Before you begin. This procedure is general reference information, not professional advice. Equipment varies by manufacturer, model, and year. Always follow the documentation supplied with your equipment — where it differs from this page, follow the manufacturer. Verify that you have the tools, the working conditions, and the ability to do this task safely. If anything is unclear, if the equipment is damaged, or if the task exceeds your experience, stop and use a qualified professional. You are responsible for your own safety and for the outcome. This site accepts no liability for any loss, damage, or injury arising from the use of this information.
Specifications marked unverified could not be traced to a manufacturer source. Do not rely on them — obtain the value from your equipment documentation.
Almost every front-load washing machine has a filter in front of the drain pump, behind a small panel at the bottom of the machine. It catches the coins, hair clips, buttons and underwire that come out of pockets, along with a surprising quantity of lint. Most owners never open it, and the first they hear of it is a machine that will not drain, a drain error code, or a smell that will not shift.
The job itself is easy and needs no tools. The part people get wrong is the water: there is more of it behind that panel than anyone expects, and it arrives on the kitchen floor if you unscrew the filter before you drain the hose. This page puts the draining first for that reason. It does not print a single cleaning interval or a single release direction, because the two manufacturers checked here disagree about the first and models differ on the second.
| Item | Note |
|---|---|
| Flat container | A flat tray is low enough to go below the filter. |
| Towels | More water comes out than you expect. |
| Soft brush | For the mesh of the filter. |
| Flashlight optional | The opening for the filter is a dark space. |
| Flat tool optional | Only if the access panel needs a lever to open. |
Estimated 2 min
DISCONNECT THE WASHING MACHINE FROM THE ELECTRICAL SUPPLY BEFORE YOU OPEN THE PANEL.
Contact with the supply can give you an electric shock.
PUT A FLAT CONTAINER AND A TOWEL BELOW THE FILTER BEFORE YOU OPEN IT.
Water flows out of the filter and onto the floor.
Estimated 2 min
Estimated 4 min to 7 min
MAKE SURE THAT THE WATER IN THE DRUM IS COOL BEFORE YOU OPEN THE FILTER.
Water from a recent program can burn your skin.
Estimated 5 min
No tier-1 source was found for this value. Take it from the documentation supplied with your equipment.
No tier-1 source was found for this value. Take it from the documentation supplied with your equipment.
EXAMINE THE FILTER BEFORE YOU PUT YOUR HAND INTO IT.
Sharp items collect in the filter. These can cut your hand.
Estimated 2 min
MAKE SURE THAT THE FILTER IS FULLY IN ITS POSITION BEFORE YOU START A PROGRAM.
A loose filter can let water onto the floor.
Estimated 3 min
This page uses one term for each item and holds it throughout, as ASD-STE100 requires. Equipment sellers and other guides use the names below for the same parts.
Stop if the washing machine has no access panel at the lower front. A top-load machine usually has no drain pump filter. The documentation for your model tells you which type you have.
Stop if water comes from the machine while no program runs. Stop if the filter or its opening has damage. Speak to an appliance technician.
Stop if the machine reports a drain fault after this procedure. A blockage in the drain hose or in the pump is not part of this procedure. Do not open the cabinet of the machine.
The two manufacturer sources this page rests on disagree, so both are printed rather than averaged. LG recommends cleaning the drain pump filter monthly. Whirlpool says every few months, or as needed depending on how much lint and debris builds up. Follow your own manual, and clean it straight away if the machine starts draining slowly or throws a drain error.
LG and Whirlpool both describe a counterclockwise turn to release the filter on their front-load machines, and clockwise to lock it again. That is not a universal rule across every brand and model, which is why this page tells you to check your own documentation rather than printing one direction as fact. Turn it slowly either way: the filter should start to weep water before it comes free, and that is your cue that it is releasing.
Because the filter sits below the level of the drum and the sump holds water permanently. That is normal, not a fault. Draining through the small hose first, into a flat tray, gets most of it out under control. If your model has no drain hose behind the panel, expect all of it to arrive at once and lay down more towels than you think you need.
Yes. The accessible drain pump filter is essentially a front-load and washer-dryer-combo feature. LG says so explicitly for its own range. Most top-loaders handle debris differently and have no user-serviceable filter at the front.
Lint above all, but also coins, buttons, hair clips, small toys, and the underwire from bras, which is the one that most often jams a pump. Anything small enough to leave a pocket and heavy enough to sink ends up in the filter housing. That is exactly what it is for.
Often, yes: a filter packed with lint is one of the most common causes of a machine that fills but will not empty. If the filter was clear, or the fault comes back quickly, the blockage is further along in the drain hose or the pump itself. That is where this page stops and an appliance technician starts.
Every specification on this page is traced to one of these sources. Tier 1 is a manufacturer document, a published standard, or a government safety authority. See Standards for the full tiering rule.
Current version 1 · updated 2026-07-29 · next review due 2027-07-29
Corrections to this page are listed in the public corrections log. Reports that are credible and not yet verified are listed in the public errata register, and an open one renders above the step it concerns.
Found an error? A correction with a manufacturer source is applied and logged publicly. You can also write to corrections@fixchecklist.com.
Every step above carries its own report control, which tags the report with that step so a correction reaches the right place. For anything about the procedure as a whole — the order of the sections, a step that is missing, something that did not match your equipment — use this: report something about this whole procedure.