The old and the new

Let's talk about washing machines for a minute.

My last (and first) washer was a Maytag from 1981. I know this because it was a wedding gift from my grandparents. Never had a service call. Never gave me problems.

My latest washer is 1/2 of a Whirlpool Duet team. It's pretty. It's large. It's 2 1/2 years old. It's broken. When I called the repair guy he called it and "older model". I almost had a comeapart. Good Golly! Old?? Seriously?? It was almost $1000 for crying out loud. It should outlive ME! So, after waiting a week for the part (a computer part, of course) it's getting fixed today to the tune of almost $350. We will fix it once. After that my husband vows that Whirlpool might get it back. He mumbled something about through their front window or something. (Don't call me if something happens at whirlpool. It's the joke of a frustrated person. It will never actually happen)

I will share with you some enlightening things that Byron, my repair guy told me. If your bottle of HE soap says that you will get X number of washes from that bottle, you should actually get X times 5. Yes. 5. He said that in the new, efficient front loaders (I'm sure the same is true for others as well) for a large load all you need is 1/2 Tablespoon of soap. Craziness. He said that he practices what he preaches and that his dirty clothes become clean. But, the bottle says X! I cry. He says, They are selling soap. Ahhhh. Still craziness, but I'm doing it.

He also said that while the instruction manual will tell you to clean your washer with bleach, you should really use white vinegar. I can do that.

Shout out to Bob's Repair in South Bend, IN. They are awesome. They really take the time to explain every little thing.

I'm going to do as many loads of laundry as I can in the next 30 - 90 days. After that the warranty is up on the repairs and I want to make sure that it is going to stay fixed!

If you want me, I'll be in the basement.