There’s nothing quite like the fragrance of freshly laundered clothes. Nevertheless, one mother’s recent washing ordeal left social media users feeling queasy.
Leah Pickard, a stay-at-home mum who resides with her husband Scott and their three youngsters – Caden, Colette and Sebastian- stunned people when she disclosed the disturbing reason why her garments still reeked after being cleaned three times.
Leah, who oversees the household and completes numerous washing loads daily to maintain order, observed weeks ago that the clothing had a peculiar odour despite being laundered repeatedly.
She subsequently shared a video on social media describing her experience, which rapidly became viral.
The source of the foul stench was quite unforeseen.
“It was a mouse,” Leah disclosed to What’s The Jam.
“Never in a million years did I think there would be a dead animal in my washing machine. We’ve never had a single mouse in our home since we moved here eight years ago.
“So I definitely wasn’t expecting that to be the cause of the smell. When I got to the bottom of the load and saw the poor guy, I screamed.
“My four-year-old ran out of the room gagging and I was standing there wondering… how did that even get in there? I debated burning the laundry room down but opted for picking up the mouse with a plastic bag.
“Then I ran the machine on to sanitise several times, with all the bleach, said a prayer, and posted the video for my friends to appreciate the randomness of my life.”
She is now terrified to look at her washing machine following the incident.
The footage reveals the lifeless mouse in the corner of the washing machine, surrounded by freshly laundered clothes.
Leah jokingly declares “hmm freshly washed mouse” at the end of the clip.
In the caption, she added: “I washed this load three times and the smell just wouldn’t come out. Please excuse me while I burn my laundry room to the ground and pray Bosch gives me a new washer.”
The footage has amassed thousands of likes, with numerous people commenting on it.
One said: “This happened to me, I even dried him, he was half-burnt.”
Another person joked: “Pov: Stuart didn’t make it in the washing machine.”
A third person replied: “Nah this would’ve made me cry for days.”
Meanwhile, a fourth person commented: “NOOOOOOO. I think I’d throw the entire washing machine away. And maybe all my laundry. Oh, and the house too.”