Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with washingmachine

Maximum laundry, minimum space

exceptinsects — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:22:13 -0800

What are your experiences using a combination washer/dryer? I am thinking of buying one for my very tiny new house, but somehow it seems too good to be true! Do they really work? Is there a brand you've tried that you like?

It would have to fit in a space that's 23"X25". (Can face either direction)

Tiny washing machines -- any good?

brandonjadams — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:32:35 -0800

My wife and I are looking for a v. small washing machine for our rented apartment. I've seen a few units which you can wheel into the closet after doing the laundry but I'm not sure how well they work. Any thoughts?

How?!: Perfume Smell OUT of Laundry.

Shane — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:12:42 -0800

Is it possible to get cologne smell out of clothing? I kind of "inherited" a half-dozen nice sweaters that reek of perfume, and I'm allergic as well. I've tried mucho baking soda and soaking in the wash machine; haven't tried vinegar yet; past (somewhat related) threads suggest Ozium and Synthrapol, but they're really not for this purpose.

Kludgy home electronics melts pizzas

M.C. Lo-Carb! — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:05:31 -0800

How can I inexpensively stop my washing machine from melting my ice cubes without burning my house down? The outlets for my washer and dryer are on the same circuit as those for the appliances in the kitchen. My house is 60 years old, and is ungrounded, so to meet code requirements, the previous owner installed a GFCI unit in one of the kitchen outlets. All of the other kitchen outlets, including the one the refrigerator plugs into, are affected by this GFCI.

Unfortunately, when my washing machine switches from the rinse cycle to spin, something in that transition causes the GFCI to throw, which powers down the entire kitchen. This doesn't happen all the time, but about, say, 1 in 2 washes.

We've put up with this for 5 years now. A couple years ago, we bought a new washer -- no difference. This is very irritating, because we basically can't leave the washer running when we aren't at home, as we keep frozen bulk foods in the freezer and they will be ruined. We can't even run the washer when we go to bed!

So I'm wondering -- how dangerous would it be, really, if I just replaced the GFCI with a standard outlet until we sold the house? I'm guessing the GFCI is more aimed at keeping people from getting shocked if they drop an appliance in a sink, etc., like the one in the bathroom, yes? We don't really use electrical appliances near the kitchen sink.

Someday, we'll either have the system grounded, or go through the hassle of attaching the washer/dryer outlet to a different circuit, but in the meantime, would removing the GFCI really imperil us or our house?

$600-ish front loading washer, or $350 top loader?

raikkohamilonso — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:35:18 -0800

Is there some practically compelling reason to get a much more expensive front loading washer? I see top loading Energy Star rated washers for around $350; the cheapest front loader starts around $600. The battleground of figuring out washer choices at the moment seems absurd - people are swearing by front loaders, but I can't find info that tells me if they'll somehow save me $250 over the next few years, and I don't know how an Energy Star rated top loader compares...

Is my washer causing clear oil stains?

Tim McDonough — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:44:40 -0800

I know that if a Chapstick goes through the wash, it will stain my clothes, but could identical stains be indicative of a washing machine malfunction? The stains in question look just like baby-oil stains, not grease or motor-oil. The research I've done so far suggests that a washing machine seal break or leak would result in a dirtier type stain, more grease-like. We don't use any kind of fabric softener or dryer sheets, so I've ruled those out. Thanks in advance!

Help troubleshoot a commercial Whirlpool washer!

proj — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 18:16:19 -0800

Help me troubleshoot the semi-new (and non-operational) washer in our apartment building. We have a Whirlpool CHW9900VQ model commercial duty washer. It is less than 3 months old. It stopped working at one point and the landlord has not yet gotten it fixed (there is another washer, but only having one is a pain). The display that normally shows the price per load just says "----" I have tried unplugging it and plugging it back in to see if that would reset it. Nothing. I suspect it just needs some kind of reset or something and could easily be operational again without waiting for the landlord to get service people to come look at it (who knows if this is a correct suspicion).

I can't find the manual online (just a bunch of product specs at various sites like manualsonline.com). Is anyone familiar with this washer enough to know how to reset it without technician's tools?

Please note that the question is just asking if I can do anything or not to get this washer working without a service visit. It's not about how to get my landlord to fix the machine, or what tenant/landlord obligations are, or anything like that.

Washing Machine: Boom!

greekphilosophy — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:34:30 -0800

Was that a helicopter in my kitchen? No. It was the washing machine. Um. Help? I was just sitting here reading MetaFilter and drinking some coffee when I heard a terrible noise downstairs. The washing machine was on its final spin cycle, but was bucking around the kitchen. I turned it off immediately, and looked inside to find the basket just sitting there - no longer centered - and hanging in a sad sort of not-right kind of way.

