Grease Marks On Clothes
Posted on October 13, 2006 – 4:48 pm by admin
Have you ever had a piece of clothing that went in your washing machine fairly clean and came out with a stain on it? Probably at one time or another. There are many things that can stain your clothing, besides you. Probably the most prevalent washing machine caused stain is rust. If you have a washing machine basket that is chipping, your clothes can push up again the rusty basket during the spin cycle and create those beautiful little orange stains that never come out. I have also been reading a lot about grease type stains on clothing. They say there are two main causes for this: 1. Your shaft bearing and seal are worn and the transmission oil is creeping up to get in your water. Once this happens, it gets on your clothes to cause staining, and 2. You have a buildup of fabric softener that comes loose off to put a greasy like substance in your water and on your clothing. Once you put your clothes in the dryer and the old fabric softener melts, wham, you are hit with a few stains.
I have read about a few others, but I forget what they are. That is probably because I have my own problem…and unfortunately, no one on the planet has heard of this particular problem. That is why I am putting it out to you.
Here is it – we are getting stains in the form of brown lines or “streaks” on our clothing when it comes out of the washing machine and dryer. I usually notice them after I pull the clothes out of the dryer, but I am sure the staining is occurring in the washing machine. So here is the dilemma: What in the world is causing the staining? The lines look very much like they are brown creases. I need to find out if something is coming through the water pipes into the washer or if it is coming from the washer itself. We have a new greensand filter installed, so I am pretty sure it is not in the water. Unless of course, the purple potassium backwash is flowing through the pipes into the washer. If I can isolate the problem to the washer, I can pull it apart and look for the culprit. I will take a look at the shaft going into the transmission to see if there is any grease or oil on it. If so, I will buy a new washer. The picture below is my actual shirt that came out of the dryer with this mark on it. It is about 6 inches long, so you can understand why we are getting so frustrated with this problem.
So, my question to you is: Have you ever had, or known anyone, with brown stains or streaks that look like “creases” come out of their washing machine? I beg of you…
UPDATE…
Ok, this is an update to the above post I wrote about 6 hours ago. I came home tonight on a mission. After going to Home Depot this afternoon with Paul, I had a few things to look at. We decided that perhaps the problem can be isolated to the water lines or the washer. It is pretty important that I figure out what is causing the problem, because purchasing new parts and a new washing machine can get quite expensive. Then, the possibility that you haven’t even fixed the problem still remains.
I came very close to purchasing two $33 water filters…one for each water line of the washing machine. I figured that maybe the pipes still had gunk in them from all the years the previous owners ran the water with iron sediment building up in them. Paul talked me out of that. We agreed that before I purchased the filters, I would go home and take off the rubber hoses that attach to the back of the washer. Then, I would snake a wire through each one and pull a small piece of cloth through them, to see if there was gunk built up in them. I came home this evening and did this. The cloth came out completely filthy. Bingo…I thought. I pulled the cloth through a few more times until there was no dirt left. I reattached the hoses and put the washer back in place. I took the front panel of the washer off so I could see what happens when it runs. I tried to simulate a real wash, so I filled it with clothes. The outer tub on this particular GE washer is clear, so I could get a good picture of what was happening. I was looking for little beads of grease floating up in the water. If the problem wasn’t the hoses, I would catch it here for sure. I wanted to find out something before Laura got home.
I ran the wash and watched the machine go through all of its cycles. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. This wasn’t much fun. As I sat there, I started to think about how our new strategy to avoid these stains was to turn our clothes inside out and wash them that way. That way, the stains wouldn’t show on the visible side of our clothing. It has been working well. Wait a second…what difference does it make whether or not we wash our clothes inside out? If there is something in the water, it makes no distinction between which way our shirts and pants are situated. The oil would get in any which way.
HOOOLD OOOON……..
Laura came home and we started talking about this horrible issue. I told her what I found and told her about the inside out dilemma. We both started getting a little quiet. I mentioned how this never happened where we used to live (where we lived a year ago). She also mentioned that she never got any stains on her scrubs (she wears them for work). Hhhhmmmm. In our last place, we had a different dryer. Also, she never puts her scrubs in the dryer because if she gets a stain from the washer, she doesn’t want the dryer to “set” it.
THE DRYER…….
