I wouldn’t actually do this, but for some reason I’m just fascinated with these unbelievably simple methods of circumventing the system.
Just like the How to Pick a Padlock, this method of using a coin operated washing machine for free is so simple it makes you wonder how they would ever collect any money in these machines!
John has written 1808 awesome articles here, and...
John P. is CEO of Livid Lobster, and Web Analytics company iFusion Labs. He jumps from airplanes with the US Army Golden Knights, has full access to the Indy 500 AND the Lingerie Football League, was invited to the Playboy Mansion, and does plenty of other "ho-hum" stuff. Find out more on John's Google Profile.
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Tutorial: How-to Recover Windows Login Passwords
Windows security is sad. Although most of you have probably already read my article about using strong passwords, even the strongest passwords won’t keep your Windows login account from being penetrated. In fact, it takes only a couple of minutes to gain complete access to a Windows system using nothing more than a...
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When I stayed back in the college dorm in Denmark it was a well known fact that coins from other countries worked well in the washers…
So for example a 10 Peso coin from Philippines (worth around 1.5 DKK) would be a substitute for a 20 DKK coin, that helped keeping a lot of the students washing budgets down :)
Kim:)
But does it really work? I’d love to hear from someone who has tried this :) I saw one once about cheating a Coke machine but it didn’t pan out :/
When I was younger we used to play games at the arcade for free using slugs, but the machines are a bit more sophisticated now then they were back then.
Also, (and I think this still works), if you turn off a pinball machine, and turn it back on, it usually starts with 1 free credit. Though turning it on makes a lot of noise and can attract attention.
Now this is just pure evil. Not the washing machine John, this time you’ve gone to far. Poor washing machine…
At ASU there was a machine nearby that could be “shook-started” as we called it. Shake it side to side and boom, it starts. I had a washer/dryer in my apartment, but it was hilarious to stop by the laundromat and watch students routinely stand there shaking the hell out of a washing machine :)
We used to do it with a hamer back in the dorm in Montreal. You pay one time, but you don’t let the lock return all the way back after pushing it, you tape it half way. Next time you just hamer it !
et voila !
That was a very interesting find, and yet I’m fairly certain that all of those laundromat owners are a little more irate because of it. I wonder how many washing machines suffered an ill demise while this solution was being sought out.
Oh, I’m sure the laundromat owners either were not aware of this flaw, or have long known about it but price the machines to make up for the loss from some cheaters.
The funny thing is, that old coin style machine is decades old, and this was the first time I’d ever seen it. But just think about how many people must have know this trick, and who knows what other ways to cheat these machines.
Humans are very creative when it comes to getting something for nothing.
John
thanks guys you save me about 30 a week now in washing which i spend on weed n beer i will give u some cheat codes for automated snack machines u can get free drinks chips whatever.i would put it up but i only want u to have it coz i jealously gaurd this scam coz ***** people if any know it
Ya, this works well. Some machines are harder then others, but I did this for a year or two at school. Then they put in fancy new machines……….
Doesn’t work on any machines made in the last few years. A door/gate closes sideways as you push the tray in. It prevents you from manually sticking anything inside while it’s pushed in.
Thanks – but try again.
brilliant!!
John,
I know things are a little tough for you right now so I’m sending you a roll of quarters for your laundry. I remember why you can’t have a washing machine in your trailer ( remember when the last spin cycle vibrated and shook so bad it knocked your house off of the concrete blocks?) so I may send a bucket and washboard to you as well. I’ll include instructions. On the flip side, I’m sure the family of Opossums living under your house liked the new view….
j-
Yeah, well you know… we’re struggling to make ends meet. But your contributions will go a long way towards helping us get back on our feet! Thanks!
John “The Farmer” P.
Evil indeed! I’ll pretend I didn’t just watch it… lol
I can’t seem to get this to work. In my apartment there is an older washing machine that costs 2 dollars, so there is 2 slots for 2 loonies. I seem to think this is a freekin rip off so i went to try it, but it didn’t work. Is there a technique of some sort or anything? A certain way to place them? Lemme know what im doing wrong please.
A two-bit loser
Owners and manufacturers of coin-operated equipment have a vested interest in their product. Any system that beats the machines; prompts re-engineering, resulting in a short-term advantage for the thief/cheat.
Ultimately, it’s the thief/cheat who loses both time and energy, spent to save a few dollars—time that could have been spent making money. But by far, the true punishment is in the committing of the crime, not getting caught, if at all.
