You know you have problems when you walk through the laundry room and there is a puddle running out from under the washing machine. Since the washer was run late the night before, that puddle has been there for a little while at least. This is typically not a good sign. Fortunately, the washing machine does not hold that much water to begin with in most cases so there is not a lot for it to put on the floor.
The problem here is where the heck is it coming from?
It does not appear to have run down the front of the washer. There is no water in the drawer of the pedestal. There is just water running out from under it.
Let the quest for the answer begin. It could honestly be anything.
We had the missionaries coming over to help work on the fence in the back yard. We have several sections that need pickets replaced. Unfortunately, their arrival ended up being them helping with some heavy living and moving of appliances first. With our laundry room being as big as it is, we can fit a washer, dryer, fridge, and upright freezer in there. To find out exactly where the leak is, however, we were going to need some room to work. Something was going to have to go. The freezer was elected. It was the easiest to get out.
Of course this move took a little bit of work because the plug in the garage was not working properly. This led to reminder that the two outside outlets were also not working properly. Those needed to be fixed. At the very least we needed to get the garage plug working so we could plug in the freezer. See, we moved the freezer full of food.
This is what it looks like when you move a large appliance after 11 years give or take. It is pretty gross! I figure that the freezer has been in there at least that long. We bought it when I was pregnant with Lance. He turned 11 in October. So that would be about right. The floor was gross to say the least.
The floor did not improve much with a good sweeping. It was still gross. It took some Scrubbing Bubbles multi-surface cleaner and a few rags to get it mostly clean. I am pleased to announce that it did come much cleaner than it is now. Not perfectly clean, but much cleaner.
Of course now it was time to diagnose the leaking problem in the washing machine…
We pulled it out away from the wall. I wanted to be able to see all the connections on the back and the where it connected to the wall.
I drained it completely. There was actually not a lot of water in it. I cleaned the filter. It was not that dirty. I was not happy at this point because I was having flash backs to when we replaced the drain pump last summer. It simply was not that old. The good news is that I knew that there was not that much to fixing the washing machine, the worst part is getting the parts as they all require ordering and that takes time. They are also not all that cheap. There is just not much to the washer.
Then I turned it on…
The wall connections were bone dry.
The hose connections on the back of the waster were bone dry.
There was no water running anywhere on the floor. What the heck? Did it just not want to sit up against the wall anymore?
I look at the front again. Maybe the door gasket had finally stopped holding the water? It does have a slow leak and dribbles down the front of the washer on large loads. I just wash smaller loads and it usually is not a problem. Nope. Not the problem.
I did NOT put any soap in the load. I pull open the soap tray and there is still soap in it. Hmmm. That is odd. That load finishes. I just ran a very quick load. I turn it on again and sure enough there is still soap in the load. Obviously, it was in the tray. The tray is at least empty this time. No water anywhere else. No leaks. I am having serious flash backs to the drain pump issues at this point as it is leaving sudsy residue in the washer. I turn it on again.
Notice something in the picture? Yes, this was the third time I ran the washer without adding soap to it. It looked like I ran a full load and then some. What is the deal? Did we blow out a drain pump in less than a year? How the heck did we do that? I was getting mad at this point.
I walked away and then when I came back, I looked at the soaps I had most recently bought in a hurry. I usually pay very close attention to these things, but I was in a hurry and just grabbed them from the normal locations.
They looked right…
This is my normal every day washing detergent. I have boys, what can I say. It gets their clothes the cleanest in my opinion so I have stuck with it. Since my washer uses so little soap to begin with, this bottle goes much further than the number of washes it says on the bottle. It also does not irritate my skin like some of the other laundry detergents on the market.
This is the one that I grabbed in a hurry off the bottom shelf at Walmart. I use this to wash the work out clothes that just stink and the really nasty stinky towels that the kids do not hang up in their bathroom. You know those towels that get shoved in the bottom of the laundry basket instead of the nicely hung on the hook on the wall RIGHT ABOVE the laundry basket. Or heaven forbid they drop them in a mound on the floor in the bathroom or in their bedrooms. Those towels. We all have them. They all start to stink and the smells are hard to get out of them. Sometimes clothes that come off little boys’ bodies just need a little extra help coming “stink free” so this is my go to laundry detergent for those loads. I am not a fan of the smells, but it is not flowery so my boys prefer it.
Do you notice the difference between the two pictures?
I had to look twice when I put them side by side. Then I saw it. The Tide Sport is missing the all important HE symbol on the bottle.
Oh my gosh…
Have you ever put the wrong detergent in a dishwasher? You know, put dawn dish soap you use on a sponge in a dishwasher? Do you know what the results are? Have you ever had to clean up that mess?
Yep.
The results are almost the same in a washing machine.
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