Arghhh! Bloody plumber only went and plumbed the cold fill for the washing machine into the hot supply from the boiler! And how did I find out? Having just washed a load of expensive merino wool and Assos bike gear at elebenty million degrees C.
This happened in my student house. The original plumber had installed the washing machine taps the wrong way round, and while it worked admirably well on a standard synthetics wash for months, it all went horribly wrong when I tried to do a wool-friendly cycle. The existential crisis of trying to cool itself down by adding hot water was too much for the primitive control logic, which went into full melt-down mode. The eventual result was that a much-loved wooly jumper came out teddy bear sized and perhaps more alarmingly, indoor rain as the vast quantities of steam produced condensed on the kitchen ceiling.
The landlord sent someone round to look at it, and I spotted condensation on the hot pipe. Reversing the polarity (and scrawling a warning to future generations on the inside of the cubbyhole) rectified the problem, and other than a slightly ill-fitting melted powder tray, normal service was resumed.
Some weeks later the washing machine developed a drainage fault, and I removed a miniature pair of what we presumed to be $housemate's Y-fronts from the drain pump. With hindsight, I suspect they were genuine children's pants that had been lurking inside the drum from the previous tenants.
