What Gets Hair Out of a Washing Machine?

Fate of Hair

• When washing a hair-covered item in the washing machine, the hair suffers one of four fates. Some of the hair runs down the drain with the wash and rinse water, leaving your washing machine. Some of it sticks to the wet laundry, and goes with it to the dryer. Hair goes into the washing machine's filter, which you need to remove manually by pulling it from the machine and plucking off the hair with your fingers. Hair that fails to wash away, cling to clothes or goes into the filter remains loose in the washer's drum.

Lint Trap

• One way to remove excess hair from a washing machine's drum involves washing a load of rags. The remaining hair typically sticks to the clean wet rags. The hair moves with the wet rags to the dryer. In the dryer, the hair comes off the rags during the drying process and goes into the dryer's lint trap. When removing hair in this way, clean the dryer's lint trap before and after drying the rags.

Manual Removal

• If you want to remove the hair without washing a load of towels, you can manually do this using a damp paper towel. Before removing the hair, unplug the dryer from the electrical source. Wipe the drum with the damp paper towel, to pick up any loose hair, and throw the paper towel away.

Lint Balls

• Some manufacturers sell gadgets like the "Lint Grabbing Wash Ball," which you add to the wash load. During the wash, the ball reportedly attracts and collects hair instead of allowing it to cling to your laundry or washer drum. These small balls, made from polyester microfiber, attract shredded tissue paper, hair and other loose fiber debris like a magnet. After using the balls, rinse them under water to remove the collected hair before adding to another wash load.