You and your whole family depend on your washing machine to clean all of your clothes to get you ready for the next week. So it’s important that you have a reliable washer or else you might have to hand wash your clothes, and we all know that hand washing a pile of clothes is very time consuming.

Because your washer is one of the most used appliances in your household, you might encounter a few problems if you aren’t maintaining it from time to time. So here are four common washing machine problems that may arise with easy solutions to help you speed up your laundry washing time.

Caution: Remember to always unplug your washing machine before making any repairs.

common-washer-problems

1. Washing Machine is Not Spinning

This happens when you’re washing machine has small loads or just a few articles of clothing. Don’t do it.

Since most new washers have balance sensors, if you wash small loads or just a few pieces of clothing at a time, these sensors can interpret a potential risk as the washer could spin out of balance and lead to extreme vibration.

The same case goes with overloading your washing machine. This can also cause excessive heaviness and prevent your washer from spinning.

The solution: Don’t overload or underload the washer. Only wash what your washing machine is built to wash. As they say balance is the key to living a stress-free life.

2. Washing Machine is Very Noisy

Something is possibly stuck in the drum like coins (we all forget to empty our pockets before throwing in our pants into the washing machine) or loose buttons.

When this rattling sound happens, check the heater hole or the sump hose hole.

Also loose bearings can cause this noise. If you turn the drum with your hand and the noise emerges, then it’s probably the bearings that need to be replaced.

Another possibility is that something is stuck in the drain pump.

The solution: Check the filter to see if something is in there. If so, remove it. That should solve the noise problem.

3. Washing Machine Smells Bad

You open your washing machine and you get a whiff of a really bad smell. No fear, this is a common problem when you use low to cold temperature washes with liquid detergents without using hot water.

When you wash your clothes with low temperatures, bacteria slowly builds up inside the washer and the other tank causes that stinky smell.

The solution: It’s time to clean your washing machine, so run two empty loads of hot water with one quart of vinegar.

4. Washing Machine Door Won’t Open

If your washing machine door is stuck and doesn’t want to open, then it might mean a faulty door lock mechanism.

The solution: Unplug the washer and pull the machine out. Get the lid off and reach down to the door lock. Gently push the latch back to pop the door open.

If you’re running a load and it’s filled with water, it has to stay locked. If the load ends and it still won’t open, repeat the solution above.

If all else fails and you’re still not able to fix your washing machine problems, give us a call at ARS Appliance Repair Service at 1-866-415-3937 and we’ll be happy to come check it out and give you a repair quote. You never know, we can probably help you save a couple of bucks and get your washing machine up and running in no time.