WASHDAY WOES

Our washing machine quit working a few weeks ago.

We do laundry for seven people here, plus all the misc. towels, dishtowels, cleaning rags, and dog blankets. I have a dachshund that pees in her crate almost every night, which means I have a stinky dog towel to wash every morning. If you let it sit around in a hamper, it gets REALLY stinky. If I bathe dogs, I have a lot of towels that need immediate washing. The rug by the back door hasn't been washed in weeks. Ick.

The little girls like to change clothes multiple times a day, and they don't always (or usually) put the still-clean stuff they just took off back where it goes. They throw it on the floor and the cats sleep on it and it becomes dirty-by-default laundry.

We have a lot of laundry. I need a washing machine.

I've gone over to Grandma's apartment to do laundry several times. Grandma has one washer, but there's also a free one down the hall. Grandma lives in an apartment complex the size of Rhode Island, so I have to walk about a quarter mile down the hall to the washer. The routine goes like this: Put clothes in Grandma's washer. Walk down hall, put clothes in other washer. Go back to Grandma's. Wait. Put in fabric softener. Back down hall, put in fabric softener. Go back to Grandma's. Wait. Move clothes to dryer. Walk down hall, put clothes in dryer. Go back to Grandma's. Wait. Etc. until it's all done.

We've also been to the laundromat twice. It costs massive amounts of quarters and the woman who runs it is scary. Friendly, but not my type. She wants to talk to everyone and she has an enormous, booming voice. She monitors your every move and the kids can't put fingerprints on anything without her telling them to stop--nicely, but still, I can't handle the idea that the friendly laundry room lady is watching my every move. Last time, I stayed home and sent Fred.

This wasn't actually supposed to be about not having a washer. It was supposed to be about buying a washer, which I just did, online. It was a whole lot harder than I thought it would be.

Once upon a time, I guess that a person who needed a washer would go to a store, shop around, look at washers, talk to salespeople, and then buy one.

Now, we have the dubious advantage of online reviews--user reviews, and Consumer Reports. Naturally, I had to research washing machines before buying one.

Just picking out a model you like isn't enough, of course. You have to make sure that you can actually find it in your area, and that you can get someone to deliver it for a reasonable price, and that they will haul away the old one.

I went back and forth online approximately five thousand times between Consumer Reports, Home Depot, Lowe's, Best Buy, and a lot of misc. sites where I was hunting for user reviews of particular models. All this was complicated by the fact that I really really wanted a larger machine than we've had before, so the 3.5 vs. 4.0 factor was weighed into everything else.

It turns out that you can't find a perfect washing machine. They all get their fair share of negative reviews, even if you spend a thousand dollars, and some of the "Recommended" Consumer Reports washers have user reviews on Consumer Reports that universally say the washer is a piece of junk.

I mean, this was exhausting.

I finally got one. Online, sight unseen. There's just no way we want to go out and shop for one, kids in tow, store to store to store. Forget it. I'm not real picky, I just want the thing to run properly and to hold a lot of laundry.

Total cost, including tax and the required new hoses: 535.82. Free delivery and haul away of old appliance by Home Depot. Perfect user reviews? No. Several people said that it broke down. I'm hoping they are just way too hard on washers, overload, etc. and that the thing will work for us.

Delivery scheduled for two days from now, and I can hardly wait. I guess the pee towels will just have to pile up a bit longer.