I have a Miele W3831 with the honeycomb care drum.

It is a great washer, cleans well, rinses well, fast spin, balances without fuss, quiet.

we also now have a gorgeous ragdoll cat, Simba, discussed on other threads. He has an amazingly soft long coat, like fine wool. We have only had him for a few months, but he is 10 years old. He has shed less hair than any of our other (all short hair) cats... until now. It is summer here and he is changing his coat. I brush him daily, I get long fine cat hairs on my pants, and he sleeps on the bed with us and we are getting the same hairs on the sheets. One sheet in particular is a poly-cotton (didn't notice that when i bought it, everything else is pure cotton) and that sheet in particular seems to hang on to the cat hair. My dark blue linen shorts seem to attract the hair too - fine beige hair that really stands out on the blue background.

The issue, my question, is about cat hair in the honeycomb drum. I reckon the holes are too fine, and the cat hair is retained in the drum between rinses, and stays on the clothes or sheets. Does anyone with a Honeycomb Care Miele washer have any experience with this, or any advice?

In the wash the hairs seem to mat up into fine balls, like pilling on a woollen jumper. These balls remain on the clothes through the wash, I end up picking them off while the washing is on the line. I don't have a clothes dryer, all washing is line dried. It is driving me mad... and it isn't a very long drive.

Are there any techniques to improve this?

I do own a dryer that was given to me, needs repair, so maybe I could give a brief ride in the dryer after line drying? (would have to fix dryer first.)

Rinse in another machine? ( have an Asko front loader spare, that might help? I also have the vintage 1950s non-automatic Frigidaire Pulsamatic that is currently in storage and will need cosmetic repair before being used again. (I have built a new shed and will be setting up a working washing machines section soon.)

I have contemplated drilling all the holes in the Miele honeycomb care drum to a larger diameter - would use a short drill bit so I don't drill the outer drum. Do you think this would allow cat hairs to pass through easier? Seems a bit extreme, though.

Any other suggestions? (Cat isn't going anywhere - not negotiable.)

Dryer might be the go, for now at least. Not even sure what is wrong with it, yet.

Yes we are on septic system. It's not a problem, we are on acreage and have a good size disposal area. I would only use the Frigidaire occasionally to give a single extra-rinse to problem items, not do the whole wash cycle in it. (there is no hot water where the Frigidaire will go.) It's also not automatic, manual fill too - turn off tap to stop flow.

Link below is to the Frigidaire - a unique to Australia model from late 1950s.

Hi Robert

Thanks, yes I was thinking of overflow rinsing in the Frigidaire - that's why I specifically mentioned that washer.

It's in storage in the garage at our old house, where a relative now lives. It will need some TLC to get it back in action, that will happen soon.

I won't be using a turbo vacuum attachment to vacuum my clothes - that's what washing machines are for!

I did try vacuuming my top sheet, the problem one, with the Bissel Pet Hair Eraser upright vacuum cleaner - one I scrounged from the dumpster behind a store, its fault was brush roll not turning, only required a 10c resistor to fix. It wasn't very successful - the cat hair remained largely attached to the sheet, and the vac wanted to eat the sheet. Once the cat hair has been washed, it seems to go into tiny balls that cling hard to the fabric.

Well excuuuuuse me!

The upright in question was a warranty return of a nearly new machine. It is as new. It is certainly not 'scuzzy."

I have been rescuing/repairing appliances for over 30 years. When I have repaired an appliance, it works perfectly. It is also spotlessly clean. No repaired appliance is allowed in the house till I have dismantled it and cleaned it inside and out.

To make it perfectly clear, the Bissel vac was working perfectly when I tried vacuuming the sheet. It was repaired a year or more ago, long before we acquired this lovely cat. I only mentioned the vac's history as an aside, I thought it might have been interesting. I thought it was probably plastic junk when I first got it, but it has proven me wrong. It is a very good vac, seems to clean carpets as well as the Kirby G4.

You discussed "a level of hostility that comes out" in another thread, yet you make a rude comment like this. I wasn't asking for a critique on how I source appliances, I was asking about a premium quality washing machine that appears to be particularly crap at removing cat hair. My washing doesn't have "great gobs" of cat hair, some few items have a few fine hairs on them and they seem to remain attached to the items being laundered. I have had cats and washing machines for decades, never had this problem before. The instructions do NOT mention anything about pet hair having to be removed before washing. It only states to remove anything that might damage the machine, like keys, coins, etc.

I was responding to the comment in reply #23 that referred to "scuzzy junk found upright." That's why I started with quoting that text in the heading in red at the top of the post. (labeled "subject drift" on the add your reply page.) I've edited that heading to make it more clear.

No problem at all with your reply above, Ralph.

OK, maybe I wasn't clear enough.

I did say I'd fixed the vac with a 10c resistor, I didn't explicitly say it was fixed before I vacuumed the sheet - but I had.

No, I haven't changed my story, so I'll make this clear.

I live out in the sticks. I drive 1.5 to 2 hours to town to do grocery shopping.

There are two stores in a town near me that have skips (dumpsters) behind the store, I have asked them both for permission to retrieve things from the skips (dumpsters) and they have agreed. This is an unusual arrangement here, usually trade ins and returns are kept secure from the public, probably due to liability concerns. They cut the power cords off many, but not always. I can fit new cords. The Bissel vac had its cord unharmed.

They sometimes have new or almost new small appliances in them, I can only assume they are warranty returns. One (a toaster) even had its price sticker still on it, so it must have been an ex-display toaster, sold unboxed. (as another aside, this toaster's fault, as I could see it, was that it tripped the earth leakage breaker. (RCD.) The actual fault was a raisin stuck inside, shorting the element to the metal frame inside. Remove raisin - toaster fixed.)

Because these stores are both in the one town, and the town is a long way from the city and thus from the manufacturer's warehouses, it appears that the manufacturers don't want the items returned for inspection, it isn't worthwhile them paying freight to transport a broken small appliance a long distance just in case it might be repairable or not faulty. This means inevitably that some small appliances like vacs, toasters, coffee machines are going to be discarded in the skip when there is only a trivial fault, or occasionally because the buyer is an idiot and the item isn't faulty at all. The store staff don't want to get into an argument with customers, they hand over a new gadget, bin the returned one, the manufacturer or importer replaces the gadget and the customer goes away satisfied. It builds goodwill in a small community.

Big stuff like washing machines will be inspected/repaired under warranty, but I have also salvaged some good recent model washers, such as a 3 or 4 year old Bosch FL which only had a pump full of pet hair stopping it. I fixed it, cleaned it and gave it to a friend who runs a wildlife rescue shelter - it now washes blankets for orphan kangaroos and wallabies. Its new owner knows how to clean the pump filter...

Maybe I should get myself another Bosch, it seemed to get pet hair off the washing and into the pump...

Any way, maybe we can let this thread die now.

I will eventually resurrect the Frigidaire and use it for overflow rinsing. I might also try another front loader with bigger drum perforations - I have a few. All rescued from the dreaded crusher.

Yes Robert I had the same idea. Get the Pulsamatic overflow-rinsing, with the drain hose going back into the tub via a filter screen or bag. I'm busy at present, it will be a while but that's what I will do.