Most washers that won't drain have a kinked drain hose, a pump filter packed with lint and small objects, or too many suds from the wrong detergent. Start behind the machine: straighten the hose and check the standpipe, then clean the pump filter if your washer has one.
First, get the water out without making a mess
A tub full of water is heavy and, after a hot cycle, can still be hot enough to scald. Give it time to cool before you reach in or open anything at the bottom of the machine.
Unplug the washer before any hands-on work. If water has already reached the floor near the outlet or the cord, switch off the washer's breaker at the panel and leave the plug alone.
On a top-loader you can bail the tub with a pitcher into a bucket. On a front-loader, don't open the door with water above the glass. Most front-loaders have a small drain tube next to the pump filter behind a lower panel, and that's the way to empty the tub (the filter guide on this site walks through it). Once the water is out, you can troubleshoot without fighting it.
1. A kinked or crushed drain hose
Check this first if the washer was recently moved or pushed back toward the wall. The ribbed gray or black hose on the back of the cabinet folds with almost no effort, and a single tight bend is enough to stop the pump.
Pull the washer out far enough to see the whole hose. Straighten any kinks, free it if it's pinched between the cabinet and the wall, and look for a section that's been flattened by the machine's feet. If the hose has a permanent crease, replace it; they're cheap and a kinked one will fold again in the same spot.
Unplug the washer and slide it out slowly so you don't stretch the water lines.
Follow the drain hose from the back of the washer to the standpipe or laundry sink.
Straighten bends, and replace the hose if it's cracked, flattened or permanently creased.
Plug back in and run Drain & Spin (or Spin Only) while you watch the standpipe.
2. The hose is pushed too far into the standpipe, or the standpipe is too high
Whirlpool wants the hose clipped into its U-shaped form and only about 4.5 in (11 cm) of it inside the standpipe. More than that and the end can jam against the pipe or sit in standing water. Whirlpool also gives a standpipe height range: 30 in (76 cm) to 96 in (244 cm) on its top-loader page, and 39 in (99 cm) to 96 in for its front-loaders. Above 96 in the pump can't push the water out properly, and some of it flows back into the tub.
Check the house drain while you're back there. If the standpipe overflows or the laundry sink fills during the drain, the washer is doing its job and the clog is in the home's plumbing. That's a job for a drain snake or a plumber, and no amount of work on the washer will fix it.
3. A clogged drain pump filter (most front-loaders)
Front-load washers from LG, Samsung, Whirlpool, Maytag, Bosch and others put a coin trap in front of the drain pump, usually behind a small door or kick panel at the bottom front. Lint, hair ties, coins, bra wires and baby socks collect there until water can barely get through. Samsung lists wet clothes at the end of the cycle, longer cycle times and poor spinning as signs that this filter needs attention.
Plan on 15 to 20 minutes, a shallow pan and a few towels. Drain the residual water through the small hose first, then turn the filter counterclockwise, pull out what's caught in it, rinse it, and turn it back in until it's tight. A filter that isn't fully seated will leak, so check for drips on the next cycle. Many top-load washers don't have a filter you can reach, so check your manual before you go looking.
4. Too many suds
Foam leaves the pump pulling air instead of water. LG says heavy suds can trigger its OE drain code this way, and several brands pause the cycle and show a suds code such as Sud or Sd.
Use only HE detergent in a high-efficiency washer, and measure it instead of pouring to the top line. If the tub is full of foam right now, cancel the cycle, let the suds settle for a while, then run a rinse with no detergent before trying another drain.
5. Something stuck in the pump or the drain path
Small items can slip past the drum and lodge in the pump housing or the internal hose between tub and pump. On washers with a filter, cleaning the filter usually finds them. On top-loaders without one, a sock or a face mask can sit right in the pump inlet.
Listen during a Drain & Spin. A pump that hums but moves no water is often jammed. A rattle or grinding sound means something hard is spinning around inside it. Getting to the pump on a top-loader usually means removing a cabinet panel, so if you're not comfortable doing that with the washer unplugged, call a technician.
6. A failed drain pump
If the hose is clear, the filter is clean and there's no foam, the pump itself is the likely culprit. The sound test is the quickest clue: steady humming with no water moving points to a jam or a seized pump, while complete silence during the drain step points to a pump that isn't running at all, or to its wiring or the control.
Replacing a drain pump is a common repair, but it involves electrical connectors and disassembly. A technician can also test whether the pump is getting power, which tells you whether the pump or the control is at fault before you buy parts.
Drain error codes by brand
Most washers with a digital display will throw a code when draining takes too long. LG shows OE. Samsung shows 5C (some models show 5E, SE or nd). Whirlpool and Maytag use F9E1, and older Whirlpool front-loaders may show F21. GE front-loaders use E30 for a washer that won't drain and E31 for one that drains too slowly, and GE top-loaders show Po for a slow drain. Frigidaire front-loaders show E21 or EF1, Bosch shows E18 or F18 (E:36 on newer models), Haier portables show E1, and Hotpoint UK models show F05.
The causes behind all of these are the ones above. Look up your exact code on this site for brand-specific steps, then work through the hose, the standpipe, the filter and the suds before suspecting the pump.
When to call a professional
Book a technician if the pump is silent during the drain step, if it hums with the filter and hose clear, or if the code keeps coming back after you've cleaned everything. If the house drain is backing up, call a plumber instead, because the blockage is in the house plumbing.
Parts involved
Error codes for this problem
- OEWater won't drainLG
- 5CWasher is not drainingSamsung
- F9 E1Washer is taking too long to drainAmana
- F9E1Washer is taking too long to drainMaytag
- F9E1Long drain timeWhirlpool
- F21Drain problemAmana
- F21Drain problem (older front-loaders)Whirlpool
- PoSlow drain (top-load)GE
- E21Washer is not draining properlyElectrolux
- E21Washer is draining too slowlyFrigidaire
- EF1Drain pump is cloggedFrigidaire
- E18 / F18Washer is not drainingBosch
- F05Not draining: blocked pump filter or waste hoseHotpoint (UK)
- E1Washer isn't drainingHaier