I have a leaky washer. This is annoying, and probably less efficient than it could be, so I decided I’d look up how to fix the leak and see how I can make laundry a lot less leaky.
In the modern era, it’s easier than ever to see just how to fix different appliances in your house, and I had a suspicion that I knew what was leaking, so I went online and watched someone with a very similar washing machine show just how to fix the problem. I then understood why, exactly, so few people repair washing machines.
The calm and collected man in the video proceeded to completely disassemble the machine, then partially reassemble it so he could turn it upside down, and then disassemble it again. It was a highly elaborate operation, filled with easy to miss steps, easy to lose screws and easy to break parts. All of this was to replace one seal, and if you got it wrong, well, that’s all those steps yet again. Mid-way through the video, I suddenly decided that instead of fixing the broken machine, it made significantly more sense to start saving for a new one. My washing machine isn’t even that nice, it’s plain not worth the hassle that doing this repair would be.
You could argue that it would make sense to get someone else to do the repair, but if you think of it, that wouldn’t be a good idea either. Then they’re spending a great deal of time disassembling the machine and would want to get paid for their labor. This machine hasn’t been in warranty for a decade at least, if not longer, and thus I’d be on the hook for the entire price. At this point, the cost of repair inches increasingly close to the cost of a washing machine, and suddenly we’re in a situation where it doesn’t make sense to repair it.
My washing machine, then, represents a certain issue we have in society, that of everything being inherently disposable. Since seals are things in washing machines that are prone to failure, in theory they could be designed to be replaced fairly easily, but if that was the case why would anyone buy a new machine? Instead, this fairly complex and expensive appliance will get thrown out because of a cheap piece of rubber.
That’s great for the appliance manufacturers, who perpetually need people to continue buying washers. That’s not so great for me, or the poor sucker who is going to have to deliver it to my house, since I’m still not entirely sure how the washer currently in the basement actually got there - it doesn’t appear to be narrow enough to fit through the door but apparently it did once. It’s not great for the environment either, since a discarded washer is a big pile of garbage.
In theory, we should push for appliances that are easy to repair, so this is not so much of a problem. A design where you don’t have to disassemble the entire machine in order to replace one part would be great! We’re not going to see it, however, which is a problem. And nobody really has any incentive for us to see it, because it’s more profitable to sell replacements than replacement parts. And plenty of consumers wouldn’t care, because the needed hatches and levers would look way less pretty than just a smooth case.
It’s a strange situation we’ve found ourselves in, easily the least efficient solution has been found, but it’s as profitable as it is inefficient.
