How to Stop Washing Machine WiFi

Hi! I’m Shane Reilly, a professional EMF inspector and certified Building Biologist. I’ve worked

in this field since 2017 in hundreds of homes, vehicles, and offices. I do this work across the US, and I have also helped thousands of people via online consulting.

The title of this blog is ridiculous, isn't it? It's also relevant, because we now live in a world where many things in our homes can connect to one another with radiated frequencies through the air. Even washing machines. Sigh.

Although it is called "smart" technology, many have become concerned about impacts to health (this type of radiation is classified by the World Health Organization as a class 2b carcinogen, or cancer causing), as well as privacy (smart devices have access to your home network plus laptops and cell phones).

What is "Smart" Technology?

In a nutshell, "smart" means it sends and receives data over the air, or wirelessly, as microwave radiation. The digital components inside smart tech also create what is colloquially referred to as dirty electricity, or DE. There are a number of reasons to be concerned about both DE and wireless radiation, or electromagnetic field (EMF), as well as privacy concerns over where the data collected about your life is going and who can see it. That's why many think "smart" technology isn't really smart at all, suggesting an acronym for is "Surveillance Marketed As Smart Technology".

Can I disable the WiFi on my Smart Appliance?

What I wanted to focus on today are potential remediations if you find yourself with a "smart" washing machine emitting wireless radiation into your home. It's all too common these days for a new appliance to have this technology built in. In fact, it's much more difficult to find new ones without the tech than one with it. So how do we stop washing machine wifi?

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As an aside, when you're shopping for a new washing machine, it will usually be fairly obvious if it has wireless smart tech. Sadly, many people find this an attractive feature. You'll see the word "smart" or the WiFi or BlueTooth symbols on the sticker or product page.

The good news is that outside of the annoying process of returning the washing machine to the store, there is usually a way to disable the wireless (WiFi or BlueTooth). I'll lay those out below.

And one important note, a common misnomer is that the device won't emit wireless radiation if you don't connect it to your WiFi, or don't have WiFi at all. This is 100% FALSE! The washing machine can still transmit around the clock, as long as it has power.

How to Disable the WiFi on my Washing Machine

You can read below to learn the process for testing your washing machine (or any appliance really), or check out this video demonstration I put together.

First off, you'll want a quality EMF meter that can accurately measure RF signals. One that has a sound feature is incredibly useful for this process. I would highly recommend you get the Safe and Sound Pro II, but if your budget is limited, the Safe and Sound Classic is a good option. You can use my code 'ODS05' to save a few bucks when ordering. Having this meter will be useful all around the house to find sources of wireless radiation.

Useful all around the house for finding Microwave radiation!

Next up, head to your laundry room, and with the washing machine powered OFF, turn your EMF meter on, set to RF. If you have one of the meters pictured above, just turn it on, and make sure the sound is turned on as well.

Take note of the levels displayed on the screen, as well as the sound. Different sources of wireless radiation have different pulse structures that the meter turns into a sound. Here's a library of sounds that is really helpful.

Once you have a feel for the laundry room environment, turn ON the washing machine. Pay attention to the numbers and sound of the meter, how is it changing? Any new sounds present?

If so, then it is likely that your washing machine is radiating wireless frequencies (could be BlueTooth, WiFi, or another similar frequency) any time it is powered on. You can power cycle the washer and confirm the finding. When I'm inspecting homes for EMF, this scenario is pretty rare. It's usually the scenario in the next paragraph.

If you don't hear anything new or see a big change in the meter numbers when you power it on, then you probably have to turn the WiFi feature on manually if you want to use it. Go ahead and find that button and press it. What happens now on the meter?

This is the really important part. We need to know if Pandora's box has been unleashed and now every time we turn the machine on the wireless radiation will start, or if you have to manually press the wireless button.

So keep that new sound signature in your head and then power cycle the washing machine off and on. Does the sound return immediately, or do you have to manually press the wireless button? Hopefully it is the latter, because that means you don't have to worry about the washing machine adding microwave radiation to you home any more!

Now if your washing machine does transmit wireless radiation all the time, there are still things we can do to to help our homes stay healthy. Here's a few, and feel free to reach out if you need help with any of them.

1. Have an electrician install a wall kill switch for your washing machine in the laundry room, so that you can easily leave it powered off until it needs to be used

2. You can contact the manufacturer or a local small appliance repair shop about switching out the WiFi components for non-wifi.

3. You can shield the laundry room with shielding paint. Check out my tutorial on that process.

If you found this helpful, I'd love it if you shared it with those that need to hear it.

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