Anyone out there have a front load washer and dryer, you know the kind that are all the rage, and claim to be so energy efficient? Yeah, those awful machines. I just had to have them back about 12 years ago. And have disliked them from the first day I used them. But, they were expensive and I felt they did the job, so I put up with them until a week or so ago. I was washing bedding, doing my Mom's sheets first, using bleach like I alway do when washing bedding, and that load came out just fine. Then I washed my Chocolate quilt (the one I have on my bed, as pictured in the first picture).
Well, my washer starts making some very strange, not heard before noises, and an error message comes up on the panel. I think it is just that it got imbalanced, so I pull out a sopping wet quilt, and rearrange it in the tub, and try to start it again. No go. The drum won't spin, and water won't drain out of the drum. So, I open the front of the washer, drain out all the water, and start the washer again.
Still no go. Do all the steps again, wring out the quilt by hand to see if that would work. Not happening. All it did was fill up with water again, and then just hummed when it should spin. So, I pulled out the quilt again, wrung it out again, the best I could, and put it in the dryer. It took 4 hours to dry. I can't wring a quilt out as well as a washer I guess.
So, get it out of the dryer and put it on the bed, and what I saw took my breath away, and my heart dropped.
Yep, you are seeing correctly, bleach spots, five of them in two areas of this quilt. Not small ones either!!!!
This is the second area, but at least it hangs off the bed on side that can't be seen from the doorway.
This is a close up of the part above, and it is the worst spot of them all, as the bleach ate through the fabric, some of the batting around the stitching down to the backing. Believe it or not, it didn't go through and discolor the backing.
This is how it looks as you walk into the room. Not too bad at a distance. Hubby says it give the quilt character and a good story. He says it stays on the bed. I say in my head, yeah, until I can get another big one made.
I will note, that I use bleach all the time in this washer, and never had trouble of it holding over to the next load, I think that the washer was going bad when I washed the sheets, and the quilt got the brunt of the disaster of the washer not working anymore.
There is some good news in all of this episode of disaster. I was able to do away with the front load washer and dryer and replace them with brand new SpeedQueen top load (with an aggitater) washer and regular dryer.
I have not been disappointed since I have done the first load.
Warmest...
oh gosh! I recall when building our house 26 years ago! front loaders had really just come on the market and it was in all the street of dream house shows with these put on a platform in the laundry room. All I could thing of was all the past laundry disasters with water all over the floor - how would you clean up under a platform? So I went with consumer reports best (much cheaper) westinghouse (?) models. Then at 5 years in, the washer crapped out. Thankfully we have an awesome appliance repair shop in town and he said, either buy a whole new washer or I could replace the motor for half that. As we didn't have a lot of money, we chose the new motor - hoping. And I am hoping not to jinx that because 21 years later that washer is still going strong - dryer continues to work at 26 years old.
ReplyDeleteI've heard online chatter that what you just bought is the bestest for longevity.
On the worst of the bleach stains, do you still have fabric scraps? Can you do a quick and dirty applique over the spot?