Rock hard residue in soap dispenser

[naylorpd]

Hi, I’m in Azerbaijan and I have both:
Hotpoint Ariston Aqualtis AQLF9D 69 U (1 year old)
AEG Update 88840 (upwards of 5 years and going strong)

We use Arial soap powder (In Russian it’s called Chistota deluxe) and have medium hard water. I use a measure to put about 200-230ml of powder in every time. In both machines the drawer won’t take much more anyway.

The issue in both machines is that the soap drawers have a thin layer of soap powder that goes absolutely rock hard and seems to be impossible to get rid of. I’ve tried soaking in vinegar and even chipping out with a screwdriver, to no avail. Any ideas how to clean the drawers?

In the Aqualtis, I’d guess that one of the water inlet jets is a little blocked, because there’s always a little pile of powder left after the wash – always in the same place and quite hard. It’s pretty hard to get to the jet, any idea how to clean these? I’d guess that they have picked up some rock hard powder residue rather than just general hard water residue.

Thanks
Philip

[Martin]

Re: Rock hard residue in soap dispenser

Soap drawers when they get to that stage are impossible to successfully clean as the former shiny plastic surface gets corroded irreparably. The only solution is to replace the drawer and remember to rinse clean thereafter on a regular basis.

Sorry but I can’t help on the issue with Aqualtis.

[admin]

Re: Rock hard residue in soap dispenser

Hi

Also you are using TOO much soap powder 1/2 what you are using.

Bryan

[naylorpd]

Re: Rock hard residue in soap dispenser

Martin – I think this would mean pulling out to clean almost every time. Do people really do that? But thanks for the confirmation, I’d guessed I need to replace – or at least, have replacements available as it seems to take 3 months to get spares to Azerbaijan by official repair centres

Bryan – I checked both my soap packet and the online Ariel dosing guide:
http://www.ariel.co.uk/Products/DosingGuide.aspx
Both seem to suggest the quantities I am using are OK. The 200ml measure I’m using is apparently about 150g. Actually the online guide suggests even more for a large machine in a hard water area.

Many thanks
Philip

[Martin]

Re: Rock hard residue in soap dispenser

naylorpd wrote:Martin – I think this would mean pulling out to clean almost every time. Do people really do that?

No need, just a wipe will do. The point being not to leave detergent residue in the drawer to dry out and set. Once it does that corrosion begins to set in. So after each wash session, wipe the door rubber, glass porthole door, and detergent tray. Leave the drawer and porthole door slightly ajar to aid ventilation and prevent mould growth, then relax knowing you have done everything right!

[Author]

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