Why are soap suds coming up out of my washing machine drain pipe?

[Jadnashua]

Modern WMs, especially front loading ones, tend to pump water faster than the older, top-loader ones. And, make sure you're using the appropriate amount and type of detergent...too much is a waste, and is the usual reason for too many suds.

 

[Plumber69]

See it all the time. 1 1/2 pipe can't handle the new washers

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Harry Sophman]

See it all the time. 1 1/2 pipe can't handle the new washers

Mine makes suds in the washer w/out soap. First noticed suds coming from drainpipe yesterday. Started expirementing. 2 clean hand towels suds like a bubble bath. Plain water has suds, not as much with a few towels but suds. Did all the things posted. Vinegar. Several loads with nothing, wasting gallons of hot water. Ran hot water in every sink and tub in the house. Got up this am, washed the two hand towels that have been washed 10 times at least SUDS at the end of wash cycle, no soap of any kind. Every things is new. Remod laundry room 4 months ago. Plummer replaced everything. Appliance Co hooked everything up. All new. Everything was fine until yesterday. I'd like to say our pipe that comes thru the roof (squirrels) but it drains fine except a large load. We had foaming at the down pipe entrance. That said. The suds are made in the washer, plain water, new commercial speed queen top load. Top of the line. Lived here 20 years no issues. Eve put water in a blender to see if we had water issues.
I've done everything mentioned.
HELP

 

[Lee Hamilton]

Mine makes suds in the washer w/out soap. First noticed suds coming from drainpipe yesterday. Started expirementing. 2 clean hand towels suds like a bubble bath. Plain water has suds, not as much with a few towels but suds. Did all the things posted. Vinegar. Several loads with nothing, wasting gallons of hot water. Ran hot water in every sink and tub in the house. Got up this am, washed the two hand towels that have been washed 10 times at least SUDS at the end of wash cycle, no soap of any kind. Every things is new. Remod laundry room 4 months ago. Plummer replaced everything. Appliance Co hooked everything up. All new. Everything was fine until yesterday. I'd like to say our pipe that comes thru the roof (squirrels) but it drains fine except a large load. We had foaming at the down pipe entrance. That said. The suds are made in the washer, plain water, new commercial speed queen top load. Top of the line. Lived here 20 years no issues. Eve put water in a blender to see if we had water issues.
I've done everything mentioned.
HELP

Yes, we got a new Speed Queen washer and have been dealing with it ever since. We use the HE detergent, the recommended amount. Hubby has made several changes to the hose system to try to get it to stop. We thought we had it fixed by creating a longer pipe for it to drain and that helped but did not stop it completely. The Whirlpool front loader never had this problem but I hated it too because it really didn't clean the clothes well.

 

[Peachy]

Hi,
Just got rid of broken maytag and got a speed queen. I am new to speed queen and was really happy until it started foaming like crazy out of the standpipe. After reading the installation manuel myself found that the people I paid to install it and purchased it from did not put the standpipe adapter on the drain pipe. So, I went by and I got one from them and put in on the drain hose myself. So far it is not foaming, I live on a slab with 60 year old pipes and by doing much research looks like maybe bc of the high pressure coming out of the machine when it spins is causing the foam problem. My question is do I need to worry about using the standpipe adapter bc it completely fills in the gap around the drain hose hole or is there supposed to be a gap for air around the drain hose. Thanks so much for any feedback. I am mom trying to do this myself.

 

[Reach4]

My question is do I need to worry about using the standpipe adapter bc it completely fills in the gap around the drain hose hole or is there supposed to be a gap for air around the drain hose.

I did not know what a stand pipe adapter was, but looked it up. Interesting item. From what I read, the rings have staggered gaps that allow enough air for the job.

Speed Queen #36878 Washer ADAPTER STANDPIPE - Commercial Speed Queen Laundry Parts

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[Wired]

Thank you guys/girls so much! I was freaking because I had soap suds coming out of the drain from my brand new Speed Queen washer. The God's of Google brought me here and with some persistence I found a "stand pipe adapter". Though, everyone at Home Despot and the plumber I spoke to had no idea WTH I was talking about. The guy who sold me the washer told me it should have come with the house and that they don't supply them (I think he didn't even understand what it was). I received mine this week and voila no more damn soap suds!!! I know this is an old thread but I'm so happy it's here!

 

[Linda Morris]

I had a similar issue with my 2019 Speed Queen. To make a long story short the root cause is the Eco/Normal cycle on the machine. In this cycle the machine does a spray rinse as opposed to doing a tub fill rinse. Needless to say this creates lots of soap bubbles. My home has very good water pressure so that may make things worse. That said all the other cycles work perfectly. The appliance guy ran lots of water down the drain but he never put soap in so he missed it. I had the drain snaked but no issues there. For me, this only happens with the Eco cycle. I wrote to Speed Queen they said they would pass the info on. I called the appliance repair and they were unaware of the difference in the Eco cycle. Hope this helps someone else.

 

[SiSterfiSter]

I had a similar issue with my 2019 Speed Queen. To make a long story short the root cause is the Eco/Normal cycle on the machine. In this cycle the machine does a spray rinse as opposed to doing a tub fill rinse. Needless to say this creates lots of soap bubbles. My home has very good water pressure so that may make things worse. That said all the other cycles work perfectly. The appliance guy ran lots of water down the drain but he never put soap in so he missed it. I had the drain snaked but no issues there. For me, this only happens with the Eco cycle. I wrote to Speed Queen they said they would pass the info on. I called the appliance repair and they were unaware of the difference in the Eco cycle. Hope this helps someone else.

I am a new proud owner of a TC5 speedqueen and I too was having issues with the suds coming up from the drain. I noticed that it only occurs when I DO NOT use the deep fill cycle. I'm guessing that it doesn't use enough water to properly rinse. Mystery solved! Your post just reassured me.

 

[Mike Price Builder LLC]

Yes, we got a new Speed Queen washer and have been dealing with it ever since. We use the HE detergent, the recommended amount. Hubby has made several changes to the hose system to try to get it to stop. We thought we had it fixed by creating a longer pipe for it to drain and that helped but did not stop it completely. The Whirlpool front loader never had this problem but I hated it too because it really didn't clean the clothes well.

I had the same issue, found this on the speed queen website

How to get rid of suds.​

If you see suds, a quick and simple way to eliminate them is to throw a capful of liquid fabric softener into the wash and run an additional rinse cycle. Vinegar will work as well.

Use these tips and save yourself from accidentally recreating a funny movie scene.

 

[Mike Price Builder LLC]

I am a new proud owner of a TC5 speedqueen and I too was having issues with the suds coming up from the drain. I noticed that it only occurs when I DO NOT use the deep fill cycle. I'm guessing that it doesn't use enough water to properly rinse. Mystery solved! Your post just reassured me.

How to get rid of suds.​

If you see suds, a quick and simple way to eliminate them is to throw a capful of liquid fabric softener into the wash and run an additional rinse cycle. Vinegar will work as well.

Use these tips and save yourself from accidentally recreating a funny movie scene.

 

[Eknight]

I know this is a very old thread, but it helped me immensely! I am a maintenance director at a new senior living community. I have 24 Speed Queen washers. I’m often stumped with the sudsing standpipe issues and of course have tried snaking and all that and scratched my head. I’m also one of those guys that has a hard time throwing things away. So I was floored when I saw that odd rubber thingy talked about here. The installers obviously didn’t think they needed them and they were thrown in a box with other stuff. Many times I’ve looked at them and almost tossed them not knowing what they were for. Good thing I’m a packrat…well.. in this instance! Problem solved!