If you have recently noticed that one of your bra wires has gone missing in your washing machine, you might be wondering how to recover it.
Lost bra wires in your washing machine can cause all kinds of problems that could potentially damage your machine beyond repair.
If your washing machine has been noisy recently and you have noticed a missing bra wire, then there’s a good chance it’s stuck inside the machine and is catching on the drum.
Before you try and investigate or repair your washing machine it’s important that you make sure that it’s isolated from the electrical supply so you can work safely.
This is everything you can do to recover a bra wire from your washer:
Check inside the drum
The first place that you should check if a bra wire has gone missing during a wash cycle is inside the drum.
Because of the holes in the drum, it’s easy for a wire to get stuck inside one and this usually causes a scraping noise during the wash cycle.
If your machine has been making a metallic noise when spinning, then there’s a good chance that the bra wire has become stuck in the drum and is scraping on the heating element.
You can usually see the bra wire by shining a torch inside the drum and turning the inner drum slowly by hand.
Using a pair of pliers can help in retrieving the wire from the drum when you find it. You have to be careful not to snap it because it can fall into the outer drum which makes it harder to retrieve.
Remove the heating element
The next area that you’re likely to find a missing bra wire is behind the heating element which is located at the back of the drum.
You can remove the back cover from your machine and if you look down at the bottom of the drum you will see the heating element with two or three wires connected to it.
The nut and bolt in the centre can be loosened off to cause the seal to release on the heating element and then pull it out by using some pliers.
Once the heating element is out of the drum you might find the bra wire wrapped around it and if not, it might be further in.
You can shine a torch inside the heating element hole and look around to see if you can see the wire.
This is another area inside the machine which might be causing noise whilst the machine is spinning but it usually doesn’t cause any long-term damage.
It’s worth mentioning that if your machine has been tripping the electrics then it might be because the bra wire is wrapped around both the heating element and the drum at the same time.
Check the drain pump filter
A common problem that washing machines can develop is when they stop draining the water away which is usually caused by a blockage.
One of the things that can get blocked in your machine is a bra wire especially if it has snapped into smaller pieces.
Luckily it’s quite easy to drain off the water inside the drum and check the drain pump filter for a blockage.
You can often remove the kickplate from the bottom of the machine and unscrew the filter counterclockwise, so it comes out.
You can then look inside the pump housing for any pieces of the bra wire and remove it from your machine.
If your machine has had a bra wire stuck inside the pump for a while it can cause the pump to become damaged because the impeller overheats from trying to clear the blockage.
This will usually mean that the pump won’t be able to drain the water away even though you have removed the blockage.
It’s probably worth checking the water drain pipe at the same time as the filter because it’s common for objects to make their way through the pipe.
Look inside the dispenser hose
Finally, the last p[lace that you should check is the dispenser hose which is what connects the soap dispenser to the drum.
This will mean that you have to remove the lid from your machine and then you can unhook the pipe from the dispenser box.
Once the hose has been removed you can look down it all the way through to the drum and you should be able to see the bra wires stuck there.
Objects can get stuck in this pipe when your washing machine spins and it’s also common for lost socks to be found in this location.
If your washing machine is ever leaking from the soap drawer, then you should always start off by checking the soap dispenser pipe for any small items of clothing that might have gotten stuck.
