My Kenmore heavy duty tumble washer is leaving a light brown stain on white or light clothes. It is likely staining dark clothes but of course they are too dark to see a light stain. It is definitely coming from the washer. The machine is 5 years old. Can a small amount of lubricant or oil be leaking into the drum?

It sounds like it might be leaving mold deposits. Try running a cycle with no clothes in it, hot, with a cup of bleach. If the stains are more brown than black, though, that would be rust in the pipes.

I would seriously consider getting a newer machine. A brown stain could be rust, or an oil leak. Either way it probably is not worth putting any money into. If this helps, please rate my answer. Thank you.

Check that the dispenser is clean, it may be gunged up with black gunge, use soda crystals and put machine on hottest wash. If all is clean it could be down to seal gone in drum letting grease into system. Good luck, let me know how it goes.
John

This is from not enough HOT loads.

Fatty deposits gather between the basket and tub during COLD washes.

Then they are being released in large numbers when you do your whites on HOT.

It is recommended to do 1 HOT load per week.

Do an empty load with some degreaser added (like Goo-Gone) on the fullest/hottest setting you have.

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the dark stains are caused by mold build up on the boot of the washer, the e70 may be a pump error. you need to wet a cloth with bleach and then wipe of the mold builldup on the boot, this should solve that problem.

The brown stains are likely coming from the felt drum seal. The OEM adhesive is tar based - and after time and use - breaks down.

You'll need a new felt seal - and the adhesive that is used should be silicone based... eliminating the brown streaks.

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hi is the machine noisy on spin cycle if so ur bearings have gone

I have been getting brown stains in the shape of a line on items of clothing washed in my Whirlpool duet washer. I can not get these stains out with anything and they are ruining numerous items of clothing. I have no idea what is causing them - I have manually cleaned the inside of the washer. same thing here. I have been having this problem for a few weeks, cant wash anything white without ruining it.

I have the same prblem

This often is called "lint" but is really a "whiting" left by un-dissolved soap and can be seen at it's worst on dark colored clothes. This is made worse in a colder climate where the cold water entering the washer is much colder than normal. Things that can effect the quality of the finished washed products.
Too much soap: ( we have a test for this further down the page ) If you follow the manufactures instructions on the box, then chances are you ARE using too much soap. They like to sell you their product, I find cutting usage in 1/2 of what the box says will still wash good and also cut your chances of getting "whiting" on your clothes.