1. I'd like to know what's going on and how to proceed.
2. I need to know if this is something I can fix myself. And if not, what do I need to tell my repairman so that she can bring the right tools/parts to make it go again?

Information:

It wasn't overloaded. I was doing a light load. But there was a rug in there, which I am willing to bet was a little lopsided.

The washer model is a Whirlpool Heavy Duty Thin Twin. (Stacked washer/dryer combo.)

Washing Machine Mystery

A Kingdom for a Donkey — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 08:09:22 -0800

What function does this button on the washing machine in my new apartment have? Apparently I'm too stupid to figure this out. Perhaps it's some sort of water saving program? Why would there be a picture of a sad woman next to it? The model of the machine is Ignis AWF 504. The machine is pretty old so I can't find its manual on the internet and the landlord doesn't know either.

No, I don't want a free set of steak knives.

[ixia] — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:12:30 -0800

Remember those egg-shaped handle-powered washing machines that were advertised on infomercials in the '90s? Has anyone actually used one? Did it actually work? And in these electricity-conscious, water-saving times, has the concept of a human-powered hand-washing machine evolved into something a bit, well, less daggy? I'm conditioned to believe that anything advertised on infomercials must be absolute nonsense. But now I find myself in my little bachelorette apartment with no room for a washing machine.

The laundromat is fine for most things, but I have a slowly-expanding wardrobe of professional attire which really does need to be handwashed. Slaving over a soapy sink every night is getting old; I want a tech fix.

Can you recommend a decent technomagical alternative to washing clothes by hand? I am not averse to winding or pedalling or dancing around in circles, as long as it actually works. Bonus points: can I buy something like this in Australia without staying up late and watching crap TV?

help fix my broken washing machine

xbonesgt — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:28:46 -0800

So my washing machine doesn't spin during the spin cycle anymore, but all other cycles and functions work fine. What does that mean? This (a Kenmore 80 series, I think) is the first washing machine I've owned. Bought it used from a refurb-appliance place, and (of course) it starts acting up about a week after the 30-day free repair period has ended. Water input, agitation, and water drainage all function normally, it's just the spin cycle that is broken. Sometimes though, if I manually start spinning the tub then something will catch and the spin cycle will proceed normally.

So, a few questions: what exactly might the problem be? It's not the motor if the agitator still works, right? Given that I paid $125 for this thing, is it worth finding a repairman to fix it or just go out and buy a brand-new washer? how difficult would it be for a reasonably mechanically-inclined guy such as myself to locate a replacement part and swap out the broken one?

I've browsed through a few appliance-repair threads and watched a few DIY videos online, but everything I've found is either incomplete, doesn't help diagnose the problem, or has been given up on by the original poster/answerer. So, I'm turning to the green. Thanks for any help you can provide!

WashingMachineFilter

ghost of a past number — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 04:38:29 -0800

Should I buy a mini washing machine similar to these? I'm thinking of buying a mini washing machine like the ones presented in the link due to space constraints, but I'm sceptical as to if it can replace a regular one.

Anyone have any experience using one? Any particular makes/models recomended in this category?

communal apartment laundries...making you hate laundry even more since 2008

sararah — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:34:19 -0800

The communal washing machines in my apartment building are worthless. They don't remove any sort of stain or spill, regardless of solubility or severity. When I remove the wet clothes from the washer, nasty stripes and splotches of lint cover my clothes (especially obvious on darks). Is there a specific complaint I can make to my landlord, or should I just give up and go to a laundromat? I can't believe I have to pay $1 per wash for these totally worthless machines. I use liquid Tide Coldwater (and wash in cold, always) and currently it is the "old" Tide that is not super concentrated, so I would say I use about 1/3-1/2 cup per wash. I try not to overload the washers, and I usually fill the tub partially before loading. Based on the results below, is there a specific complaint I can make to my landlord? I don't just want to call and say "the washers suck, fix them..." I feel my unresponsive property management might be a little more on the ball if they knew what the problem was. (And no, I don't think I'll be trying to do all my laundry in the bathtub)

Some examples of the laundry awesomeness:

-Just last the other night I attempted to wash a pair of khaki pants with small splotches of whipping cream on them. I poured a little detergent on them and rubbed the pants together near the spots in an attempt to pre-treat...not only did the spots not come out completely, today in the sunshine I noticed a huge spot that was lighter in color where the detergent did not completely rinse out.

-My mom tossed a few of my clothes in the wash when I was home visiting, and had to wash them twice because they had so much soap residue left in them.