Cheating and stealing changes who you are–your identity. Kama literally means: action leading to further action. That’s why Kama is instant. Cheat and you’ll keep cheating people out of your life, leading to less opportunities, and inevitably: lowing the quality of your life. Cheating is well summed up by the following quote:
“When a pickpocket meets a saint, all he see’s is pockets.” –Professor Richard Alpert.
That said, if you’re going to steal –steal big or not at all.
aw. why has that video been removed?
Thea,
I’m not sure what happened before, but I found it and put it back up now! :-) Thanks for letting me know.
John
Ah Eddy…there is always a critic in every crowd, huh? But I dont understand your logic…’dont cheat [even if its some quarters; quarters youre interested in saving b/c you are obviously f***ing poor] but if you do cheat big’. Those ‘few dollars’ you so blithely dismiss could well be the difference between eating that night or not…or having to choose between clean clothes or a full stomach of having the ‘luxury’ of taking the bus instead of walking [walking during a PA winter is no fun]…all of which were real dilemmas for me when I was a college/grad student. And I wasnt alone by any means. I shared my grinding poverty with many other kids from blue collar homes going to UofPa. Apparently, Eddie you didnt have those problems but you could at least try to expand your mind and realize some werent as fortunate. “[T]ime that couid have been spent making money,” indeed!…this clinically dissociative comment sounds like other worthless platitudes uttered by some economic advisers in the current Administration and the President himself. At the very least, whether condoning it or not, you could tip your hat to that boundless streak of human ingenuity evidenced by this washing machine hack. As for your assertion that cheating and stealing ”inevitably” leads to a ”low[er]ing the quality of your life… .” This is an obvious fallacy. The honest and brutal truth is that crime does pay for most criminals. If it truly didnt pay, then there wouldnt be any crime. ["Behind every great fortune there is a crime." - Honore de Balzac (1799-1850)] Indeed, crime of all sorts is as American as baseball and apple pie because there is money in it. [So much so, that it can honestly be said that the United States is the child of a criminal conspiracy.] And for Americans this is our Prime Directive.
great job guys…I’m gonna try that today…NAh, I’m too chicken, but it’s still great!
Andy, you wrote:
“The honest and brutal truth is that crime does pay for most criminals. If it truly didn’t pay, then there wouldn’t be any crime.”
Crime continues because perpetrators don’t believe they’ll get caught and it’s human nature to try and gain an advantage. Urinating in your pants to stay warm only appears to be an advantage at first.
A criminal may get away with a crime, but their support base of friends is limited, and thus, so is their ability to keep the money. And my point again, their quality of life is reduced, because they keep looking to commit other crimes, they become criminal all the time–it becomes your identity–who you really are. The truth is, you never really get away with a crime.
No Andy, my post was not criticism, it was enlightenment. You’re just not ready to understand it yet, but you will.
All the new coin chutes and mechanisms have been modified to correct the above shown cheat, as will any new methods to cheat is beaten. An owner knows how much a machine makes on average and they will adjust their machines accordingly.
I found a tenant putting foreign money into a machine, and in return, I raised their rent $100.00 a month. Had they worked harder, they could have made more money, and kept a lower rent.
There are a thousand ways a crime can go wrong, and if you can think of a hundred, you’re a genius, and Andy, you’re no genius.
“Crime continues because evil can’t see its self” –Monsoon Eddy, 2008
Thanks, need to go wash my pantyhose now. Anyone want to help?
Hey, So i was so excited to try this because A ) I spent 6 bucks on a was yesterday, 2 dollars to wash, and 2 damn dry cycles !!, so yeah, I have had enough of this. And its the tray with 2 loonie slots, and I tried 20 times positioning the Q tips in different ways, no luck, it doesn’t push all the way through! any tips ? or different methods ? I have heard everything from the inside of bottle caps, to coffee stir sticks, but i don’t want to fuck up the coin insert, and break the machine! lol. I make good money, maybe I should put all this energy on my career instead! … still help me save ppl!
Well, i work on these type of machines. I have to tell you that the coin slide is missing parts in the mechanism (more likely due to a laundromat owner trying to repair the slide him or herself). But I’ll tell you what works :-) add liquid soap to the slide, a lot, with time the mechanism will build up a coat of dry soap and it will work for free. (or use chines coins, look like aluminium and r very light) it’ll work.
If you have a coindrop machine is even eazier, push the return botton and while holding it down flick a penni in the return slot. that will start the machine. I’ll try to make a video and post it.
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