I ran downstairs with a white sock in my hand. I opened the dryer door, took the sock and rubbed it hard, up and down, against the rear corner, between the rear wall and the drum. I pulled the sock out and looked at it. Well, well, well. I nice brown grease-like streak that looks identical to the photo above. I guess when the dryer heats up, it makes this, what ever it is, get gooey and easily transferable to clothing.
Now that we figured out what is causing the stains, I can start pricing out new dryers.
17 Responses to “Grease Marks On Clothes”
By Paul on Oct 14, 2006 | Reply
Hey! A nice bit of detective work. I never had this problem, but I will file this away for future reference.
By ed on Dec 1, 2006 | Reply
Interesting article. You are not alone! I have a fairly new bosch washing machine and I have also noticed brown stains (spots) on some of my shirts (but not the large streaks that you describe.). I will try the ’sock test’ on the drums of both washing machine and dryer. Thanks for the tips.
By houshold man on Dec 3, 2006 | Reply
hey ! great job i had this same problem replaced the drum seals and it is gone.. good work!!
By Carri on Feb 1, 2007 | Reply
Very interesting Ed – I have a reasonable new washing machine and drier and have ruined hundreds of Euro’s worth of clothing with horrible brown spots, lighter on the inside with a dark ring around it and then a third lighter ring. Did you every solve the problem?
Regards
Carri
By Natalie on Mar 29, 2007 | Reply
HELP!!!! I have been getting what look like grease stains on my dark clothing for the past year. During this time I have gone through 3 brand new washing machines. It only happens when I do laundary at home. My plumber is stumped. Where do I go from here? I will take any advice anyone can give me!
Natalie
By Bob on Jun 22, 2007 | Reply
Jay – I know this is too late for you but for anyone else…
Same situation here, intermittently started a couple months back. Finally found the “smoking gun” a few days ago. Opened the dryer to find a pair of summer shorts with string ties for the waist hanging from the drum seal – jammed there. When I pulled on them the string broke, it was brown looking like rust but was actually friction burn. The smaller/thin clothes usually would get these marks randomly (of course they were usually WHITE so it was really obvious). The dryer drum seal basically wore out after 12 years. The dryer was rattling a little when it ran too.
If you reach inside and feel around the lip of the drum closest to you where it meets the front door & panel assembly it should be tight and you can’t get your fingertips between the drum & panel. For about a third of the way on mine it had a gap of about 1/4 inch. I thought the metal lip had somehow bent from a jacket zipper or something. When I tore it down the felt (I think) seal was just worn away on the door panel assy. in that area. It was now a rusty brown color instead of the grey in the good section. It also has a couple of nylon “glides” for the drum to slide along – these pretty much fell off when I took the door panel off. This is a Sears 28″ laundry center, washer on the bottom with dryer on the top. Actually am going to Sears parts center today to order the seals & glides. Will pick up a new dryer belt too although the original still looks OK. Looks like the seals have to be glued on and nylon glides clipped over them (maybe?). I’ll give an update in a week or so when parts arrive and get replaced. With Sears they never seem to have all the stuff on hand.
Good luck to all you other home handymen/women!
By Bob on Jun 25, 2007 | Reply
Well, I guess I have to eat my words. Sears DID have everything on hand plus a tech in the back room to handle a few questions. Wound up getting a new drum belt, a drum glide kit (top seal w/glides attached + hi-temp adhesive), lower seal and bearing bracket/bearing/hi-temp grease kit for the drum to spin on. Ran a total of $94 for the parts. Hi-temp adhesive (~1 oz tube) was enough to do both upper and lower seal. Hi-temp grease was enough to do 4 drums! Guess I’ll hang onto that. It was a hassle to clean off the old seal from the front door assy, used clothes pins to clamp the new seal after gluing for about a half hour. Hassle to get the drum back in place but it finally all came together. Naturally I cleaned all ducts, vents, inside – anywhere there was dust blobs. Probably took a total of 3 hours to get it done but my wife is back in business! (I’ll clarify – I can only repair them, not allowed to run them. Who knew!) That’s it for another few years I hope!
By Pete on Aug 30, 2007 | Reply
Hi,
I have recently started getting some phantom brown spots on clothing too.
Fully checked the washing machine and the inlets. It was a relatively new machine and nothing was amiss. I eventually tracked down this webpage and it may well have something to it relating to certain types of pollen/plant sap that leaves rusty orange/brown marks on clothes that are only visible once the clothes are washed: http://www.rhs.org.uk/ibb/posts.aspx?postID=3620
It certainly makes for interesting reading when you consider how many gardeners have suffered from the problem!
