Wanna know what happens when you put regular detergent in an H.E. washer? Read on!

[Katastrophe]

You get foam. Lots and lots and lots of foam. Foam everywhere.

And, as an added benefit, you get laughter from your spouse.

:thwap

Lesson learned: Never assume that the detergent on top of the washer is the RIGHT detergent.

[progrmr]

:worthless

[Katastrophe]

Oh, no, mister. It's bad enough that I documented it forever in text on the internet. Photographic evidence REALLY comes back to haunt you. :)

Besides, I think my wife was laughing too hard to take pics, and the foam is all gone now.

[Spudman]

I'm inclined to agree.
:worthless

[kiteman]

Is that what really happened Kat? My sis was adamant that we use HE detergent in her HE machine and I thought she was being silly.

Glad someone else found out for me. :poke

EDIT: I talked to my sis about it and she told me you can use regular detergent BUT reduce the amount significantly.

[Katastrophe]

Yep, Kiteman... I had to use a brand new dustpan as a kind of shovel, and a Lego box, about 3 gallons in volume (bigger than my closest bucket).

I pulled 6 containers of thick foam out of there, run extra rinse cycles, and run another cycle without detergent to get it all out of there. It just kept growing, and growing!

Pretty funny now, but wasn't last night.

[kiteman]

Yep, Kiteman... I had to use a brand new dustpan as a kind of shovel, and a Lego box, about 3 gallons in volume (bigger than my closest bucket).

I pulled 6 containers of thick foam out of there, run extra rinse cycles, and run another cycle without detergent to get it all out of there. It just kept growing, and growing!

Pretty funny now, but wasn't last night.

Heh. :)

Too bad I wasn't there rolling on the floor laughing with your wife. :poke

[Spudman]

Yep, Kiteman... I had to use a brand new dustpan as a kind of shovel, and a Lego box, about 3 gallons in volume (bigger than my closest bucket).

I pulled 6 containers of thick foam out of there, run extra rinse cycles, and run another cycle without detergent to get it all out of there. It just kept growing, and growing!

Pretty funny now, but wasn't last night.

This sounds like an episode of I Love Lucy.

So what is an HE machine anyway? Definitely can't be short for He Man or it would be easy to avoid this problem.

[Katastrophe]

High Efficiency, or front loader washer, Spud.

They use a lot less water than a traditional top loading machine. For example, the two loads extra I used last night still used less water than a traditional machine.

It's been a pain in the butt, though. The first time it broke down it cost me $300.00 in parts & labor to fix. The last time it broke down, it was the same part, so I decided to fix it myself. Well, due to shipping and part number snafus, it took about 4 months to get the right part in.

Took me 15 minutes to install last night. The cost? $50.00 plus shipping.

[sumitomo]

Sounds like you really cleaned up!LOL! I'v seen that foam action when a buddy of mine put laundry soap in the dishwasher.Sumi:D

[FrankenFretter]

Oh buddy...I feel your pain. Well, not exactly the same pain, but I have had enough domestic "fails" to earn laughter on the good days, and scorn and ridicule on the bad ones to feel total empathy for you. I'm not sexist, but I think my fiancee is...