Add to this the popularity of cold-water washing, which causes some detergents and fabric softeners to solidify rather than dissolve, and you have a perfect recipe for a backup.

Water spills out of the standpipe or backs up into nearby sinks. How to Fix a Clogged Washing Machine Drain

She called Mark. “The washing machine is possessed. We have a drain clog from hell.”

The plumber, a wiry woman named Lena with tattooed forearms and a professional-grade drain camera, arrived at 9 PM. She fed the fiber-optic snake into the pipe and watched the grainy screen. “There’s your problem,” she said, pointing to a shimmering, copper-colored disk. “Penny for your thoughts?”