A friend of mine asked me to help him out with an unusual problem. A couple of weeks ago he decided to wash his long, narrow hall rug. He rolled it up, and tossed it in his front loading washing machine. In the washing, the rug became unrolled and expanded into a bundled mess. It will not come out no matter what we try: Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! I've tried on 2 different occasions to try to get it out..I even tried to take off the front face plate..but it's attached from screws on the inside. I can't think of anything else except cutting it out....which would be a pretty serious task on that thick thing. Fucking crazy...any ideas? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
dynamite.. new washer.. new rug.. lots of patience? the knife should work.. could always call a tow truck to hook to it..
If you haven't already tried this: find the inner tuck - the center - and tighten the roll from there, working your way outward gradually in a kind of spiral.
The problem is, the rug is so thick and stiff, even when wet, that you can't move it around much. The drum of the machines is a couple of inches larger in diameter than the front hole...and the rug has expanded to fill it completely...there's just no way to compress the mass small enough to get it out. I've probably spent a total of 2 hours trying to work each side out a little...with no results. I think String has the best idea for a tool, as scissors or sheers wouldn't even dent it. It's going to a take a metric buttload of time to cut through the bastard...little by little...piece by piece. We just sat there and laughed at how ridiculous it was.
You need to chain the washing machine to the back of a truck and then hook the rug with a towing chain and pull it out with another truck. Or just dump both of them.
I can get it out without damaging the rug or the washing machine. My suggestion - push it back in as far as it will go, then try to re-roll it from the inside so that you can pull out a chunk that's narrow enough to fit through the hole..... and wiggle the rest of it out while periodically reaching in and re-squeezing the bulk. Again - I could do it if I were actually there.
Let the rug dry out for a few days, until it is completely dry, then try to extract it. I'd think that the water thats in the rug now is causing you the biggest problem but after it has evaporated you should be able to tug at it and remove it without to many problems. You still will have to tug though, pretty hard.
First, push it back inside and put it through several SPIN cycles (just spin, not the rinse/spin cylce), the rug will shed a lot of water this way, then find one end of the rug to pull from, preferably the one that is as close to the center of the mass as possible.
The front panel is made complicated by the Black rubber boot, which allows a front load washer not to spill water. This boot is connected from the outer casing panel to the watertight inner drum. You do not get to the clamp that connects this boot from the front. Most models have two clips which hold the lid to the front panel (search online for "MAKE/MODEL# FRONT LOAD WASHER REPAIR"). My magnifier says your machine is an ELECTROLUX...I cannot focus the reading of the Model #....I think its "FDY......" By lifting the top lid, you should be able to access the removal of the front panel, exposing a larger area opening to remove the rug, without damage.
It's a Frigidaire. I looked up the service manual online. The only problem...it's a stacked unit...so it's got a full sized dryer attached to the top of it. I looked at the complete dis-assembly plans. That rubber boot is a bitch..it's attached at the front (easy to get off), but it's also attached at the back, which is completely blocked by the rug...so there's no getting it off. I'll tell him to try the spin cycle idea...it couldn't hurt. Moral of the story: Don't fucking wash long rugs in a front loading washing machine! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Actually I wash my bathroom rug in the front loader washing machine and never had a problem. It is of course a much smaller rug than the area rug you stuffed into the machine. If you have any problems trying to get a rug into a machine of any type never put it in to wash it. Take it to a commercial wash house and use their larger machines. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
If you damage the boot, you will have to take the dryer off the washer to replace it, so you might consider doing that anyway. By accessing the top of the washer, you can see the big C-clamp that holds the boot to the inner drum. And the screws that hold the front panel on.
I just sent my friend who owns the washer this thread link. I'm thinking I may just try that. It'll be a pain...but worth it if we can save the rug...I think he gave a few hundred for it. Worst case...I fuck it up and we call in a professional. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Inside a washing machine is the perfect school for a closet physics enthusiast. Where else does one find domestic access to: Electronics, Structural Engineering, Mechanics, Fluid Hydraulics, Etc...all in the same coordinated system. I once drew a three frame cartoon in my head. The first frame had a person by a stream, washing clothes on a rock. The second revealed that same person, time advanced, using a washing machine. The third and last frame was time advanced again, showing the person sitting by the stream with a remote control, next to a robot washing clothes on a rock...
Not the sides, the center. Use a big pair of vice grips. And not pulling out - rolling within - tighten the coil. The idea is to create some space midway, for the outer wrap to be pushed into. Possibly one of those big barbecue forks inside, pronged into the weave of the central coil bend, with the vicegrips or a plumbers wrench on the handle outside for torque? If you haven't tried it, that is. The approach has worked for me in somewhat analogous situations.
I could try that...the only thing is, the rug is soooo heavy, thick and rigid, I don't think I could ever overcome all of the friction. I might be able to twist it a little in the front, but the part toward the back would never move. I think if I could get the front plate off, and expose the drum...I should be able to get it out.
Guilty afterthought of simple warning: 1). Remove power source before entering cabinet. 2). Deep interior sheet-metal edges are unfinished and sharp. 3). Remember...goes back together like it came apart.
How about adding something that would act as a lubricant? Much of the problem is that the surfaces don't easily slide against each other. You'll have to solve that problem if you need to dig for a corner, or at least an edge, to get it started. It does appear to be a very good chance that this project is hopeless. It's time to rationally decide whether you'd rather save the machine or the rug, based at least partially on the cost of destroying one in the process of saving the other, plus the cost of the rescue effort. A washing machine repairman is going to charge you at least $100 just to walk in the door. Although you may be better off with a general-purpose handyman. You want someone who has clever ideas and a lot of disparate experience, rather than an intricate knowledge of how the machine works. And really strong hands.