-I pretreated a stain with some Stain Stick (the deodorant-like gelly stuff) and the frickin' Stain Stick didn't even wash out. I had to rinse out the garment in the sink.

-Since I line dry ~3/4 of my clothes the white lint crap stays stuck to my shirt and is especially nasty on dark shirts.

-Stupid crazy bizatches that live downstairs complain when I remove their laundry because they left the washer unattended for an hour while they had an "important phone call" and felt the need to be all dramatic and scream and me about it and proceed to re-wash their husband's clothes. (Well, that's probably out of the scope of this question, but it just adds to my LAUNDRY ANGST)

Needless to say, I was quite depressed this weekend when visiting a married friend's new house and seeing her brand spankin' new LG front loading machines....forget the yard, I just want a washer that works!!

Help me with this household engineering problem.

frobozz — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 13:12:19 -0800

I have a silly problem. I have lost quite a few things in my apartment, and need help getting them back. I have a washing machine/dryer unit which has the dryer on top of the washing machine. Sort of like this .
It is 70" in height, two feet across, 20" front to back, and one and stands a half feet from the back wall. The top is about fifteen inches away from the ceiling. It is wedged very tightly between another wall and a shower stall.

I store laundry paraphernalia on top of the machine. When the machine has a heavy load in it it tends to vibrate, and sometimes I forget to take things from the top before turning it on in such cases. As a result, several things have vibrated right off the back into the space between the machine and the wall, such as three half full bottles of laundry detergent, a valuable mop head, and ... well, other stuff. I would like to retrieve these items. I can climb up on my stomach and peer down into the well at them, but they are too heavy and oddly shaped to be fetched up with things like cord and clothes hangers (or valuable mop heads). I have tried, by myself and with another person, to move the machine away from the wall, but it is very heavy and very tightly wedged indeed. Does anyone have any ideas of how I can retrieve my things, either by somehow fishing them up or by figuring out a way to safely move the machine? I have at my disposal one other person and the usual range of household items one would expect to find in a city apartment. Thanks.

Waiter, waiter, there's bits in my water....

Solomon — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 03:59:33 -0800

Please help me find some ecofriendly options to deal with limescale in washing machines. I live in quite a hard water area. I can actually see bits floating about in a glass of water. They are not bubbles. They are not nice either. :D I can filter the water I use for drinking/cooking, and I'm not overly bothered about the water I use for showering, but I do get quite a bit of limescale in the washing machine, and the toilet.

I'm looking for things I can try to reduce the hardness of the water. Fitting a mains water filter isn't really an option right now.

Washing machine - I use vinegar instead of soft rinse, and less detergent than is recommended, which seems to be helping reduce the amount of gunk, and the machine smells fresher too. I've seen something called Magnoballs which claim to "crystalise the calcium particles" - bad science? It looks like a good idea, assuming it works.

Toilet - I'm trying to flush the toilet less, and use rainwater to flush it. That's not as difficult as it sounds, I'm partway through a setup on the downstairs loo, but it's way more awkward on the upstairs. On the same site as the above, I've seen a similar product. Again, is this bad science?

Is there anything else I can do and/or other products I can try? Please keep in mind I'd rather not use strong chemicals or stuff like that. Bonus points for explaining/debunking the science behind the magnoballs.

Seeking motor controller for F&P MW512 washing machine

flabdablet — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 17:28:36 -0800

Please help me find a second-hand motor controller for my Fisher & Paykel Smartdrive MW512 washing machine. I was very proud of my homebrew extended cold water supply hose, but the hose clamp on the machine end failed after about a year, accurately injecting a few litres of water into my Smartdrive MW512's electronic innards before popping off entirely and flooding the laundry floor.

I didn't realize that the electronics had been doused until I replaced the hose a day later and the machine failed to start; it had been plugged in all that time. Now the motor controller smells bad, the PCB features a very artistic pattern of burnt and corroded tracks, and assorted components have been so badly corroded that they snap off when gently brushed clean. Sigh.

I've disassembled, dried and reassembled the also-drenched front-panel board, but I think the motor controller has gone to God. Burnt trackwork aside, the PCB has an assortment of high-voltage electronics and proprietary microcontroller parts, and I have no faith that their magic smokes have remained unmixed.

Can anybody help me track down a replacement motor controller for less than the AU$160 RRP I've been quoted by Fisher & Paykel Customer Care? Second-hand is fine. I'm in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia.

