How to remove small items caught behind the drum from a washing machine

Sometimes after washing you may notice that one sock, handkerchief or other small item is missing. This is usually attributed to one’s own absent-mindedness, but often small clothes and objects can simply fall behind the drum of the machine. This is fraught with subsequent vibration, extraneous noise during washing, and even poor drainage of water. Fortunately, you can retrieve things lost in the machine yourself without calling a technician.

Tools:

• Phillips and regular screwdriver;
  
• 8 or 10 mm cap head depending on the type of washer;
  
• long medical clip or tweezers;
  
• flashlight.

Cleaning the drum

The most common problem is a bra brush getting stuck in the drum grille. Such a loss creates a lot of trouble. It slows down the machine, which is accompanied by a hum when washing. To pull it out, you need to examine each hole in the drum with a flashlight.

Usually the brush does not fall all the way through and partially sticks out, so you can pick it up with your fingers. Nails, paper clips, screws, and earrings that get into the machine often get stuck in these holes.

You can also detect tightened clothing by moving the rubber cuff between the loading hatch and the drum.

It is bent by hand or with a flat-head screwdriver, after which part of the space behind the centrifuge opens. In such places you can find socks, nose caps, and thin shawls.

If it was not possible to find the items lost in the machine, then the washing machine needs to be moved away from the wall to gain access to its back side.

Use a Phillips screwdriver to remove the back cover. Behind it, at the very bottom of the drum part, there is a heating element.

It can be recognized by two wires. The wires need to be removed from the chips, remembering their location, and then unscrew the 2 mounting bolts with a head. The released heating element is pulled towards itself. Through the window that opens, you can use tweezers to remove small clothes accumulated behind the drum.

It happens that it is wound directly onto the spiral of the heating element. You need to rotate the drum, highlighting the mounting hole for the heater. If there are stuck objects in the upper part of the machine, then from the movement of the drum they will fall down to the inspection hatch.


You can also examine the space under the drum from the bottom of the machine. It is laid on its side, after which its cover is removed. Behind it there is a pipe leading to the drain pump.

If you pull out the pipe, you can also get a fairly large inspection window.

The proposed methods for servicing washing machines allow you to reach objects pulled under the drum using household tools. It's completely safe. Professional craftsmen use the same methods. Naturally, before disassembling or moving the machine, you need to unplug it and turn off the water.

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