‘Explosion of glass’: Ont. family shocked after door of front-loading washing machine suddenly shatters

An Ontario woman was shocked to find glass strewn across her laundry room floor after the door of her front-loading washing machine suddenly exploded earlier this month.

“I was sleeping and the explosion of the glass was so loud I thought it was a car accident outside,” Laycee Hepworth told CTV News Toronto in an interview.

When she went downstairs, she saw the glass door on her front-loading washing machine had shattered, leaving glass everywhere. Her husband suffered a cut on his foot when he stepped on a glass shard on the floor. 

“There was a trail of blood from where my husband was cut which was shocking to see,” she said, adding her two small children and two dogs were fortunately not hurt.

“It wasn’t just large pieces, there were small and very sharp pieces of glass. I’m just glad because this could have been much worse.”

It’s not clear why the glass shattered, but there are concerns if you leave coins, belts or other hard objects in a washer they could cause nicks and scratches that could weaken the glass in washing machine doors over time.  

When Hepworth reached out to Samsung Canada, the company said it would replace the door at no charge even though the three-year-old machine was no longer under warranty.

Hepworth told Samsung she wasn’t comfortable using the same model. She wrote to the company, “I’m seeing shards of glass inside the machine. I have two young kids and I don’t want to be scared to wash their clothes.”

It’s uncommon for a glass door to shatter on a front-loading washer, but it does happen.

When CTV News reached out to Samsung Canada, a spokesperson told us that “sustomer satisfaction is a top priority.”

“We are aware of this matter and are working with the customer on an amicable resolution,” the statement read.

In the end, Samsung agreed to give Hepworth a brand new washing machine which was great news for her.

“Thanks to CTV News for helping me with this issue. I’m certainly glad I contacted you guys,” said Hepworth.