We could all have written a book by now... :)

[nrones]

Hi!

This is a thread I would love to dedicate to non-washer fan friends.

How many fails from them you've seen in your life?

In my case.. like milion times was mixing liquid detergent and softener.. so usually I could see leftovers of liquid detergent in softener compartment.. also mixing up CALGONIT and CALGON when we talk about dishwashers xD

Or about using machine.. few days ago I've been to my neighbours who have a Candy GrandO GO510, when I came into their bathroom, I turned off machine.. they called me few hours later saying their machine is DEAD.. I was really amazed, and when I came in they were pressing start button and saying it doesn't work!!! They never look at the knob since they always use famuos Rapid 32, and THEY NEVER TURN KNOB TO THE OFF POSITION, so machine has been on literally for months xD

What are your experiences?

Dex

 

[paulc]

When my sister first lived on her own she flooded the woman downstairs from her because she put shampoo in the washing machine as she had run out of detergent.

Last year I had gone to visit her and to my horror she had been using Lidl wool wash as a fabric softener! She just saw the wool label sign on the bottle and assumed it was fabric softener!

 

[nrones]

thanks paulc, I hope more stories are arriving soon...

People just don't give up when they ran out of washing detergent... my granma once ran out of dishwasher tablets, and she just put a hand-dishwashing liquid instead of tabs... guess what happened! xD

Dex

 

[strongenough78]

A few weeks ago at the laundromat. I saw a man using Sun Light liquid dishwashing detergent to use on what looked like blankets. He also had a bar of Irish Spring soap. I don't know what he used that for and I didn't ask. He used two of the Huebsch frontloaders that's programmed for water savings. Basically it does one wash cycle and one rinse cycle with no spin cycle between them, unless you select the extra wash and extra rinse options, which, he didn't select. The bottle of Sun Light was full, and it was a small 12 ounce bottle, I know this because I have the same thing at home I use for things I handwash. Well anyway, the bottle was more than half empty after he filled the detergent trays on both machines. 14 minutes later when they were done, he pulled the blankets and some clothes out of the washers and headed for the dryers. Everything still had a good amount of light, billowy suds that dish detergent will produce. I didn't look inside the machines after he dried his articles and left, but I can imagine the amount of suds that was leftover in them since they were floating around the laundromat. How the washers didn't start pouring out suds from the detergent compartments or the drain pipes, I'll never know. But there wasn't a flood like I would have expected. I then wondered how stiff and itchy those blankets and few shirts he washed were when we went to use them or wear them later on. I almost wanted to inform the guy of what to use and how much, and it's usually best to select the extra wash and rinse options like I do to assure proper rinsing. But I figured if he's happy with it, then so be it. He seemed like a nice guy, smiled at those who walked in and at who walked by him. But sometimes it seems to be best to not intrude.

 

[laundromat]

My great aunt,Violet had never had a dishwasher before they moved into the condo. It was a GE Potscrubber. My Uncle Mel decided he'd help her by doing dishes and poured about a cup of Palmalive into it!!! She was watching tv and went to get a beer when she saw the mounds of soap suds spewing out of their dishwasher!!! What's so funny is that they also had a whirlpool bath and had just had all the tile in their bathroom re-layed because the original floor was ruined from them putting bubble bath in the tub and turning the whirlpool jets on.They did that and wanted to let it run for a while before getting in.My grandmother used Super Suds once in our Kenmore combo and not only that but the load was a set of fiberglass curtains washed with my shorts.I though I had poison ivy in my crotch and went to get it looked at. our doctor was a bit more amused than I was once we found out what was causing my itch.The suds billowed out of the LK in mounds as my grandmother was cussing like a sailor!

 

[dj-gabriele]

What I read is plain disgusting, I think I should add my contribution too!

The first time I went to a laundromat to wash and dry clothes:

I needed to wash a large curtain, it didn't fit my washing machine and I didn't want to bring it to the dry cleaner because it only needed refreshing.
The place had a row of Maytag front loading neptunes and a couple of classic top loader machine (VERY UNUSUAL!) I was told that those two machines were there for the American exchange students. At a cost of 3 tokens (a token was given by the exchange machine every 1,30 euro) they weren't terribly expensive too.
I saw one in function, it filled to the very top and the water was very hot as steam came up as soon as the guy opened the lid to add detergent. It was not even a half load in a 5 kg machine to my standard.

Other than this there were 3 10 kg machines (I believe Grandimpianti or similar), front loading of course and 4 staked Speed Queen dryers.

I went there to use the Neptune machines. I made sure that the drum was clean and started the machine, I wanted something that could spin the curtain as the large machine literally left the clothes dripping, I guess they were 400 rpm or something, hard mount.

