The filter at the bottom of the washing machine.....

Good for you, Georgiegirl14 - you made a profit!

Well it is turn that you learn something new every day. After reading this thread I thought I better take a look. Sure enough there was the filter and on opening it muddy water, gunk and a fifty pence piece. Here's to whiter whites from now on

I had the devil's own job to get the plate hiding the filter off. I had to pull like the devil and I thought its going to crack before it unclips itself , it came off eventually.

Filter??? My washing machine is 6 months old and have just checked the instructions - no mention of a filter at all! I do occasionally wipe out the bit in the seal where water/hairs, etc collect but it's definitely not a filter! Or is that what you are talking about?

Oh no completely forgot about this, I have emptied them on previous machines but only had this one about a year, going to check now ............

My very first washing machine, 40 odd years ago, was a Hotpoint and, a 'Friday afternoon' model if ever there was one. I am pretty sure there was no filter as, whenever I had to call out the engineer, there were baby socks caught in the drainage pipe. I wonder when the idea of filters caught on.

Oh dear, I didn't even know there was a filter at the bottom of the washing machine. Will have to find it and take a look.

I meant a blocked filter

I have been charged £90 for an engineer to check my machine as it was not working and all he found was a clocked filter so I regularly check it now.

My washing machine (Hotpoint) definitely has no filter. It's 13 years old and functions very well without one.

Do some machines not have filters? I can't find mine.

My current machine is similarly afflicted, feetle. Mind you, if you hold it the other way up..........

Your machine spins out of kilter
And your washing’s full of smears,
So you must locate the filter
Or your day will end in tears.

It’s a simple act to find it,
You just kneel as though in prayer
With your nose stuck in your armpit
And your bum up in the air.

You unscrew the little round thing
To release a flood of gunk,
Spewing out your long lost earring
And assorted mini-junk.

You'll be kneeling in a puddle
And your fingertips are black,
Don’t be getting in a fuddle
You must screw the darn thing back!

PS - the shape incorporated a certain amount of droop... most realistic.

My previous machine had a filter that you removed and brushed off any clinging hairs, threads etc. under the tap. Oddly, it was shaped like a wireframe representation of what the dictionary used to coyly call 'the male organ of generation'... I felt rather silly waving it about, I must say.

Only found the filters accidentally the other day after about 3 years when I has to pull it out ready for a new boiler to be fitted and the front panel at the bottom fell off ! Yes full of dog hair coins and gunge !

OMG! All these years & I never knew there was a filter that needed cleaning out. Just did it & I'm 55p richer! Not much else but it did smell nasty. I'll make it a regular event now.
It was behind a rectangular flap thing & it took about 3 minutes to do.
Thank you very much.

youtu.be/3L7ZB0bGs4o

re cleaning the condenser dryer filter - many dryers are replaced because they don't dry very well or at all- and this is just due to clogged up filter- takes a few minutes to solve.

The time has come. I am about to don rubber gloves, face mask etc and kneel before this long neglected machine and clean the filter. Since I have never done this before, I may be some time.

The fluff in the tumble dryer can be put out in a sting bag in Spring for the birds to help themselves for their nest.

We recently found that tumble dryers have 2 filters (from our local Sonsumer Magazine)- the 'obvious easy to reach one' you have to clear after each or every few wash/es- and an internal one- which are easier to reach in some machines than others. Apparently the major cause of failure and replacement is the internal filter not being cleared- so if you have a DH (lucky you) who is handy, get him to have a look at the instruction manual.

My filter in the tumble dryer needs emptying every week in the winter and it always reminds me of one of the characters in Dinner ladies who, when asked if she had any regrets, said she wished she had kept all the fluff she had collected in her tumble dryer, but I can't remember why.

I think you're meant to clean the fluff filter in a tumble dryer after every load, at least that's what I do. Someone told me ages ago that if you don't, it can become a fire hazard.

Now for the filter in the tumble dryer ( oh yes, they do have them!)

My washer doesn't have a filter, only an emergency drain pipe, so don't worry Maggymaybe. Maybe yours doesn't either!