The saying goes “you don’t know what you’ve got until you lose it,” and, although it generally relates to love, it applies to everything in life.

There is an essential appliance that, although helps us to do our daily household chores, is often overlooked. Its high durability and low maintenance requirements make it “invisible” to our eyes…we are talking about none other than the washing machine.

It isn’t until it is damaged that we realize how much we depend on this appliance. And we come to understand what a modern life blessing it represents when we have to wash by hand or go to the laundromat.

We tend to not pay attention to washing machines, not going beyond the principle of “not mixing white clothes with colored clothes.” Little do we know about the minimum care that these appliances should have, and sometimes, we don’t even perform the cleaning cycles of the motor regularly. The care we are talking about includes clothes or materials that you should never wash in it.

So, this time we’ll talk about those items that can damage your washing machine.

The 6 items you shouldn’t wash in your washing machine

1. Coins. We frequently forget to check the pockets of our pants and/or jackets and we realize it only when the washing machine sounds like you’re washing a piece of metal or small rocks. If you are lucky, you’ll rescue the coins in time, but if you usually set the washing machine and leave to do other chores, you may end up ruining the appliance.

What is the danger behind this? A coin can break the fins of the drainage pump, get stuck in the drum rotation system, block the drain tube and even break the protective glass in older models. Yes, a simple coin can do all this and much more. We didn’t want to write a special section for keys, but they do just as much damage as coins and just as much noise.

2. Sneakers or sports shoes. Who hasn’t put their sneakers in the washing machine to make them look brand new? We all did it as teenagers more than once.

Inside the washing machine, the weight of shoes can destabilize the drum, damage other clothes, and/or scratch the tank. If you do this frequently, you can seriously damage the appliance’s drum and its internal system.

3. Pillows. You’ve probably heard about dust mites and all those allergens that we host in our beds. So, you may have thought about removing them from your pillows by washing them on a delicate cycle. That’s a bad decision.

Pillows made of foam can weaken, break, and lose their shape. Today there are many hypoallergenic and dust mite-resistant pillow options available.

4. Bras or women’s lingerie. The more delicate, the less advisable it is to wash these garments in the washing machine. You risk damaging the lace and embroidery, deforming the wires, or even worse, getting them hooked to other clothes, causing tears in the fabric. One way to wash them is with a mesh bag to protect them and use a delicate cycle.
5. Waterproof clothing. These are the garments that create a strange and peculiar effect when washed in the washing machine since the material traps water like a balloon, and it usually bursts in the spin cycle, soaking what it shouldn’t soak. Please don’t try this at home.
6. Your pet’s clothing or utensils. There’s a simple reason behind it: they fill the washing machine with hair, and if you wash these items along with your clothes, your clothes will also get full of hair. In addition, pet hair can clump together and stick to the drum or clog the drainpipes. If you want to avoid this, use a lint roller or tape to clean the garment before washing.

We hope you’ll review this list of enemies of your washing machine before you put in the next load.