Customer Questions and Answers for Washer Agitator Assembly by Whirlpool

Hello Mike, This isn't grease but old spoiled fabric softener. The agitator needs to be removed and thoroughly cleaned. You see, most folks don't realize that fabric softener is made of 80% to 90% animal fat. The remaining content is colorings and perfumes to mask its' decomposition. This means that it will spoil. If you want to try an experiment, put a drip of fabric softener on top of the dryer. Look at it every day. It will start out blue and slowly turn green, then yellow, then brown, and eventually black. Somewhere between the yellow and black stages a chunk will break loose and get into the wash. Being animal fat, it will stain clothing just like grease will. This is why the manufacturer recommends to dilute the softener with hot water before putting the softener into the dispenser. This prevents the "clinging" of the softener from making the big mess that seems to exist in most homes.