mounted under the basket.  Water currents during agitation carried lint into the comb which was flushed during spin.  This was also used on direct-drive machines, which by design couldn't have an active recirculating filter.  It was later substituted to four simple "plug" filters, which were then eliminated completely.  The parts diagram for the Catalyst that I recently refurbed showed the disc-style under-basket filter but upon disassembly I found it did not have a filter.  Parts indicated substitution to the four plugs but the new basket that was sent did not have mounting holes for them.


Post# 556527 , Reply# 20   11/14/2011 at 15:06 (4,540 days old) by Jsneaker ()        
a "Norgetag"?


I have seen many people mention their "Norgetag" washer. I cannot think of any "Norge-type" features any Maytag washer had, except for the old Maytags having nice, wide agitation arcs. Would someone please bring me up to date?


Post# 556538 , Reply# 21   11/14/2011 at 15:34 (4,540 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)        

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Norgetags are single-belt machines ... I believe also referred to as "Herrin" models, being built at a manufacturing facility in Herrin, IL which also produced Norge & Magic Chef washers.  So-called classic Maytags of the two-belt design are "Newton" machines which is a reference to Newton, IA.


Post# 556611 , Reply# 22   11/14/2011 at 20:33 (4,540 days old) by drewz (Alexandria, Virginia)        

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SO, all the Kenmore's I grew up with that had that Filter Light, showing it was filtering meant nothing other than the lint was going down the drain?

Or was this to make you feel special because you had a Lady Kenmore, 800, or 70 Series?

I also use the metal mesh thingy at the end of my washer hose and you would not believe what it snags coming out of the machine, by the end of 30 days it is almost totally clogged with lint.


Post# 556629 , Reply# 23   11/14/2011 at 21:23 (4,540 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)        

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Wash or rinse water was actively pumped through the recirculating self-clean filter during agitation periods.  Recirculation flow reversed during drain to backwash the filter and flush away the accumulated lint.  The light was tied to the agitate solenoid circuit so it illuminated during filtering but not during drain.


Post# 556694 , Reply# 24   11/15/2011 at 04:32 (4,540 days old) by Maytagbear (N.E. Ohio)        
This has been

very interesting! Thank you all for your knowledge.


How does my Maytag LAT9806 deal with lint? It does not have a removable filter like my former A208. I have never had noticeable lint when unloading my Dependable Care.....


Lawrence/Maytagbear


Post# 556729 , Reply# 25   11/15/2011 at 08:27 (4,539 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)        

dadoes's profile picture
 
LAT9806 has a passive under-basket filter similar to the Whirlpool concept pictured above.  Look up your model at SearsPartsDirect.com to see the parts diagram.


Post# 556800 , Reply# 26   11/15/2011 at 13:11 (4,539 days old) by kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC)        
An interesting note about the disc filter that Glenn picture

kenmoreguy64's profile picture
This filter debuted with Kenmores in 1982. By this time, the slight capacity reduction (baseplate redesign) had already taken place and machines had been manufactured for close to a year with the old type filters.

When the disc came out, the baskets had to be altered to have the holes underneath the agitator to allow the currents and lint to be flushed onto the disc., AND agitators had to be updated as well to have little vanes on the underside of the skit to create these currents. In fact, there are two differences between the gold Kenmore Penta-Vane and the white - one is the inclusion of these mini-fins in the white version.

Many people don't realize that this disc filter will be largely ineffective if a previous agitator is used in disc filter model.


Post# 557044 , Reply# 27   11/16/2011 at 13:30 (4,538 days old) by yogitunes (New Jersey)        

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For you guys who catch the lint in the sink with those little screens that fill up quickly.......stop wasting your money......

I got this at FiveBelow...for 5.00....this one is about 3 years old, and time for a new one......but once it gets filled, I take it out back and backflush it with the hose.....and it gets used over and over!.....


Post# 557047 , Reply# 28   11/16/2011 at 13:33 (4,538 days old) by yogitunes (New Jersey)        

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I have 4 machines draining into this sink, and mainly because I don't want it to clog the sewage ejection unit, or the sink drain.....just simpler and cheaper than those little screen socks..

What do you think?


Post# 557115 , Reply# 29   11/16/2011 at 19:59 (4,538 days old) by sudsmaster (SF Bay Area, California)        

sudsmaster's profile picture
Hmm.

I have a couple of Miele washers in the workshop. They drain into a plastic laundry tub. Because there is no nearby drain, I hooked up a 1" diameter 75 foot red garden hose to the drain on the tub, and then it goes the length of the shop to a toilet in a little half bath in the back there. I used stainless steel 1" piping and fittings to make a hook over the edge of the bowl, and since the lip of the bowl is a bit lower than the bottom of the laundry tub, it all drains well enough. It's been like that for years and there's probably plenty of lint, but the hose has never clogged and I doubt the sewer line would ever have a problem either.

The water is shut off to the half-bath (I think it used to run off well water), so the toilet isn't used for the usual purpose, so the washer drain line isn't in anybody's way, so to speak.


Post# 558150 , Reply# 30   11/20/2011 at 18:34 (4,534 days old) by 300C (Jonesboro, GA)        
Portable Agitator Top Loaders Still Have Lint Filters

The Whirlpool LCE4332, Haier XQJ50-31 and GE Spacemaker WSLS/WSLP1100 agitator top loader washers all have lint filters. This is probably because it would be a problem if strands of lint drained into the kitchen sink used for draining the machine.

I believe that even the GE WSLS/WSLP1500, Avanti and Haier impeller top loader portables also have lint filters.



Post# 560312 , Reply# 31   11/30/2011 at 00:47 (4,525 days old) by bpetersxx (laf in on the banks of the Wabash River)        

bpetersxx's profile picture
all of my top load Haier washers that i got to play with have manual clean lint filters


In fact my Haier XQJ50-31 has 2 lint filter on it


Post# 561510 , Reply# 32   12/6/2011 at 12:59 (4,518 days old) by DWLaurie ()        

YogiTunes! I think that is ingenious! I have one of those "file baskets". I think I am going to go try filing some lint! :)

Post# 561527 , Reply# 33   12/6/2011 at 15:38 (4,518 days old) by wringer (x)        
I have

the GE portable mentioned above and it has 2 lint filters opposite one another in the tub. They are really full of lint at the end of the washing. They are kind of a pain to clean out but not bad. I have put a nylon on the drain part of the adapter at the sink and there has never been any lint expelled into it. They must work great. The only drawback is if you use a modern fabric softener they all leave a scum on the filters that is a bit hard to remove. This is the only thing I don't like about them.

Jim


Post# 562046 , Reply# 34   12/8/2011 at 22:58 (4,516 days old) by spookiness (Alexandria VA)        
I'm confused

A lot of these posts seem to focus on filtration of the discharge.

Are there any machines that filter lint so that it doesn't get on your clothes?



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