the screw key for waste exit to washing machine

Its not an Allan key but looks like its an allan key, instead the head is a star shape.
I am desperately looking for one of these to undo the front cover found at the front of my bosch washing machine. I can then undo the cap to empty the nasty bits thats blocking up my washing machine.
Is there any one with that can help me or advise me as to where I can get hold of one of these keys.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post.

I suggest that you try a small appliance retail shop (like the one near the traffic lights on Southwark Park Road/St James Road perhaps) and see if they can suggest/lend anything. I don't think I've ever seen the tool in a hardware shop and would love to buy one myself!

I'm afraid that I think they do this sort of thing deliberately in order that we cannot do any maintenance at all on the products we have bought. As a Chartered Engineer this really annoys me as I like fixing things, and so I try to not buy any whitegoods which use such fasteners. I had to throw away two coffee makers a few years ago which had different faults but I couldn't get into them because of fasteners like these but with a little pin in the middle - impossible without exactly the right tool!

Thats great! I will try the shop and post back to let you know how I get on - there's no way I want to pay for a call out job worth £60 minimum when I could see to this myself in surely 10 minutes.
Thank you so much for that.

You might find something in Kenon's on Old Kent Rd (Tesco End) they're a plumbers merchant but we're always finding thigs in there that we can't find elsewhere!

Unfortunately this is a trend across the electrical sector, driven by their desire for you to use their central engineering support, rather than the small local man. I have had problems with Sony recently, and with trying to find a basic part for an item from Ikea, so its right across the sector. Its not something you would normally check out at the point of purchase, but that is the answer.

GOOD NEWS!! I found the key I needed, the packaging didn't even have a name on it (so we're supposed to know) From what I can remember the helpful man said it's a TORT KEY??? don't know the correct spelling.
By sheer determination I thought I must try my nearest DIY store which is LEYLANDS on Southwark st opposite the Menier chocolate theatre. They seem to stock alot of things there. Its my first point of reference, then the useless B&Q on the Old Kent Road is my last resort.

Having got the key and do what I needed to do - I stumbled over another problem after that. The fixtures from pump, filter and waste pipes were all secured by a metal clamp.

I stopped there and have decided to rest till Sunday to come back to it.
It's a damn fine machine of 10 years-Bosch are so reliable.
My daughter of 9years carelessly washed the wrong mat- she washed the door mat and not the bath mat that I asked her to. The door mat is made of millions and trillions of coconut hair.

I know I'll laugh at this some day....but that day is far from taday.

kieulien wrote:

From what I can remember the helpful man said it's a TORT KEY??? don't know the correct spelling.

Could it have been Torx key? They're sometimes called TX Star keys.

Yes Torx key is the correct term/spelling.

It's a brand name, but generic alternatives are available via usual outlets.

Please forgive my schadenfreude - but what does the door mat look like after a good machine wash?