While waiting for the machine to finish a coupe of "punkabestia" (punks with dogs) as we call them in Bologna, came in and put a tent (yup, a tent!) in the dryer and started it (a token bought 14 minutes of drying), after that they tried to find where to put the detergent, opening the machine they just threw some inside... I was shocked, they didn't even bother to check the other machines or reading what they did... after a while, much to my enjoyment they realized what they had done and took out of the dryer the almost melting tent and stuffed it in one of the neptunes with all the detergent left, the tent must have had some metal parts as the machine didn't sound at all encouraging! But I left before seeing the end result.

Of course when the machine finished I decided not to dry the curtain there and just hang it back wet...

 

[cornutt]

Wow, some hilarious/frightening stories. Reminds me of the time we were out of dishwasher detergent and my mom put Tide in the dishwasher.

In contrast, here's a clever one. Many years ago, we were at an aunt's house and she was trying to wash a rubber-backed bathroom rug in her frog-eye Kenmore. It washed OK but proved impossible to spin; there was just too much concentrated mass, and even putting in several towels on the other side of the basket didn't balance the load. So she draped it over the top of the agitator... and it balanced! It looked really weird spinning that way, but it worked.

 

[donprohel]

Italian terms for dj_gabriele (not relevant for this thread)

"pukabbestia" (with two "b") does not mean "punk with dogs" (as Wikipedia states) but something like "punk like a beast" or "really badly punk" (as Wikipedia states).

There are two "b" because it is the contraction of the term "punk a bestia" and, as you know, in this case the "b" is (should be...) pronounced as a "double b".

And it is not from Bologna, it is Tuscan! (badly hidden pride... hehehe!...)

Punkabbestia - Wikipedia

it.wikipedia.org

 

[haxisfan]

My plain experiences:

I'd love to have something really silly to tell... but my experiences have always been pretty standard!

Although, there are a couple of things I picked up from some of your experiences, but my end results were somewhat different... such as the rubber-backed bathroom rug mentioned by 'cornutt', except that mine was in the kitchen. It was rather old and extremely grubby (to the point that the original pattern was no longer distinguishable). One day I decided to wash it in the machine on the strongest cycle (it needed all the help it could get). The outcome? I couldn't believe how clean it was after that cycle... even the entire rubber backing had come off! Needless to say that I got myself another rug! The new one is made of a fairly stiff material and won't fit any washer... well... at least that keeps the temptation to wash it away!

Last thing... about the inevitable fate for every dishwasher user... namely running out of dishwasher detergent! Well, I used oxy action stain remover powder and it worked beautifully... to the point that I'm now willing to run out of dw tablets on purpose... naahh... it might have unforeseen consequences ;-)

 

[dj-gabriele]

To donprohel:

here in Bologna punkabestia (add another B if you please) most often are sons and daughters of respectable parents but decided to trash their studying careers and instead just get drunk all the time, gather in Via Zamboni and Piazza Verdi, dress "alternative" and have piercings and tattoos, nothing regarding homeless people or rejects for the society as the Wikipedia article states.
I'd say that they're money wasters with an "alternative" style but sure there are some "real" punkabbestia too!

 

[nrones]

Laundrette

Too bad here in Serbia we actually don't have self-service laundrettes. I would love to go there just for fun lol

Some people just don't care if they see suds left out there!
That story with dryer, tent and detergent in it is disgusting really, I would tell them if I saw them putting dirty tent in the dryer.

How many of your friends always use 40 or 30 deg cycles, or even worse fast washes at 30deg?

 

[hoovermatic]

I shared a house in Australia with an American girl who had a British boyfriend and they were both as thick as each other. She used washing up liquid in the dishwasher and wondered why, when she opened the door, a huge slick of thick suds fell out.

He, having run out of laundry detergent (me having hidden mine being heartily sick of him nicking it), used dishwasher detergent - (the cheapest stuff from Jewel Food Barn in a black and white box) for his laundry. Wondered why the woollen jumpers were ruined. Yes, not only had he mixed woollen jumpers with towels and jeans but used thys crap detergent, which wasn't all that good for dishes as i recall. She always used to use Fab3 detergent and he was dead against anything that wasn't 'natural/organic'. He MADE her change to using natural soap flakes but when they ran out, didn't think twice of using my Cold Power or Hurricaine - or on this occassion, alkaline salts!!! Idiots the pair of them.

 

[ultimafan]

washing machine fails?

At the launderette some people put trainers with their washing, I think its a bit silly, as we step in all sorts then to put it in the wash with clothes would just make everything dirty. When I wash trainers I put them in the wash by itself, and then run the machine empty on a wash to get rid of grass and anything else in the drum.

The biggest laundry fail is by Mr. Bean

 

[henry200]

Oh yes, Mr. Bean!  Could anyone be more bumbling and yet so endearing?

 

[strongenough78]

I just watched that whole episode on Youtube. Hilarious! The bully was kind of hot, I think he was hitting on Mr. Bean lol. There was something rather attractive about the bully, but I can't say it here! LOL