What can I say...laundry is an important subject to me. But this post is kinda sorta about home improvement. Plus there are before-and-after shots, and who doesn't love those?
Before we moved, we had these beauties:
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| The before, before shot. |
High efficiency, front load washer and dryer. Don't let the stacking fool you, these were full-size machines and I could get a ton of clothes in one load. They had a million settings, they were fast and quiet and all around awesome. But there was no way we were going to try to move these ourselves, so they had to convey with the house. I consoled myself with the thought of the even more awesome set I'd buy once we built our new house.
But...we're living in a rental for the time being, and that rental didn't come with a washer and dryer. We decided to just buy a used set that we could leave behind eventually (by this point you may be sensing that we weren't eager to move appliances, and you would be correct). Our plan was to find a set via Craigslist right after we moved down, while we still had the moving truck and dolly. That worked out really well except there was only one person selling a set when we were ready to buy, and that set was pretty rough looking. But the issues were cosmetic and the price and timing were right, so we got them.
As you can see, it was quite the come down:
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| Before |
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| Nasty before shot |
The previous owner was a big fan of Spray & Wash, and she always held the stained piece of clothing over the open washer while she sprayed it. Her aim left a bit to be desired, thereby teaching her (and me) a valuable lesson: the stuff that is designed to get stains out of your clothes will also try its hardest to get the paint off of your washer. I had no idea how strong stain remover could be, but it had bubbled the paint off of the inside lid and the top of the washer, allowing the metal underneath to begin rusting.
Now again, this didn't affect the washer mechanically, it just looked ugly as sin. And I am a person who needs beauty in my life. At first I thought I'd just get some appliance paint and touch up the bad areas, but then I decided to get a bit creative and have some fun with it.
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| Finally ready to paint. |
First I had to get all the bubbly paint off. I put a garbage bag inside the washer, tucked up under the inner rim to catch all the gunk. Then I went at it with a paint stripper sponge, which is like a green dish scrubby on steroids. It worked really well, but every time I thought I'd about gotten it all I'd find another bubbly spot. Next I broke out the putty knife, which scraped off even more paint. I wound up uncovering a lot more surface than I expected to - that Spray & Wash is powerful stuff!
I finally got all the softened paint scraped off and sanded smooth. The trash bag inside the washer turned out to have been a brilliant move (she says modestly) because it caught all the gunk and was super easy to clean up.
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| Ewww |
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| Shiny & clean! |
After a couple of coats of white enamel it was beginning to look like a new washer again.
I knew I wanted something funky and colorful for the inside lid, but I was short on ideas. Robert suggested I paint "RUN!" in drippy red letters, as a surprise for whoever moves in after us. So tempting, but no. Emily suggested I check Pinterest for ideas, which I did. Big mistake: nothing else got done in my life for the next week. I still didn't find anything that really struck my fancy but it did spark an idea. Amazon to the rescue with some vinyl wall stickers! I let the enamel dry for a few days before applying, and then I let my inner artist out.
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| My inner artist doesn't get out much. |
I love it, especially because with the lid closed it just looks like any other boring white washer. While I'm really looking forward to having a fancy new set, I'm pretty tickled with my fun, like-new washer.
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| When was my last tetanus shot? |
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| Where are my sunglasses? |
The obligatory side-by-side shot.
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