Lessons I Learned When The Washing Machine Broke

The week before Christmas the agitator on my washing machine quit working.  I called my usual washing machine repairman and he was booked for that week and then closed until after the new year.  No way could I wait that long to do laundry so I turned to Facebook to ask for a reputable repairman.  A friend had the same problem recently and she knew how to fix it.  Here are a few lessons I learned from that experience:

1. Google it.  For some reason it never occurred to me to try to fix it myself.  I do a lot of DIY projects but this seemed out of my league.  Turns out there are a lot of tutorials for this problem and the part to fix it was less than $10.  

2. Your washing machine is not as clean as you think it is.  I was appalled at how gross our machine was once I had the agitator out of it.  Every part I took out got a good cleaning and then I cleaned out all of the nooks and crannies I could get to on the machine.  

3. Do not overload your washing machine.  The guy at the appliance parts store said the main reason the agitator stops working is the machine has been overloaded.  He said there should be about an inch of water above your clothes when the tub is full.

3. Laundry piles up quickly when your machine is broken.  I usually do a load a day and it was four days before the machine was fixed.  A load a day doesn't seem too bad but four loads at once made me feel like all I did that day was laundry.

What projects have you tackled that were much easier than you thought they would be?