It All Comes Out In the Wash

It's sad to say, but I have a very personal relationship with my washing machine. This contraption is one of my favorite advances with in the last century- along with electricity and indoor plumbing. I love washing clothes. It is the one thing in life that you can always count on fixing a stinky situation. Clothes smell bad and get tarnished by food and dirt, you simply drop them in the washer and out they come, good as new. If only everything in life could be so simple. My KitchenAid washer and dryer set came as an inheritance from my grandmother (Lord rest her soul) and I believe she used it a whopping 3 times to wash about 4 pieces of clothing. As these are some of the only things I have to my name I am not only very thankful for them but I am vigilant in keeping them in working order. As of late, it's gone a little overboard... I'll explain

I've realized these past few weeks that "nesting" as they call it, is the universe's way of showing you that the world is a filthy, germ infested place and you alone have been chosen as the savior of all mankind ~ well savior of your home at the very least (although I'm noticing it everywhere: stores, parks, you name it, it's filthy). So next time you think that "nesting" means "making a Martha Stewart-esque home" think again. It has nothing to do with making a home and everything to do with ridding the world of your archenemy~ filth.

Many items have been ravaged by this "nesting" phase. I tend to lean towards the use of bleach (don't worry, I use those ultra trendy purple gloves that you can pull up to your armpits and I have face masks that block the smell. Plus, I know how to dilute) and have used it on everything in the house. The washing machine came under siege a few weeks ago when I noticed that the fabric softener dispenser seemed to have a build up of some sort. I couldn't clean it thoroughly with it intact so I proceeded to pull the middle "thingy" apart in order to do the job properly. While I started pulling my beloved washer apart I had a fleeting thought of 'what if I can't put it back together?' but this was quickly overpowered by my biological super-need to save my unborn baby from the germs that are awaiting on the outside. It was DISGUSTING. The waxy junk we call softener had been caked on and never cleaned away. Simple Green was my very best friend that day. If you haven't cleaned your fabric softener dispenser it is my duty to tell you to clean that thing out... as is it vile and there is no way the clothes can actually get clean in a machine that dirty. YUCK. I won't be using the dispenser any more due to the fact that it grossed me out so bad. And yes, I got each piece back together (miraculously) and found that I enjoyed taking my appliances apart and cleaning them... this could be bad... I know

A few weeks after my battle against the evil fabric softener dispenser I had started a load of clothes when it happened... my beautiful machine made the most horrifying noise. I ran out of the bathroom shouting "TURN IT OFF TURN IT OFF!!!!!" It was making a horrible noise and not agitating. I opened the lid and looked in with dismay... no... this cannot be happening. The wash cycle hadn't finished yet and the tub was full of dirty water... What was a girl to do? I called the repair man that I had used a few years back and told him what was going on, I even held the phone up to the machine and turned it back on. "Sounds like your motor coupler is broken" he says.
"Well great, when can you come fix it" I reply.
"Tomorrow, around 1"
"Okay thanks, how much is that going to run us?"
"$80"
"Okay, see you tomorrow."
Two things. 1) I was horrified that the clothes were going to sit in that water for another day 2) I had to tell my husband the quote.
My husband about lost it. He couldn't believe it was going to cost him that much to fix and started looking on craigslist for a washer. My husband was certain he could find a whole washer for less than the one part that was causing all the turmoil. What he underestimated was my dedication and attachment to my washer. I couldn't believe he would even entertain the idea of getting rid of my washer. I mean come on, it matched the dryer, they were a set, they go together, and we were in no shape to go drop the kind of money it would have taken for me to trade my beloved set for another.

ALAS! Behold the wonders of google. Since that unsuspecting repair guy told me what the problem was I searched the wonderful web in hopes of finding instructions on how to fix the motor coupler myself. And wouldn't you believe, I found them. I thumbed through the phone book for the nearest appliance repair/parts shop and found one right down the road. Turns out the piece I needed was only $12... go figure.

With instructions and part in hand I set out to unleash the Rosie Riveter in me.
Then I started pulling my washer apart.
And found that the liquid softener dispenser was a warning for how putrid the hidden parts of my machine were. It was so bad I had to use the flat head screw driver to scrape it clean.

See that gunk smeared onto the side of my garbage? Yeah, that's only a fraction of what I scraped out of my machine... I wasn't sure I'd share this part, but here goes... I found a cigarette filter in the liquid bleach dispenser.. yeah, repulsive.

I was very pleased with the fruits of my labor.

It was now possible for me to press forward in my quest to fix my beloved machine. This is the water pump. It is in front of the motor... which I had to get to.

This is what lies right behind the water pump. See you just have to pop those silver clips off and the pump pulls right off the motor! This part looked scary to me. There were wires... and more screws than I knew what to do with. Unfortunately there were no pictures or diagrams in my instructions so some of it was anyones guess. I had spent a few hours on hold with KitchenAid attempting to get a parts diagram but they said they don't have those... I know, shocking. And, oh hey, looks like dirt even finds its way into the motor. See the cobwebs and hair? Ack!

      

After careful inspection I decided I would try and remove the screws that looked to me like they were holding the motor together... and it turned out I was right. Whew.

And there you have it my friends. That three pronged plastic piece right there is what was just about to cost us $80... I replaced the part and put the motor back together. Okay, so I had to have help on one part. I tried and tried and tried and realized that the straining might not be the best idea as I am carrying the most precious of cargo. Lucky for me I have an ultra strong husband.

Lucky for him, his wife just saved him $68. Moral of the story? I'll let her say it....