The motor controller has a big yellow sticker that reads

MOTOR CONTROLLER
PASS
P7CP
(bar code)
420786⁰⁰³³³⁶
230V
24/08/2005
10:48

How to find and fix a scratch in my washing machine.

clarkstonian — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 06:27:47 -0800

What to do about a scratched laundry tub? Our washing machine is 13 years old. Not worth the cost of repair. It works fine except...somewhere on the bottom of the tub, there's a scratch. If I wash a load of laundry and forget to hang it up within, say, 10 minutes, something - ususally the lightest colored or most favorite - gets a rust stain on it and is ruined. I've run my fingers over the enamel surface, I've used a flashlight. I can't find the nick or scratch. It's probably pretty small. Does anyone have any other suggestions for how to find it and how to fix it if I do?

I hate to trash the machine for a scratch, but I've ruined a machine's worth of clothes at this point. Thanks for your help!

loose chain + washing machine pump = help!

WidgetAlley — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 09:09:45 -0800

Laundryfilter: Emergency washing machine help, please! I've got something stuck in my washing machine pump-- is there any way to get it out? I was doing laundry this morning and forgot to take my favorite necklace out of the pocket of my jeans before washing them. The pendant was in the bottom of the washer, but not the chain. I started the next load of laundry, thinking maybe the chain had fallen out of my pocket somewhere, and lo and behold! A hideous whirring noise and a water leak from the bottom of my washer indicated that my chain had gotten sucked into the pump or somewhere very similar somehow.

Is there any way I can get in there to remove this, barring the use of a large sledgehammer and several dozen burly men? Can my washing machine be saved? What kind of damage would do this do? Is it dead forever, or doomed to a life of sounding funny and leaking out the bottom? I've got zero experience deconstructing washing machines, but I do at least know how to use a screwdriver.

It's a Maytag Performa, several years old, if that helps at all. Thanking you in advance, MeFites!

Get my whites back to whiter than white!

badlydubbedboy — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 07:25:20 -0800

A treasured white T-shirt (with logo) has gone from bright white to dull blue thanks to an errant blue T-shirt... We've tried using Rescue It, but that has merely mutated the dull blue into a dull grey.

Do you have any ideas how to rescue my T-shirt? :)

(PS: I'm in the UK so references to most US cleaning products are alas useless to me!)

Help me go green with white goods!

badlydubbedboy — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 08:30:36 -0800

Can anyone recommend any guidelines or specific household appliances (eg fridge, freezer, washing machine, sofa and bed) that are reasonably environmentally friendly and affordable (in the UK)? I know Iceland used to sell Kyoto fridges with Greenpeace's blessing but they seem to have disappeared now.

My USB drive went through the wash!

Happy Dave — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 02:15:34 -0800

Someone who shall remain nameless put my Sandisk Cruzer Mini USB drive through the washer. It's one of the groovy ones with rubberised slipcases, and it's still working. What are these things made of? Will it rust? I've had a look at it very closely, and aside from a slight score on the metal casing (which I think is a manufacturing mark, not the start of rust-doom) it appears to be fine. Unfortunately, it sat in the back pocket of my work trousers while they dried on a rack overnight, and I only realised what had happened when I took them off to iron them. Is there anything I can do to check it further? I have another two skins which came with it, going to change the skins regularly over the next couple of days to minimise any moisture build-up, but if this has happened to anyone else and they have any tips, shoot.

Removing semen stains

PenguinBukkake — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 17:30:50 -0800

What's the best method for removing human semen stains from dark cotton bedsheets? Very hot washing machine cycles don't always work. Thank you.

Damping vibrations from a washing machine's spin cycle

nthdegx — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 05:56:30 -0800

My washing machine's spin and dry cycles shake the whole house. The neighbours have now complained. Does anyone have any good ideas or experience of damping vibration, particularly in the case of a washing machine? I was thinking of putting a blanket under the machine but I'm not sure how effective that will be. Suggestions welcome! I should add I have a small flat and no garden, so I really need to use the machine's drying capabilities. I'd rather not have to replace the machine.

Disposable Diaper in the Washing Machine

frecklefaerie — Sun, 12 Jun 2005 16:30:22 -0800

How do I get the "slush" from a (clean) disposable diaper out of my front load washing machine? Disposable diapers have some kind of chemical slush in them as an absorber. In my haste and panic after a scatalogical naptime incident, I unknowingly threw a disposable diaper into the washer with the other bedclothes (it was inside the pillowcase). When I went to move the laundry, my washer had bits of the "slush" all over the place. I cleaned out most by hand, ran it through two rinse cycles, and still there is a bunch of it all over the place. Please help me do it myself!

Can I revive my cell phone after washing it by mistake?

pjhagop — Sun, 24 Oct 2004 13:42:58 -0800

We just ran my cell phone through the washing machine, accidentally, of course. Is there any hope of reviving it? How?