Pete
By JUJU on Jan 17, 2008 | Reply
I get similiar streaks but a bit thinner, I know they are coming from the washing machine. There is a rubber piece that is all the way around the opening of the washer that catches junk like pennies and stuff in your pocket, it cannot be removed and it is dirty inside, I recently tried to clean it with a rag. The streaks to come off with stain remove-they are very annoying!. I think the streaks are coming from this dirty, hard to clean peace of rubber.
By Trevor on Jan 26, 2008 | Reply
Brown Streaks (look like rust), some claim comes from the glue that holds the felts on to the dryer housing that the drum spins on. Feeling around the inside of the dryer, 1/4 inch gap, plus I can easily lift the dryer drum up 1/4 inch. I guess the solution is to take the dyer apart and replace the felt the dryer drum spins on. White westinghouse dryer, Im not impressed. (only 6yrs old). For those whom think these streaks come from the washer, do the white sock test around just inside the dryer door. Now off to find replacment felts
By karen on Jan 8, 2009 | Reply
I wish that I had found this earlier. I have had the same grease marks for more than a year and knew it was the dryer, but thought it was the way the fins were attached. Thanks for the info. GE makes a drum that the whole thing turns instead of the back being stationary. Would that be helful for future dryers?
By LuAnn on Jan 21, 2009 | Reply
I too have had brown steaks on my light colored clothers for a year now! Some were a half inch long and others were up to 2″. I was told today by a repair man that it was the dryer. Clothes brush through the gaps in the drum seal. He didn’t mention replacing the seals. He hinted that the whole drum needed replace. I was considering buying a new dryer, but now after reading some of these posts, I may try to replace the seal. I’ve had to toss out SO many things!!
By denise on Aug 30, 2009 | Reply
THIS IS the best information!!! I was having this awful problem with brown streaks randomly on clothes when taken from the dryer. Well TODAY I had it with this problem I searched and found this information. I went down to the dryer with an old white t-shirt and did the test around the inside of the drum. Sure enough there it was…the brown stuff that caused the staining, and there was ALOT of it all around the whole openeing of the dryer(you have to reach inside with the cloth and kind of push the cloth inside of the tiny gap) you can feel the felt, just be careful the metal is sharp in places. Well my husband is going to take it apart as soon as he gets home and off to the local appliance store he will be first thing in the morning. THANK you so much for starting this discussion, it saved me from buying another dryer right at this time.
denise
By Dana on Sep 17, 2009 | Reply
We have been having a problem of brown/rusty spots on our clothes and sometimes blue stains. Not the streaking/crease you’ve pictured, but stains nonetheless…I am beyond frustrated. My hubby did the sock test and that was not the issue, so if anyone figures out the brown/rusty spot issue, please contact me as soon as possible.
By Judy Melville on Oct 11, 2009 | Reply
I have a Bosch Washer that is just over one year old. I started seeing small, 1/2 inch, brown spots on my nice uniform shirts about 6 months ago. I assumed I had done something wrong. The spots look like someone wore make up and it rubbed on the out side collar and lapels? This doesn’t make sense. Plus no one in my house wears foundation makeup? What’s the deal? It continues to happen. And, nothing gets it out. I put straight bleach right on the stain, it discolored the white, but the stain remained.
A mechanic was just here and he told me maybe the outside of my drum was having problems (which was not covered by the extended warranty) and I should do some cleansing washes with special front load soap. I did it twice. Ran two sets of towel through and then the nice shirts, got a bigger spot. Help
By Christina on Nov 9, 2009 | Reply
I’ve had this problem for a few months now. It started off with marks showing up on the clothes every once in awhile with maybe 2 items out of a whole load. This past month with every white/light load I did, the marks showed up and look exactly like the pic you posted! I’ve been reading it’s definitely the washer, the detergent, fabric softener, etc. So, the past month my husband and I have been trying it all, but these marks kept coming. Before resorting to using the laundromat, I did a test load the other night of old white t-shirts right-side-right in the washer and turned them inside out for the dryer. There were only marks on the inside of the shirts, so it had to be the dryer! But I didn’t know where to look until I found your post. Sure enough, I took one of those ruined white t-shirts and wiped around the inside in the cracks and the grey gunk was there!
THANK YOU! There seems to be a light at the end of my laundry frustrations!