Uh Ohhhh... Tiiiiiidle Waaaave!

Ar' there Maties. Grab ye ol' mop and bucket. We need ta swab this 'ere kitchen deck. The waters hath over come us!

Oh, what a gem. My beautiful Whirlpool leaker... Uhhh, I mean washer. What can I say. It's not often that you consistently use something that you're not to fond of, on a daily basis.

However, this washer just happens to be one of those types of things. Hey, washing machines are expensive. It's not like you can just run out to the store real quick, and pick up an extra washer! So, I'm here to help you make a better choice. Or at least, not to make the same choice that we did!

Our whirlpool came into our lives brand new, from Sears. This is one of the few large, major appliances that we've purchased. Unfortunately for us, we weren't afforded the luxury of comparison shopping. You see, money is rather tight around here, so price was the issue.

We chose the least expensive one that they had. (Whirlpool Large Capacity/Heavy Duty - Automatic Washer model LSQ8243H). The more I think about it, the more I wish we had spent a little extra, and purchased a higher quality model. I Guess you get what you pay for. You spend cheap money, you get cheap merchandise.

We always had a Whirlpool (or Kenmore - which is actually the same company) washer or dryer in our house, growing up. My Mom never had a major problem (aside from the typical maintenance issues) with any of them. As a matter of fact, my Dad still uses both washing machines they've owned (they are lined up, side by side, in the cellar).

The first one would have to be about 20 years old, and the second one is about 13 years old. Both are going strong. Why did they buy a second machine, and keep the first one as well???? Well, that's my parents for you. When the first one needed minor repairs, they purchased the second one. Then, they kept both active........ Oh, and there WERE two dryers, too. That is, until our dryer broke down, and my Dad gave us one of his "spares".

For the most part, Whirlpools are pretty reliable. Unfortunately, we purchased a grunting, drooling monster.

Let me tell you about some of the great features this machine has (then I'll get into the disappointments):

Load Size Control: This knob is very useful. There are times that I just need to throw in a few things, and times that I have a mountain of laundry. This washer has more size choices then most.

EXTRA SMALL: For tiny loads of unmentionables, or a few dining room napkins.

SMALL: A bunch of my son's Onezies, socks, and PJ's. How about my husband's gym clothes. (Peeeeyeeewwwww!)

MEDIUM: Maybe some bathroom or kitchen towels, or a few of my husbands work shirts. Or perhaps, a load of my son's chocolate covered overalls and sauce stained shirts. (Not at the same time as my husband's shirts, of course! WWhheewwwww! Wouldn't that look lovely!)

LARGE: A "normal" load of white wash, or my husband's work pants, or a load of my son's and my clothes. Maybe a single set of bed sheets, or a table cloth.

EXTRA LARGE: Several sets of sheets, or a comforter, or the all important "oh my, I haven’t done laundry for a couple of days" monster size, emergency "we need something to wear", shove as much in as you can..... type of load.

Temperature Control:

COLD/COLD: For anything that may run, and try to infect your other laundry with it's colors, or things that you are afraid may shrink.

WARM/COLD: Permanent press shirts, slacks, and some colors that are not real dark, and you don’t want them to fade.

WARM/WARM: Dirtier shirts, slacks, or such... like my son's clothes after he's restyled them with designs in grape juice, and strawberries.

HOT/COLD: For white wash (towels, napkins, sheets, face cloths, etc.), and very heavily soiled clothes. I would not recommend using this temperature for any cotton clothing, unless you want to provide your toddler with a new shirt that looks just like one that Daddy use to have!

Extra Rinse: An extra rinse cycle, control knob. It's purpose is for loads that may be slightly more grungy, and you just cringe at the idea of them coming out dirty (like my Hubby's gym clothes). Use this extra rinse option, and you're all set. This option is available on all the cycles except "hand washables".

Cycles: All the individual cycles also have load sizing options. This helps you narrow your selections down to completely fit the load your attempting to clean.

NORMAL: This is for towels, sheets, tee shirts, underwear (men's, kid's, or women's ugly cottony type ones), and the like. You can choose from "super", "heavy", "regular", or "soft".

PERMANENT PRESS: Shirts, slacks, jeans, and basically, most clothes. You can choose from "normal", and "light".

DELICATE: This would be for dainty undies, slips, camisoles, and things like that. (Basically, you won't be washing anything of your husbands in this cycle...... well, I don't think you will be, anyway! You never know!). You can choose between "normal", or "light".

HAND WASHABLES: Panty hose, or basically anything that says "hand wash only". Sometimes you can get away with washing a few "dry clean only" things in this cycle. Just be very careful, and read the label. If it's silk or rayon, you might end up creating some new fashion designs for Barbie.


If you open the lid of the washer, you will find two other features inside. On the stock (the arm that swishes the clothes around inside the washer) there is an opening for adding liquid fabric softener. At the front right hand corner (of the indentation where the lid rests on the washer) there is a reservoir for adding liquid bleach, so you won't create a tie dye effect on your sheets and towels.

Ok, now for my gripes!

For starters, no matter what I do or how small/big the load is, this washing machine has a habit of walking across the floor. THUNKA, THUNKA, THUNKA, THUNKA ! Because our washer is in the kitchen (which is actually a wide open space that leads right into the dinning room - no walls or dividers), there's no getting away from the noise. You can't hear yourself think when this thing is going through the spin cycle.

Then you have the matter of water leakage. Do a load of laundry, get a puddle! It's that simple. Unless I happen to have plans to wash the kitchen floor, immediately after finishing the wash, then it's not to convenient. We now keep a large towel wedged under the front and sides of the machine, to (hopefully) soak up the flow.

We've had the repair man from Sears take a look at it, but he's at a loss. He can't find any problems. (Who knows, maybe it's possessed!)

So, we just keep using it as is. Day after day, wash after wash, thunk after thunk..... we trudge on. Wading through the Whirlpool River!


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