Hi I'm Matt from eSpares, in this video I'll be showing you
how to release a stuck washing machine door.
If your washing machine door is stuck it may be due to a broken handle
but it could also due to a jammed door lock.
If your handle is loose on your washing machine door it may indicate that it's broken.
One of the following methods in this video will help you to release that door.
However please be aware that not all methods will work on all machines.
Safety first: Always remember to unplug a machine before carrying out any work.
If your door handle on your washing machine is very stiff and won't move
the problem will be with the lock itself.
Most washing machines use a thermal lock
which releases the lock after two minutes from the cycle finishing.
If that is your problem turn the Machine off wait five minutes and try again.
If the problem persists you can gently strike the door to activate the lock.
However if the problem continues you will eventually have to replace the lock itself.
Another method you can use to open your washing machine door is if you have a handle
inside the door rim such as this one,
it means the hook which goes into the door lock is pushed towards the door.
Now there are a couple of techniques you can use to activate that hook manually.
The first one is by using a nylon line, now I'm using trimmer line for this
but you could use fishing line simply feed it in around the top of the door,
feed it around the rest of the door keeping it nice and taut.
You should then be able to pull on the line activating the hook inside the door.
Once the line is in position just tie and knot so that you're creating a loop in the line.
Then firmly pull on the line which will activate the door lock.
You can see with the nylon line how the hook was pushed in towards the door.
A similar technique is using an old credit card or store card to push the hook in.
So you'd have to feed the credit card in between the door and the frame of the machine.
But please be aware that locks on washing machines often have a ridge
that the credit card and store card is going to find it hard to get beyond.
But if you can work your way beyond that it should activate the hook no problem.
If you have a handle on the outside of your door then the final method may be useful for you.
What I'm going to do is access the lock from inside the machine.
To do that I'm going to remove the top of the washing machine.
And here we can see the lock inside.
Now before carrying out any work inside a machine it's a good idea to wear safety gloves.
The metal part you can see there is the tip of the door hook,
so if I touch the door handle you can see it moving and releasing
and close the door again it comes back.
So if your handle is on the outside of the door you can use a screwdriver to move the tip
and manually open the door itself.
I'm going to push the drum back so I can access the hook more easily.
So there we have it, how to open a stuck washing machine door.
For door handles and locks for washing machines
and for spares and accessories for all the appliances around your home
please visit the eSpares website.
Thanks for watching.