When it rains...

Yesterday was laundry day. I say "was" because my old washer (bought from friends 10 years ago, who purchased it refurbished years before that) stopped working mid-cycle. And I was stuck with about 10 loads of laundry (no exaggeration!) left to do plus a FULL washer that wouldn't drain. HELP!

When the washer stopped, it wasn't a quiet death. There were grinding sounds, plus burning smells. There may have been a way to drain the water, but neither Michael or I could figure it out. So, I pulled out the clothes which still had to be rinsed and rung out before heading to the dryer. Michael found a piece of sprinkler pipe that had never been used (lucky him) to use for a syphon to empty the extra large load of water. I never knew how many gallons of water it takes to wash clothes until we had to empty it with buckets. As Michael syphoned the water into a Rubbermaid tub, I used a 3 gallon bucket to get the water to the sink. I must have made at least 7 trips, plus, there was at least 6 gallons in the tub that Michael dumped. That much water was left AFTER I pulled out the dripping clothes! So, let's estimate 30 gallons. Imagine the mess if the water had leaked from the washer, out of the laundry room, and all over my laminate flooring in the kitchen (and then through the floor to the basement...). Let's not think about it.

Good news!!!! We were able to find another washer on ksl.com classified ads. It is used, but works fine and for only $70. It isn't the fancy front loading machine I dream of some day, but it will work. Michael had to go pick it up, but he was able to make it back home in time to help put the kids to bed.

Removing the old washer (now empty) wasn't bad. Neither was getting the new washing machine into place. After all, Michael only let me watch. :) After hooking up the hoses, we started an empty load to make sure it worked before loading in clothes. The water filled and the agitator spun.

As Michael went out to the garage to try to reorganize things and make room for the broken washer AND the van, I checked on my new machine again. As the washer switched from washing to draining, I heard a pop and (you guessed it) a loud crash of water. Pushing the knob in on the machine to attempt to stop the flow didn't do anything. The drainage hose had popped off and all the water in the machine was being emptied onto the floor of my laundry room. What would you do? I yelled for Michael and grabbed a blanket and my basket of clean towels to "catch" the flood. Anything to keep the water off the wood floor to avoid warping, and away from the crack in the floor of the laundry room to keep the water upstairs was our goal. One huge queen size flannel blanket, and at least 10 towels later, the washer was emptied and flood contained. Great. I only have 13 loads of laundry to do now. (we managed to save the floor and haven't seen evidence of leaking through to downstairs ceiling as of yet. hope it didn't.) It was so bad, it was comical.

My laundry room floor with towels and blanket to soak up spill. Look closely and you can see standing water between the towels and the washer.



Michael fixed the drain hose and it has been fine since. (Did I mention this is the one year anniversary of the death of my old dryer?)

I'm afraid to use the extra large load setting now. :) After all what would I do with another 30 gallons of water on the floor? I might NOT have baskets of unfolded laundry just waiting for such an occasion to help soak it all up. :) Probably not. It's an endless battle to keep up. I'm sure I will ALWAYS have baskets I haven't folded yet if such an opportunity presents itself.

Happy Laundry day!