Hi all, over the last couple of years we have noticed small holes showing up in our clothes, mostly t-shirts and other light items.

I have a whirlpool top load washer that is about 10 years old with an agitator, after looking into it on the web it appears a lot of people have this issue.

My question is this; is there any way to correct the problem?, otherwise the matching washer and dryer work and work well

It's like my grandmother used to say, "Darn those socks!"

I'm just curious, what kind of soap/detergent/pods/etc do you use? Do you do the 'less is more' approach, or not? Could you be overloading your washing machine, perhaps? How long does your washing cycle run? Do you have any adjustments or settings to make it a less intensive wash? I'm just throwing out some ideas. If it helps (why would it) I too, use a 10 year old Whirlpool, and have none of your problems as you describe them.

H&K-Guy

The wife may overload it, when i wash i try not to. We use arm& hammer or tide or all free and clear, which ever has a sell going on. Bleach the whites and oxi clean as needed.
I know over loading can cause issues as well as underloaded, i try to have consistent loads.
It does have a gental cycle, however i used this machine for 5+ years before i met the wife and never had this issue.

Are you sure it's the washer? I say this because my dryer started to eat my clothes just before it went out.

The dryer tub was letting the clothes get between the moving tub and the dryer door housing.

If the dryer is making a slight scraping sound, that might be your problem.


ARman

Make sure you put the soap in first and mix it up and then add the clothes.

If the soap is still concentrated, it will get on the clothes and eat holes.

Battery acid will also do that. Move an old battery? Throw clothes in the hamper? Suddenly they get small holes in them.

Its mostly under shirts so don't think its batt acid, could be the soap, however the way i usually add it is taking the cap with soap in it and washing it out by the water coming in at the start of the load

I blame mine on my wife's bra strap hooks, been so long I have no evidence it isn't.

Detergent will not holes in your clothes. And you should load detergent then clothes then start the machine to fill. Dissolving your detergent first and then pushing the clothes into the water goes back to the days of wringer washers and soap flakes.

Holes generally come from chemical action, bleach usually but acids can do it as well. I honestly don't think your washer is the culprit.

Hmmm... We sometimes get small holes in our clothes. I wonder if it's the washer or dryer?

At first we thought it was the cats, but they denied it.

My mom had this issue and it turned out that the dryer had a burr in it.

So here's my theory:
If it's not a burr in either the washer or dryer it may be brass/metal zipper pulls causing the holes. I de-horned the corners of all the zipper pulls on my shorts. So far, so good. Gonna do same with all zipper pulls with sharp edges.

THANK YOU JESUS!!!!!
I have the same problem, but I thought it was me cramming all my tee shirts in the drawer and pinching the top ones when I closed the drawer!!
We hang out our clothes (when prudent) so its not the dryer.
Why doesn't this happen to any other garments?? (dress shirts, wife's' blouses, dress pants)
This thread will be one I'll follow.

We had the same problem. Was the washer. Turns out the agitator (the thing in the middle of the tub) was loose. You could move it up and down. Removed the bolt in the center of the agitator and cleaned underneath and added a washer under the bolt. Agitator is tight again and no more holes.

If it's just the undershirts, my guess would be the bleach. Too much of it will do that.

Not sure what is causing your problem but I will say this. Since switching to no agitator front load washers about 15 years ago I have noticed that my clothes last a lot longer without the wear and tear of the agitator.

Its not just whites, but it is mostly t shirt materials.
Agitator is a little loose, when i get home Friday I'll pull it apart and inspect it and reinstall, see if it can be tightned up a bit.

I'm a bit lazy in the laundry department. So I routinely over load the washing machine. Holes are common when I have done this. Lighten the load and your problem should disappear.

I have a top loading Hotpoint and I got holes...like pencil size diameter..when I loaded the clothes and water and then the powdered Tide last.

Now I add the soap to the water as it fills and stir it up and then add the clothes. No more problems.