How to Get Rid of an Old Washer and Dryer in Massachusetts & New Hampshire

The New Washer Is Coming. The Old One Is Still in the Basement.

A washer or dryer almost never dies at a convenient time. The drum stops spinning mid-load, the repair quote comes back higher than the machine is worth, and suddenly you're shopping for a new set. If the store is hauling the old one away with delivery, great. But that leaves everyone else: the set you bought secondhand, the dryer that's been dead in the corner since the last one replaced it, the extra washer in a rental unit, the pair left behind in a house you just bought or inherited.

Getting rid of an old washer and dryer in Massachusetts or New Hampshire is harder than dragging it to the curb, because neither state treats it as trash. Here's how washer and dryer disposal actually works, and how we handle it.

Can You Throw Away a Washer or Dryer in Massachusetts?

No. Massachusetts bans "white goods" from landfills, incinerators, and transfer stations under the state waste bans (310 CMR 19.017), and has since the 1990s. MassDEP's definition covers any appliance that uses electricity or gas to wash or dry clothing, and its guidance names clothes washers and clothes dryers specifically. Your trash hauler can't legally take one to disposal, which is why it will sit at the curb until someone hauls it to a scrap recycler.

New Hampshire doesn't have a statewide appliance ban on the books, but the result is the same. NHDES guidance is that most appliances should be recycled as scrap metal, and that's how transfer stations across the state handle them: as a separate scrap item, not household trash.

Washers and dryers sit on the same list as fridges, water heaters, and stoves. If you want the full rundown, see our guide to items you can't throw away in Massachusetts. The short version: banned from the trash doesn't mean stuck in your house. We take washers and dryers on every job and get them to scrap.

How Heavy Is a Washer and Dryer?

Heavier than they look, and the washer is the worse of the two. A top-load washer runs roughly 135 to 170 pounds. A front-loader is usually 180 to 250, because the drum is braced with concrete counterweights to keep it from walking across the floor on the spin cycle. One popular 4.5 cubic foot front-load model is listed by its manufacturer at just over 200 pounds.

Dryers are lighter, around 100 to 160 pounds, but they're bulky and have nothing to grab. Stacked units and one-piece laundry towers are the hardest of all: a current single-unit washer-dryer tower weighs about 318 pounds and stands over six feet tall.

Now put that in a New England basement. Most laundry sets sit at the bottom of a narrow staircase with a turn at the top, and an old washer usually still has a few gallons of water sitting in the drum and pump. That's the job most people call us for after one attempt with a hand truck, the same stairs problem we cover in our treadmill removal guide. If the rest of the basement needs to go too, our guide to cleaning out a basement full of junk covers doing it all in one visit.

Disconnect It First, Especially a Gas Dryer

We ask that appliances be disconnected before our crew arrives, and for washers and electric dryers that's simple. Shut off both water valves behind the washer, unscrew the supply hoses, pull the drain hose, and unplug it. An electric dryer just needs to be unplugged and its vent hose pulled off.

A gas dryer is different. Massachusetts law has no homeowner exemption for gas work: under M.G.L. c.142 and the state gas code, altering or removing gas piping connections is licensed gas fitter work done under a permit. If you're replacing a gas dryer, the installer of the new one normally handles the disconnect. If you're just removing it, have a licensed plumber or gas fitter disconnect and cap the line first. New Hampshire is looser for owner-occupied single-family homes, but the safe move is the same in both states: don't guess with a gas line.

Once it's disconnected, the rest is ours. We carry it up the stairs and out the door, and you never touch it.

Where an Old Washer and Dryer Go

Laundry appliances are among the most recyclable things we haul. About 75 percent of a typical household appliance's weight is steel. After we load a washer or dryer, it goes to scrap metal recycling, where the steel cabinet and drum, the motor, and the copper wiring get recovered instead of buried. It's the same path we use for the tanks in our water heater removal guide, and you can read the whole process in where your junk goes after we haul it.

One exception worth knowing: fridges, freezers, and anything else with refrigerant follow stricter rules. Those are covered in our guide to getting rid of an old refrigerator in MA and NH. A standard washer and dryer don't have refrigerant, so there's no extra fee. They ride at our standard pricing.

Is It Time to Replace Your Washer or Dryer?

Washers last about 10 years on average and dryers about 13. Past that, the math usually favors replacing. Signs yours is done: a washer that leaks from the tub, bangs through every spin cycle, or needs a new drum bearing or transmission, and a dryer that takes two cycles to dry a load or has a scorched smell.

Don't ignore that last one. The U.S. Fire Administration counts about 2,900 home clothes dryer fires a year, and failure to clean lint is the leading cause. And when the new washer goes in, replace the supply hoses. Burst washer hoses are behind more than half of washing machine water damage claims.

Washer and Dryer Removal Across Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Dumpster Dogs removes old washers, dryers, stacked units, and laundry towers across 55+ towns in northeastern Massachusetts, southern New Hampshire, and southern Maine. One machine or a whole building's worth, out of the basement, the second floor, or the garage. Washer and dryer pickups fall under our standard junk removal pricing with no appliance surcharge, and we can usually quote from a photo.

Clearing out more than the laundry room? A dumpster rental can handle the rest of the project. Just tell us about any appliances up front so we can plan for them.

With over 700 jobs completed and a 4.9-star rating across 62 reviews, Dumpster Dogs shows up, gets it done, and doesn't cut corners. Call (978) 734-4890 or book online, and have the old set gone before the new one shows up.