Pull the hoses and drain the tub
Turn off the hot and cold valves before you loosen a hose. Have a pan and towels ready. A washer hose still holds water, and the tub can hold more. Run a drain or pump-out cycle if the machine still powers on, then tip the remaining water into a bucket where it will not soak the floor. Bag the hoses. They drip and they tangle around other cargo. Leave the water valves closed and capped or connected to a plug if you are not installing a new machine the same day. A washer is not a refrigerant appliance, so do not describe it as one at the gate.
Ask about scrap versus the trash bay
Steel, a motor, and sometimes a concrete balancing weight make a washer attractive to scrap yards, and many yards have a specific rule for appliances. A transfer station may accept it only as bulky waste or only in a metal pile. Call and ask about clothes washers in particular. If the drum is full of wet clothes or coins, empty it. Staff should not have to dig laundry out of a machine on the floor. If the washer leaked oil from a transmission, say so. Oily appliances are sometimes directed to a different area.
Keep the path and the truck in mind
Measure the doorway. Front-load machines are dense and awkward. Use a dolly and a second person. Strap the door closed so it does not swing and break. Set the machine low against the cab, upright, and tied. Do not lay a washer on a pile of bags where it can crush them and leak. At the site, follow the appliance or metal lane. If a fee line exists for appliances, the attendant will apply whatever the posted sheet says. Read that sheet or ask. Do not assume a washer is free because it is metal.
Before you go
- Shut the water valves, drain the tub, and bag the hoses.
- Empty clothes, coins, and loose parts from the drum.
- Confirm whether a scrap yard or the disposal site will take the washer.
- Dolly it upright, strap the door, and unload in the assigned bay.
Leaving the supply hoses attached and flooding the laundry room when the machine is pulled forward.
Questions people ask
Does a washer contain refrigerant?
A standard clothes washer does not. Do not confuse it with a refrigerator. Say clothes washer when you call so staff do not send you to the refrigerant line.
What about the shipping bolts?
If they are still in a closet, you do not need them for disposal. If they are in the machine and you can remove them without opening the cabinet beyond the maker's normal access, bag them with other small metal.
Search Dumpmapper by ZIP code or city, then call the site before you load the truck. Hours and accepted materials change.