4 Reasons You Should Never Overload Your Washing Machine

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Getting everything washed can be a chore, so it's often tempting to put as much in the washing machine as will go inside the drum when you want all the laundry done in a flash. Unfortunately, this can impede your washing machine's efficiency and potentially cause enough damage to necessitate expensive repair services or even a complete replacement.

Here are just four reasons why you should never overload your washing machine.

1. Your Clothes Will Remain 

The whole point of overloading your washing machine is to get more clothes clean at the same time. Unfortunately, you'll often end up interfering with the cleaning process. There needs to be enough room in the drum for clothes to move around. If there isn't, water won't be able to wash through them to get rid of stains and any detergent you put in will remain locked in one spot. When you take your clothes out, some will seem unclean while others will show detergent residue. As such, you'll probably have to rewash all your clothes again.

2. You Increase Chance of Jams

Modern washing machines are made to close without clothes getting stuck between the door seal and the drum. However, putting too much in at once can result in just that happening. When clothes are jammed in, they press up against the door, making it more likely for them to work their way under the drum. This puts added stress on the drum, and it often means finding rips and tears in your clothes when you take them out.

3. You Could Wear the Bearings

Your washing machine uses bearings to move the drum fluidly through every cycle. Bearings never last forever, but they should last years in your washing machine when you put in properly sized loads. If you don't, the bearings will have to take more strain than they're used to. As the bearings fail, the drum won't turn as it should, so you might notice grinding noises as your washing machine runs. When this happens, you'll need to have the bearings replaced. If you don't, the drum itself could become damaged.

4. You Increase Bad Vibrations

When you overload your washing machine, the drum creates more forced as it spins. This creates an unhealthy amount of vibration — in fact, you can often see overloaded washing machines moving around due to heavy vibration. That can pull them away from water and electrical sources, and the vibrations can damage all manner of important internal components.


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