Excessive foam: a more serious problem than it appears
Excessive foam is far more than a cosmetic issue. Too much foam prevents proper rinsing, leaving detergent residue on laundry that can cause skin irritation, bad odour and fibre damage. It can also damage the machinery and cause water leaks.
Impacts
- Laundry with detergent residue that irritates the skin
- Bad odour from detergent that has not rinsed away
- Breakdowns in the machinery (sensors, drain pumps)
- Water leaks and safety issues
- Higher water consumption due to extra rinse cycles
- Dissatisfied users re-running the rinse
Causes
Detergent over-dosing
The most common cause. The dosing system delivers more product than required, producing foam that cannot be rinsed out.
Wrong detergent for the machine
Using high-foam domestic detergents in high-efficiency automatic machines triggers problems.
Very soft water
Detergents foam more in soft water. The dose must be adjusted downwards.
Residue build-up inside the machine
Deposits in the drum and pipework reactivate with each wash, adding extra foam.
Very small laundry loads
Light loads with standard dosing result in too much detergent for the load size.
Solutions
Calibrate the dosing system
Adjust the pumps downwards. Use a measuring cylinder to verify the exact volume per cycle.
Use low-foam Biogold
Enzymatic detergent formulated with controlled foam, compatible with high-efficiency machines.
Adjust for water hardness
Measure hardness and configure accordingly. Soft water = less detergent.
Cleaning with Machine Clean
Empty high-temperature cycles to remove built-up residue.
Load-proportional dosing
On sensor-equipped machines, enable dosing proportional to laundry weight.
Recommended products
Preventive protocol
- Standardise the entire range on Instaquim low-foam formulations
- Measuring-cylinder test every 30 days, logging the readings
- Request a water-hardness analysis from the council and adjust dosing
- Run a Machine Clean descaling cycle every Sunday night
- Consider investing in a telemetry system to monitor dosing remotely
- Place a visual card next to each machine to flag foam incidents
Does your dosing system need recalibration?
Our Technical Service can visit your site to audit and optimise it.