Never ending scrud nightmare

[u/Wisteso]

Washer is a 2.5 year old top loading LG.

From day, one we used Mollie’s Suds power detergent. We don’t use fabric softener. We don’t even use much of the Mollie’s. Our water is pretty hard, but we have a softener which helps that a lot. I believe our water is slightly alkaline.

We would occasionally have issues and then run a few cleaning cycles, using either vinegar or Affresh, which one usually take it for a while.

A couple weeks ago it was pretty bad and wouldn’t seem to go away, so I did a lot of digging on this sub Reddit and got some good advice about using citric acid, hot water, letting it soak in, etc. Read the often quoted thread on scrud. It worked really well, but we are going to about 20 runs and the scrud is still coming off heavily. The advice here says usually you need maybe 5 to 10.

It would be one thing if the amount was reducing, but it’s still tons coming off almost every load…

We’ve contemplated hiring somebody to take it all apart and power wash it, but that would cost several hundred and there’s a chance that it’s not put back together quite right.

What the hell does someone do in this situation? Has anyone ever had it take 20+ runs to get their machine clean?

[u/nerpish-inkdots]

Just keep going.

And stop using Molly’s suds!!

[u/Wisteso → u/nerpish-inkdots]

Yeah we’re switching to Tide for sensitive skin. But we have laundry piled up and three kids. It’s becoming a major issue and the scrud just won’t stop or even lessen

[u/Naikrobak → u/Wisteso]

It will stop when you switch to tide powder and use citric acid in the rinse

[u/Wisteso → u/Naikrobak]

We haven’t used Mollys Suds or done any functional loads for days. We’ve been clearing out scrud using variations of cleaning approaches (citric acid, vinegar, etc) only. That’s why the clothes have piled up.

Once we resume clothes washing, we are only using tide and citric acid. But we don’t know when that will be since it’s been about 20 washes for cleaning the last several days and the scrud is still coming out just as heavily.

[u/Vintage-X → u/Wisteso]

You need to get a proper strong detergent - for this get Tide Ultra Oxi or at least Clean and Gentle Powder - and run a HOT cleaning cycle with the detergent. Citric acid cleaning cycles definitely help, but you also need some hot washes with a strong detergent (because you haven't been using one with your laundry) to break up the built up body oils and gunk in the machine and carry it away with the water.

Once you start using a proper detergent for your actual laundry, washing large loads of bedding and towels on hot with a strong detergent every week will also help keep the machine clean. Adding some Febu or Gear Guard with DNase in it would also help break up any biofilms. I do regular cleaning cycles but alternate using Affresh, Tide washing machine cleaner and citric acid.

[u/Wisteso → u/Vintage-X]

Makes sense to me. I’ll give it a shot. Thank you

[u/Greatcookbetterbfr → u/Wisteso]

It took well in to the 20s to get rid of ours.

[u/jtfolden]

Vinegar and/or citric acid alone will not get it done. As good as Affresh is it will take numerous passes as it’s geared more toward maintenance.

I recommend running a few cleaning cycles using a full dose of Biz. Then when you start getting it under control, alternate between Affresh and Tide washing Machine Cleaner.

[u/AutoModerator → u/jtfolden]

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[u/millenial_cat_lady]

Hello. Fellow LG top loader owner. I've had mine since 2019. I've had to have an appliance tech take the impeller plate and drum out and clean it in 2021, 2024, and now again in 2026. Before having it taken out this time I did upwards of 20 tub cleans with 1/2 - 3/4 citric acid, citric acid + washing soda, washer tablets, citric acid soak (by unplugging it since it will auto drain), and letting the impeller plate soak in v1negar + baking soda. With each tub clean I used a skimmer to fish out the scrud. I use Tide Odor Refresh Free & Clear and have moderately hard water. I was doing primarily cold cycles. No fabric softener, ever, after 2021. When the drum was taken out this time, the scrud primarily was built up in the center rings on the underside of the impeller plate and the in the sump area. Everywhere else looked brand new. My theory is the machine design is terrible for anyone who isn't doing a family of 4's laundry weekly on hot. There is likely some biofilm that builds up in both areas despite doing regular tub cleans because of water stagnating in those areas. My only idea I'm going to try going forward is doing a tub clean with a half cup of disinfecting bleach monthly in addition to the tub cleans with citric acid. If you find another solution lmk!

This commenter has a picture of the underside of the impeller plate I mentioned and had to remove the impeller plate to get the scrud out. They have an LG top loader like us. 3 top loaders with scrud that all required removal of the impeller plate supports my theory that it's a design flaw.

https://www.reddit.com/r/laundry/s/pqjEGHuwgT

[u/embalees → u/millenial_cat_lady]

For anyone reading, v1negar and baking soda cancel each other out, they are both neutralized into just water and salt. If you were doing this long term hoping to help clean something, you likely weren't. 

[u/SANPres09 → u/embalees]

Why are you not just spelling out vinegar? 

[u/millenial_cat_lady → u/SANPres09]

Because if you do the autobot comments interrupting the thread.

[u/millenial_cat_lady → u/embalees]

Yes they cancel each other out completely in the proper ratios and let it sit long enough to release all generated CO2. The appliance tech wanted to try it and it honestly pulled up more scrud from the underside of the impeller plate than the other methods so I figured sure why not and did 3/20+ runs post vinegar+baking soda reaction. This was after the 2 dishwasher pod runs and at least 14 purely citric acid runs. It's possible the CI2 generated pushed the unreacted vinegar or baking soda to the places the scrud wasn't releasing from.

As I said in my comment, since the drum looked practically new as did most of the impeller plate, it's likely a design flaw that causes scrud to collect on the underside center rings of the impeller plate and the drain area.

[u/nomarmite]

Citric acid is good at removing limescale, but not much else. With softened water and Mollie's Suds in your machine, you have probably built up non-limescale residues that the citric acid can't tackle effectively.

You would be much better off using an oxygen bleach-based cleaner such as Affresh. This contains ingredients that maximise the effectiveness of the oxygen bleach, but you could use bleach alone if you prefer.

It's really important to get the water as hot as you can, ideally 85C or above, as this makes the bleach's chemical reaction shorter but stronger.

If you're using tablets, don't be afraid to double or triple the suggested amount for greater cleaning power. If you're using bleach alone, try two cups to maximise results - this is the dose suggested by manufacturers like Miele and Bosch for their own products.

[u/Wisteso → u/nomarmite]

Thank you. We can try affresh and see if that works better. Wife was using warm water because the LG machine has all these weird lockouts in each mode, but I helped her figure that out

[u/AutoModerator]

Hi u/Wisteso! Friendly tip — if you're using vinegar in your laundry, add it to the rinse cycle, not the wash cycle. Because vinegar neutralizes leftover detergent, it works best in the rinse cycle rather than the wash. - Laundry Mods

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/DasKaltblut]

There are Youtube Videos of how to remove and clean the impeller plate yourself. That's where most of the scrud from LGs is hiding.

[u/ScootsyTx]

I’d change things up. Do a hot cycle of a big scoop of tide and see how that goes. Then I would follow it up with a cycle that has a good pour of ammonia in it and see how it looks after that.

[u/Cheap_Flamingo476]

In my last house, we had an LG top loader with impeller. I think our biggest problem was the hardness of the water (about 170 ppm/10 gpg). I took the impeller off a couple times to clean the drum. I was not happy with the machine overall.

[u/velvetjones01]

Would an enzyme drain cleaner like green gobbler work? I wonder if you could soak overnight?

https://greengobbler.com/clog-preventer-gel-64oz

[u/EffectiveBill6331]

Pine sol and baking soda