Oct 3, 2008

The tale of the stinky washing machine.

Its nearly bedtime but there are still enough minutes in the day to put one last load in the washing machine. I scoop the pile of whites up off the laundry room floor, throw in some Tide and start the washer. Off to dreamland and then to work the following morning. That afternoon, I remember my wet laundry and head into the laundry room to start the dryer. Hmmm.....when I open the lid to retreive the washed items....it smells. Not too bad,  but definitely not that nice clean laundry smell I am used to. I decide that it probably stinks because it sat all day in the machine and so I just restart the washer and throw in a little "biz" to help with the odor. Skip ahead 2 hours and I attempt to repeat the "move the clothes from the washer to the dryer' routine.... but this time, when I open the lid, it REALLY stinks. Rotten and nasty and horrible. What the heck???? I can't figure it out???? Could my laundry soap be expired? Let's try this one last time, but THIS time...I'm adding bleach. Swish,swish,swish....load done. Open lid and sniff. HOLY COW!!! My eyes are watering and my nostrils burning as the scent of...well....crap..... fills the air and infiltrates every square inch of the room. Now I'm sure that someone has taken a dump in the washer or something. The strange twist is that the clothes LOOK clean....they just smell like butt. I guess something must be wrong with the washer?? I decide to pull the wet shirts out in order to rescue them from any further 'stinkage' and also, try to see if I can locate the source of the offensive scent. Let's just say that I was in no way prepared for what I found. After every last item was removed from the washer, I peered into the tub..... only to find at the bottom.....a deflated, decomposing mouse. 



Needless to say, the washer has been bleached several times and I have attended numerous counseling sessions to deal with the trauma of this event. The smell has tatooed itself into my brain....probably forever. As far as the mouse, he did not receive a proper burial but I feel peace knowing that at least....as he went to his grave.....he was really, really clean!

9 comments:

laura bacon said...

Colleen.... eeeewww!!!?!! Poor little mousie. How long do you think he held up running around in the washing machine like a little hampster on a wheel... water level getting higher... faster, faster!!! Ahhh!!

Maybe you need a little kitty at your house!!

I am sure that working at the hospital will give you other horrible smells to help erase the "bleached mouse" smell from your smell-memory!!

Thanks for the laugh... you always crack me up!!

Life is short but God is sweet said...

I thought the clipping from a horse's hoof was bad when Hanna had one in her pocket and it went through the wash but the mouse beats it by a long shot. That is just gross and to think after 3 times threw you really got the smell and the germs from the mouse nicely washed in to every item in the load. Thanks for the laugh.

Joey Veltkamp said...

COLLEEN! That's horrible. I can't even imagine the mouse's condition after being washing/bleached repeatedly. Wow!

Smith Family said...

So that makes me wonder..did the mouse crawl up through a pipe and into the machine? Was it alive in the pile of clothes and you tossed it in? Did one of your children want it as a pet and put it in their pocket? Those are the thoughts I have, best blog post I have seen in a long time.
PS~ If you need to borrow my cat let me know.

Amy Byrd said...

I am surprised he was still gray after all that bleach! YUCK! You are a trooper. I probably would have put it out front with a big "FREE" sign on it, before sourcing the problem.

Laura and company said...

I put my foot in my boot last winter out in the garage and felt something kinda strange, so I shook the boot and out fell a dead mouse. I'm still recovering. Shawn has to check my boots every time I put them on now. I feel your pain. Fun checking blogs again...I've been on a little email/internet/blog hiatus since school started! Maybe someday ill update our blog... Good luck at your new job by the way!

Kim said...

Okay that is gross. At least it was somewhere you could find...instead of like dying inside your wall. Thank goodness you are not pregnant because that would have made me HURL!!

LOL

Anonymous said...

:-) I have mice in my basement and have launched a full scale offensive since the weather cooled. Last week when a snooty in-law was visiting a poisoned mouse staggered in to the living room. We were all stunned. He was so affected that he allowed us to scoop him up in a jar and bring him outside for prompt disposal. Great timing Mickey!

Kerri said...

Colleen, you have me laughing here! Love your blog! I can very much relate to your mouse in the washer, because we just had the same thing happen at your house! I'm glad Mr. York found it, though, and not me! I've spent the day cleaning out the laundry room/pantry of any mice evidence.