How do I move a washing machine without damaging it?

A washing machine drum hangs on springs and dampers so it can move during the spin. That is exactly what makes it fragile in transit: unrestrained, a heavy drum swinging against its stops over a few miles of road can bend the suspension, damage the springs and crack the tub. Transit bolts lock the drum rigid, which is why they were fitted when the machine was new and why they should go back in before it goes anywhere.

Safety

What you'll need

• The original transit bolts
• Spanner for the bolts and the hoses
• Bowl and towels
• An appliance trolley or sack truck
• Strong tape
• A second person

Step by step

1. Find the transit bolts.Three to five long bolts with plastic sleeves, removed when the machine was installed and often taped inside the door or kept with the manual. If they are lost, order the correct set for the model — they are inexpensive and model-specific.
2. Run a short drain or spin cycle first.This clears standing water from the drum and the pump before you start. It makes everything afterwards drier.
3. Switch off at the socket and close both taps.Power off first, then water. Quarter-turn valves close across the pipe.
4. Disconnect the fill hose into a bowl.It holds water even with the tap closed. Undo it at the tap end first, lower it into the bowl, then undo it at the machine end. Keep the rubber washers.
5. Disconnect the waste hose and let it drain.Lower it into the bowl below the level of the machine and give it a few minutes. A waste hose that is coiled up still full will empty across the van floor.
6. Drain the pump filter properly.Tray and towels down, open the hatch, unscrew the filter slowly. This is the water that otherwise runs out of the machine as it is tilted onto the trolley. Clean the filter while it is out and refit it firmly.
7. Refit the transit bolts.Remove the blanking caps from the back panel, push each bolt with its sleeve through until it engages, and tighten it. The drum should feel solid when you push it by hand afterwards. This is not optional for anything beyond moving it a few feet across a kitchen.
8. Coil and secure the hoses and the cable.Taped to the back of the machine, not trailing. A hose that goes under a trolley wheel or a cable that catches on a doorframe causes damage on the way out.
9. Tape the door and the drawer shut.A door swinging open on a stairwell breaks its hinge and often the glass. The drawer will slide out and vanish.
10. Move it upright, on a trolley, with two people.60 to 80kg. Use an appliance trolley with a strap if you have one. Take it down stairs backwards with the heavier person below, and never lift it by the door, the drawer or the top panel — take the weight on the base.
11. Keep it upright in the vehicle and strap it.Standing, strapped to the side of the van, not laid down. A machine on its back rests the drum on components not designed to carry it, and a machine on its front puts everything onto the door.
12. Let it stand before you run it.A few hours upright in the new position. If it has been tilted a long way, longer. This lets any water that has moved within the machine settle back where it belongs.
13. Remove the transit bolts before the first cycle.This is the step people forget in the excitement of moving house, and running with them in destroys the suspension. Refit the blanking caps and keep the bolts for next time.
14. Level it properly in the new position.All four feet firm with no rock, checked by pushing each top corner, then the locknuts tightened up against the body. Run an empty cycle and watch for leaks at both hose connections before loading it.

Tips

• Photograph the back of the machine before you disconnect anything. Reconnecting is much easier with a picture of what went where.
• If the machine must be tilted through a tight doorway, tilt it backwards rather than forwards, keep the angle as small as you can, and get it upright again as soon as possible.
• Removal firms will often refuse liability for an appliance moved without transit bolts. Worth knowing before the conversation rather than after.
• Keep the transit bolts taped inside the drum or with the manual from now on. They are the single most commonly lost appliance part.

Common mistakes

• Moving it without transit bolts — The drum swings freely on its springs. Over a journey that can bend the suspension, stretch the springs and crack the tub — damage that shows up as a machine that shakes violently and cannot be fixed cheaply.
• Laying the machine down in the van — On its back the drum rests on parts not designed to take it; on its front the whole weight goes through the door. Upright and strapped, every time.
• Forgetting to remove the bolts at the other end — A machine run with transit bolts in destroys its own suspension in a handful of cycles, and the sound it makes on the first spin is unmistakable.
• Dragging it across the floor on its feet — It tears vinyl, chips tiles and bends the feet, which then cannot be levelled properly in the new position.

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