I had a small load of laundry in the washer, just a towel, some underwear, and socks. But after it finished, everything was waterlogged. I tried setting the washer back to rinse and spin, but nothing happens. I hear the motor running, even with the lid open, but nothing spins. The lid switch, which seems to work differently on this washer, seems to be working okay? So now I’ve got a load of laundry that’s soaking wet that I can’t put in the dryer.
The last time this happened to me was many years ago, and I remember that I failed to air dry everything properly, so clothes got moldy. I don’t have a clothesline or anything of the sort, and the towel is quite heavy, it’s so full of water. So how do I make sure this stuff dries without getting moldy? Or alternately, how do I get the spin cycle working? I’m not at all handy, and I’m not sure I’m strong enough to pull the washer away from the wall on my own. All google gives me is ways to dry clothes after the spin cycle, and the tips on the spin cycle are all the same, and I can’t follow any of it.
The clutch is probably broken, or maybe a belt. Nothing you are going to be able to fix without some experience.
As for the soaking clothes… either wring them out by hand over a sink, and put them in the dryer, or put them in a bucket and take them to a laundromat.
Nearest laundromat is closed (and I just realized that I don’t own a bucket. Hm.) and I don’t trust my ability to wring out the clothes enough that I don’t damage the dryer. I’m going to have to do something likely random and cross my fingers. Thanks anyway.
And of course I got the towel dirty again trying to dry it. Fuck me.
Do you have a salad spinner?
If so, put a couple of small items at a time in it, spin it, and that should dry them enough for them to air-dry or go in the dryer.
If not, clothes can soak in cold water for at least a day without going moldy. That gives you enough time to bring them to the laundromat to spin dry.
If you don’t have a bucket, use a thick plastic bag.
Wring them out as best you can by hand and then drape them over various surfaces or hang them from hooks or towel racks or whatever. For example I have a shower rod from which hangs a shower curtain around my bathtub where I sometimes drape stuff over. Or take some kitchen chairs and put them on the porch (if there is a problem with water dripping off the clothes)–and drape stuff over the backs of the chairs.
I think the towel is the only thing that could potentially cause any issues (due to the weight) in the dryer. I’d start by throwing in the other stuff (underwear, socks etc) and get them dry. If they’re still sopping wet, maybe toss in a dry towel with them.
As for the towel, I’d either let it air dry for a few hours then finish it in the dryer OR just toss it in the dryer while it’s wet and see what happens. I think you’ll know right away if it’s going to cause a problem. If it seems okay, let it go, but stay within earshot of the dryer. That way if it gets balled up and starts causing balance issues, you can fix it right away.
Personally, I think it’ll be fine. If it were me, I’d at least try it. You’re not going to do any damage to the dryer just trying it out. If it works, great, if not, turn it off.
As for fixing the washer. A lot of that stuff isn’t overly difficult to fix. In fact, in many cases, IME, the hardest part about some of these fixes is just getting the outer panel(s) off.
However, if you’re not terribly handy, call an appliance repair or handyman.
ETA even if the towel is still sopping wet, I bet it would be fine if you put it in with a ‘load’ of dry towels. That may keep it from slamming into the side of the drum as it tumbles and alleviate any balance issues.
Back when I was stone broke, I was handwashing everything - from underwear, to jeans to towels.
For sturdy items like jeans and towels, I went into the bathroom, looped the item over the shower curtain rod, and twisted manually until as much was wring out as I could manage. I made an impromptu drying line using a random piece of rope tied between a door frame and a window frame about 12 feet away and when I ran out of space on it, I did the medieval/colonial thing and took items outside and draped them over bushes or laid stuff out on clean grass [the grass actually acts like bleach with the offgassing of oxygen]
I don’t understand this bit. Once or twice the coin-op washing machine in my apartment building left the clothes sopping wet and I just dried them on high. I think it may have taken two full dryer cycles but they eventually got dry.
(And given that it’s a coin-op washer, there’s no option just to run a spin cycle.)
It might be the door lock anyway; that makes no logical sense to me, but apparently it did to my washer’s computer. I had somebody come out to fix it, though, and they needed to get the part.
Can you hang things in the bathtub? Put them on cothes hangers and hang the hangers over a shower rod/the shower spout/towel rods/whatever.
You can get a lot of water out by wringing items as best you can, and then laying them out on a towel. Roll it up as tight as you can, and then step on it.