The Washing Machine Habits That Quietly Shorten Its Life
A washing machine is one of the hardest-working appliances in any home. In a busy household it can run eight or ten loads a week, year after year, and most of us never think about it until the day it stops draining, starts walking across the laundry room floor, or leaves the towels smelling worse than when they went in. Most of those failures do not come out of nowhere. They are the end result of small habits that put extra strain on the machine every single cycle.
The good news is that almost all of them are easy to change. Here are the habits that wear washers out early, and what to do instead.
1. Overloading the drum
It is tempting to stuff in one more pair of jeans so you can skip a load. But a packed drum makes the motor, the suspension and the drive components work much harder, and clothes come out less clean because there is no room for water and detergent to move through them. On front-loaders, chronic overloading also stresses the drum bearings, which is one of the more expensive repairs a washer can need. A good rule: on a front-loader, you should be able to fit your hand flat on top of the load. On a top-loader, keep clothes loosely below the top row of holes in the drum.
2. Using too much detergent
More soap does not mean cleaner clothes. Modern high-efficiency washers use very little water, and excess detergent leaves residue in the drum, the hoses and the pump. That residue traps lint and moisture, feeds odor-causing mildew, and can make the machine misread how full the drum is. If you see suds left over at the end of a cycle or notice a musty smell, cut back. For most HE machines, a tablespoon or two of detergent is plenty for a normal load.
3. Slamming the door shut and leaving it that way
Front-load washers are sealed tight to save water, which also means they hold moisture. Closing the door right after a cycle traps that moisture against the rubber door gasket, and mold follows. Leave the door cracked open between loads, wipe the gasket dry once a week, and pull out the detergent drawer occasionally to let it air out. It takes thirty seconds and prevents the most common complaint front-loader owners have.
4. Ignoring the pump filter
Many front-loaders have a small access panel near the bottom that hides the drain pump filter. Coins, hair ties, buttons and lint collect there. When the filter clogs, the machine drains slowly, leaves clothes soaking wet, or throws a drain error. Check your owner's manual and clean that filter every few months. Put a towel and a shallow pan down first, because some water will come out.
5. Washing heavy, unbalanced items alone
A single bath mat, a dog bed or one heavy comforter can throw the drum off balance during the spin cycle. The washer shakes violently, bangs against the cabinet and, over time, wears out the shock absorbers and suspension springs. Wash heavy items with a couple of towels to balance the load, and if the machine still rocks, check that it is level and that all four feet are firmly on the floor.
6. Forgetting about the hoses
The rubber fill hoses behind most washers are under constant water pressure. They age, bulge and eventually can burst, which can mean a flooded laundry room or a damaged floor below. Look at them once a year. If they are cracked, bulging or more than about five years old, replace them with braided stainless-steel hoses. It is one of the cheapest insurance policies in the house.
7. Treating strange noises as normal
A washer that suddenly grinds, squeals, thumps or roars during spin is telling you something. A worn bearing, a failing pump or a loose drive part often starts as a sound weeks before it becomes a breakdown. Ben DeWitt, whose company handles washer repair in Denver, says noise is the single most ignored warning sign his technicians see. "Most of the bearing jobs we do started as a rumble the owner heard for a month," he says. "Caught early, a lot of those are a much smaller repair."
When it is time to call a professional
Some fixes are perfectly reasonable to do yourself: cleaning the filter, replacing hoses, leveling the machine and freshening up a smelly gasket. Others are better left to a technician, especially anything involving the motor, the control board, the drum bearings or the transmission. A good rule of thumb is to compare the repair cost with the age of the machine. On a washer that is less than eight or nine years old and otherwise in good shape, most repairs are worth doing. On an older machine that needs a major part, replacement often makes more sense.
A few minutes a month
None of these habits take much time. Load the drum sensibly, use less detergent, leave the door open, clean the filter, check the hoses and listen to the machine. Do that, and a decent washer can easily give you ten years or more of reliable service, which is good for your budget and your laundry room floor alike.