Draining Your Washer for Dummies

front-load washer drain filter

There are few habits of highly ineffective freelancers that drive us bonkers more than the "rehash what someone else already said, only with less information (because I don't understand it)" trick. Unfortunately, that's probably the most common shortcoming of the vast landscape of j-school and English Lit grads who hacked their way through millions of "titles" for the erstwhile eHow.com, including self-proclaimed "professional writers" like Shaunta Alburger. Shaunta visited her version of "How to Get Standing Water Out of a Washing Machine" on eHow back in 2014; the company has since moved it to Hunker.com.

We know, 'cause we looked, that there are lots of competent DIY articles about the subject online; including one from Mr. Rooter and another from the folks at Bob Vila (both of which, somewhat suspiciously, refer to "a rogue sock"). The two we checked seem to have been written – or at least fact-checked – by someone who has a working familiarity with washing machines.

Alburger, on the other hand, seemed to be familiar only with the control panel and the tub of her machine. More's the pity. If she had known how the things worked, we'd like to think that Shaunta would have not gone straight to disassembling the drain pump. Yep, after suggesting that people wait for a slow drain, she suggested that they "line up several buckets" and then,

"Unplug the machine and open the main access panel. Find the large rubber hose connected to the pump at the bottom of the machine. Check inside the hose for a small piece of clothing that may have made its way inside and gotten stuck."

Uhhh, Shaunta? Besides the fact that none of your alleged references said to do this first, we're at  a loss as to why you're starting by messing with the pump! No, the first thing to do is to place the end of the drain hose below the water level and let gravity do its thing. Only if that doesn't work should you start messing with the mechanical systems. That's even if you can find the "main access panel"!

While we're at it, Alburger never mentioned the real first step: RTFM. We know for a fact that the LG front-loader in the ANHQ laundry room has a "drain and spin" setting for emptying water left by a power failure or other fault, and that front-loaders generally have a filter that can become clogged and prevent normal draining. Did Shaunta say anything about either of those? Nope...

Unfortunately, Shaunta skipped over checking the drain hose for obstructions, troubleshooting the door/lid lock, or just plain looking at the owner's manual. Sheesh: and people wonder why we name freelancers like Alburger (aka Grimes) the Dumbass of the Day. Isn't it obvious?

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