August 26th, 2009
It is a measure of the narrowness of unemployment that I am about to write a post about my washing machine’s fluff cycle, an intensely annoying and idiotic feature of my front loader that makes me want to rip out my hair. You have been warned.
My machine is, as I say, a front loader. So it has a lock feature that prevents you from opening the door when the machine is in operation, presumably to prevent heartbreaking gushes of soapy water all over the foyer floor. This is fine except that the machine was clearly designed for idiots and so you cannot bypass the lock at any point in the cycle. Started the machine and realized you left out a single sock? Sorry, Operator, there may be only 30 millilitres of fluid in the drum but you can’t open the door! Handy lock feature!
God forbid you realize part way through the cycle that something red is in with the whites because you can’t open the door, at all, at any point, once you have hit “start” and before the machine decides to relinquish the goods after the full completion of all cycles. Handy lock feature!
Most frustrating: at the end of the wash, after the spin dry, my machine has what I call the fluff cycle. It takes about five minutes and involves the drum rotating slowly clockwise… and then counterclockwise… and back and forth until the clothes within are all peeled off the sides of the drum, where spinning deposited them, and nicely piled at the bottom for the grand unveiling. I fucking HATE this cycle. I have never been a fan of superfluous cosmetic additions to appliances and cannot stand having my time wasted by a washing machine that is no longer washing or spinning but rather merely fluffing.
Who the fuck came up with that idea, anyway?
I wouldn’t even mind if I could open the door during this entirely water free process – maybe I am in a hurry and want to get the clothes into the dryer. Maybe I am just an autonomous adult and don’t want my decisions made by an appliance. The possibilities are endless. But no: not an option. I am left hopping from foot to foot in anguished impatience as the machine leisurely rolls back and forth, tormenting me.
And the final insult: after the fluffing is over, there is about a thirty second wait between cessation of movement and the click of the lock releasing. Why, I ask you? Why is this necessary?
I’m confused… does your washing machine not have an off switch? Can you not just turn it off at will?
No. Pushing in the dial to stop the action does not release the door lock. Nothing releases the door lock except finishing the load, including unplugging and or turning off the breaker to the machine. Strikes me as a flaw.
That definitely does smack of bad design. If I may ask, who makes this silly device (and what’s the model, if you know it)?
It is a Frigidaire Gallery Series… no numbers in evidence.
Hrrrm… according to the online manual I found, it looks like there should be a “Pause/Cancel” button on there somewhere. Hit it once to let you add something, hit it twice to just stop the whole process. The lock takes up to 3 minutes to dis-engage depending on when you try to stop the process.
This is assuming I found the right manual…
There is no pause/cancel button. Maybe I have an older one. You know… the stupid version, before they improved it.
Could very well be :p