My Little Maytag Washer

I once asked my Grandma what she thought the greatest invention was in her lifetime. She’s in her 80’s and she said, without hesitation, “the electric washing machine.”

When we got married and moved into our first new place, JB’s sister gave us the old Maytag washer and matching dryer that were left in a house they just bought. These babies were old. The kind that have the push-button options, only three choices of temp, etc. It shakes the whole house when it is agitating. I’m not kidding. It used to wake up Yaks from his nap (his room is upstairs from the washroom)! It also leaks water from the bottom and pools water under the drum. We just parked it on top of a drain in the floor and went merrily about our way washing load after load. The dryer died after a short period of time and we bought another Maytag dryer, which has done a great job, but I always felt bad for the little washer sitting next to its big, new, shiny upgrade. The new dryer seemed to look down on him and say, “Huh, why are YOU still here?” Lately, the washer has developed an unpleasant mildew smell. I couldn't figure out where exactly it was coming from, but it was getting pretty bad. You know that smell you get when you leave a load of laundry (in Virginia) in your washer and forget about it? Magnify that smell by a few levels and that’s what my washroom smelled like all the time.

We found a new washer on Craigslist that a couple was selling to move out-of-country. When JB went to pick it up, the guy threw in the dryer for 100$ just so he didn’t have to break up the pair. Now we have a brand new washer and dryer and the old washer is sitting outside on the curb. I need to call DI to have them come pick it up, but it just makes me sad. The new washer is so quiet, I find myself going in there during the cycle to “check on it”. You know like you do with a newborn when you first bring it home -- make sure it is still breathing? It has more than a dozen buttons and features and lights. I kind of miss the noise, the simplicity, and the quirky little things that made my old washer tick. It’s been with us for almost four years and that’s a LOT of loads of laundry (for an old washer)! I’ll miss you, little Maytag washer. I hope this fancy, new washer lives up to your clean, long-standing reputation.