How to Stop a Washing Machine Moving and Shaking

Is your washing machine moving and shaking around your kitchen like it’s dancing to its favourite song while no one is watching? 

Well, never fear; we have a few solutions to stop this happening below. 

When a washing machine is violently shaking around during use, there are a few common problems to address. None of these issues are very costly to fix, and most are free.

 

What Causes Washing Machines to Move and Shake?

There are a few common reasons why washing machines move around during use, including:

• Unbalanced loads
• Uneven or unstable flooring
• The washing machine isn’t level
• Missing feet or vibration pads on the machine itself

Depending on the cause of your washing machine going crazy during use, there is usually a pretty simple solution to fix it. 

Below, we have solutions to all of these problems and one solution that can help with just about every reason why a washing machine may start performing an interpretative dance during operation.

 

How to Fix a Shaky Washing Machine

1. Balance the load

If your washing machine is only shaking and moving around every so often, the likely cause is uneven loads.

Adding lightweight clothes to one side of the load and then very heavy garments to the other can result in your washing machine pulling some wild dance moves during the spin cycle. 

To resolve this, ensure that the load is roughly balanced when you put it in.

 

2. Make sure the flooring is even

If the washing machine is having a dance during everything single use, it may mean that the flooring underneath your washing machine is either uneven or not supporting your washing machine properly. 

To check this, you’ll need to pull the washing machine out and inspect the floor. If you notice any loose tiles or floorboards, this is likely the issue. 

You can stick the tiles down again with some adhesive or reinforce the floorboards with additional nails or screws. 

If your flooring is extremely hard (tiles, for example), this could also mean that the vibrations of the washing machine are not being absorbed by the flooring, resulting in it shaking a lot during use. We have a solution for this below.

 

3. Make sure the washing machine is level

If the washing machine isn’t level, there are a few causes for this. You may find that the floor itself isn’t level, resulting in the machine not being level. Or, the washing machine’s feet have not been levelled correctly, meaning that it isn’t level.

If the feet or the floor aren’t level are the cause, the feet can be adjusted slightly. Grab a spirit level, place it on the washing machine, and begin to unscrew the feet to adjust the height of each foot. 

Keep checking the spirit level as you go, and you should quickly be able to get the feet level and true to stop the machine from wandering around the kitchen during use.

 

4. Add vibration feet

One of the quickest ways of fixing a shaky washing machine is to add vibration feet like these to it. These are rubber feet that are installed on all four corners of the washing machine. 

They are wide enough to provide a stable platform for the washing machine and tall enough to take out some unevenness of flooring. 

They can be used to replace all of the feet on your washing machine as well, so they are ideal if your washing machine didn’t come with levelling feet or one is missing.

These feet soak up the vibration from the washing machine and act as shock absorbers. This results in a much quieter washing machine during use and puts an end to its dance parties each time you do a load of washing.

 

In Conclusion

There are several ways of stopping your washing machine from violently shaking during use, but the shock-absorbing vibration pads are the quickest way. 

In most cases, adding these feet to your washing machine will solve all issues. The only situation in which these feet won’t work correctly is with a floor that isn’t stable, but once the floor is repaired, the feet will work perfectly.

For more information about washing machines, common faults and easy solutions, please explore In The Wash further. We have loads of washing machine articles just like this one to help you make the most out of each load.