Novel Method to Stop a Washing Machine 'Walking'

In a previous Instructable I described how I made our washing machine talk to help my wife Sue who is totally blind. The machine could definitely 'talk the talk'.

Unfortunately, it could also 'walk the walk'.

During high speed spin cycles it would often vibrate and move across the floor several inches, only stopping when it pressed at an angle against the adjacent tumble dryer.

This Instructable describes a conventional approach (that did not work) and a novel approach (that did).

Step 1: The Conventional Approach

In order to try to prevent the 'walking' I purchased a set of WPRO Shock Absorber Pads, available from Amazon here.

These are rubbery plastic pads that 'absorb the vibrations that are caused by working household appliances such as washing machines'.

I placed one pad under each foot of the machine, making sure that the machine remained perfectly level. Whilst these pads did reduce the apparent vibration, the machine still walked significantly during high speed spin cycles.

Time for some lateral thinking!

Step 2: The Unconventional Approach

Eventually, I hit upon the idea of inserting the pads in two piles of two between the top of the machine and the sturdy worktop above it. Each pile of two pads fitted tightly in this gap, fixing the machine firmly in position against the floor.

Subsequently, during high speed spin cycles, the washing machine does not walk at all - see the attached video.

The vibration is also noticeably reduced. So, 'thinking outside of the box but upside down' has solved an annoying problem.

This is my entry in the 1 Hour Challenge contest (although this fix takes a lot fewer than 60 minutes!).