US 5668379 A description domestic appliances such as automatic laundry machines are frequently required to stand on uneven supporting surfaces such as basement floors or the like proper functioning of such machines in particular vertical axis washing machines having a high speed spin or centrifugal extraction cycle requires that the machine be level if the machine is not level the forces generated by the rotating basket and clothes load cause the machine to experience vibrations which are not only noisy but may also result in structural damage to the machine in some cases the vibrations may be sufficient to cause the machine to 34 walk 34 over the surface on which it rests it is desirable that assemblies constructed to remedy this problem by leveling the appliance be self leveling so that re positioning of the appliance by the user will not require readjustment of the leveling assembly by the user additionally storage and packing of the appliance without loss of stability can be achieved if the assembly is retractable to a storage position while still providing support for the appliance a laundry appliance of the vertical axis type embodying the principles of the present invention is shown generally at 10 in fig1 the appliance 10 has an outer cabinet 11 which houses a stationary tub 12 therein containing a perforate spin basket 13 an agitator 14 is vertically disposed inside the spin basket 13 and a generally circular opening 15 in the top of the tub 12 for entry and removal of laundry is covered by a hinged lid 20 the appliance 10.