Last night myself and a friend went to Dublin airport. We were en route to France to watch football. At the boarding gate I was refused travel on the plane because the airline guy said my passport photo was blurred. This happened 3 years ago when my passport accidentally ended up in the washing machine however I have used it many times since then and never had a problem because my passport has a chip in it that allows the airline security to see the original photo. The guy said he could read the chip but because the passport itself was blurred he was refusing me travel. I was not pleased.
Dunno if I have any recourse or not but I'm now sitting at home when I should be away

I had something similar happen to my just expired UK passport - soaked in a rainstorm and the ink ran. The photograph ended up looking like a photocopy but I travelled a lot on it over the next 8yrs or so and never had a problem. Either things have tightened up or you were just unlucky.

Taking the rules at face value, even with a biometric passport, the booklet must be in perfect condition at all times. Any damage causing a change compared to the original, as slight as it may be, is a basis for refusal. Now, since ever, little dents here, a little blur there, a little something on the photo, this or that, were overlooked and people still traveled. With the advent of biometric passports, with the border police being able to see on their screens all the information, this was magnified and there are some passports out there which should put the holder to shame which are, nevertheless, accepted. Until the day they aren't.

So, well, it's one of those things. If your passport suffered any sort of damage you use it at your own risk. There is a distinct possibility of someday being barred anywhere by someone who bends the rules a little less or doesn't bend them at all.

I have never had a passport going thru the washing machine but I can imagine it becoming severely damaged in the process. To be honest I wouldn't use mine after such occurrence. As a matter of fact, specially when traveling, I treat my passports as one of my most precious possessions. Not specifically for fear of it becoming damaged but above all due to an irrational fear of loosing them. Only the thought of what to do if it happens someday gives me nightmares.