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SiKboy posted:Huh, I did not know that. I always kind of assumed it was money laundering tbh... probably also that yeh
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Jan 19, 2018 00:09
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Steakandchips posted:Why does your flat not have it's own washing machine? Most liquid detergents are HE friendly now, but powdered detergents are more of a gamble.
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Jan 19, 2018 00:19
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I had to look up what a HE washing machine was as I'd not heard that term before (High Efficiency machines) and it's basically a front loader or a top loader without an agitator. So much makes sense now about why Americans complain about their clothes falling apart in the wash. Machines with agitators are really rough on your clothes while machines that wash by tumbling are much gentler but are only just getting popular in the US. But yeah, you needs low sudsing washing detergents in them and you don't need much. In much of Europe it's common to have your own machine in your house/apartment and it's very likely to be a HE front loader type.
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Jan 19, 2018 01:23
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Anecdotally, I'm like 90% sure that front-loaders get your clothes cleaner anyway Also you can cram them totally full and they'll still wash fine, where a top-loader will just jam and do nothing
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Jan 19, 2018 01:46
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Sagebrush posted:Anecdotally, I'm like 90% sure that front-loaders get your clothes cleaner anyway Yeah, but you have to bend down to load them and from what I seem a lot of Americans struggle to do that amount of exercise.
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Jan 19, 2018 02:05
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Panfilo posted:Do they not have laundromats in Canada? How dreadful! I was just being cheap and lazy.
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Jan 19, 2018 02:10
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Powder laundry soap can also clump up and get all gross inside the machine, so that probably is part of the decision fyi.
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Jan 19, 2018 02:31
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Helith posted:I had to look up what a HE washing machine was as I'd not heard that term before (High Efficiency machines) and it's basically a front loader or a top loader without an agitator. I didn't realize top-loaders were still a thing. Do people really still use them? Don't they use like twice as much water?
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Jan 19, 2018 02:52
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I only realised that top loaders were still a thing when I moved to Australia from the UK and our first flat here had one. I had to google how to use it because I’d never even seen one before. Australia is about 50/50 on top loader vs front loader use and America is mainly top loader. I got a front loader as soon as we moved to our new place. Top loaders are awkward to use because you have to balance the load and the agitator takes up so much space, it was hard to wash big bulky items and they really are rough on your clothes and stuff would be all tangled together.
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Jan 19, 2018 03:01
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Lifehack# they make top loaders without agitators get one I guess?
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Jan 19, 2018 03:08
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The Lone Badger posted:I didn't realize top-loaders were still a thing. Do people really still use them? Don't they use like twice as much water? Some homeowners still use top loaders, but most of the people I know who own have front-loaders because they're better in basically every way.
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Jan 19, 2018 03:20
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The Lone Badger posted:I didn't realize top-loaders were still a thing. Do people really still use them? Don't they use like twice as much water? We just bought a new top loader in the year 2017, so yes they are still a thing. It's HE and doesn't have an agitator. We got repeatedly burnt on our old front loader and decided gently caress it, go back to a time-tested design. Krispy Wafer has a new favorite as of 04:02 on Jan 19, 2018 |
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Jan 19, 2018 03:50
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I got my nice top-loading washing machine for like $200 (admittedly used, but in good shape). It cleans stuff fine. A new front-loading washer was pushing a thousand bucks, last time I looked, because what few choices we have are aimed more at the upper end of the market.
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Jan 19, 2018 03:52
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the top loaders at our apartment are tiny and suck rear end, the one my parents have is huge and i can't reach the bottom easily  also everyone else in this building loving overloads them and the laundry room floods like on a weekly basis
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Jan 19, 2018 03:55
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My top loader came with my apartment, so I'm not complaining.
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Jan 19, 2018 03:55
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Yeah front-loaders are very much a high-end thing in Aus. I have one, and it's up on a bench I had built for the purpose because I assumed it would vibrate a bunch. It doesn't, you could probably balance a 50 cent piece on it while it's running. I assume the builder I got in knew this and just overbuilt the bench anyway.
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Jan 19, 2018 04:12
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The Lone Badger posted:I didn't realize top-loaders were still a thing. Do people really still use them? Don't they use like twice as much water? The apartment building I live in has them. They're decently sized and get my clothing clean so I can't really complain. But yeah they use more water. In some places that isn't a huge issue but it matters a lot in, say, California.
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Jan 19, 2018 04:17
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Memento posted:Yeah front-loaders are very much a high-end thing in Aus.
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Jan 19, 2018 04:57
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RoboRodent posted:Because this building doesn't have that and I don't think that's unusual at all? Because it's a one-room apartment and as nice as it is, there's only so much space? Jesus, what a weird thing to nitpick. I figured it as a result of some people being really hilariously stupid with the machines and breaking them at some point. And I think front-loaders USED to be a high-end thing in Aus, but in the last decade or two they suddenly became way more available and affordable.
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Jan 19, 2018 05:40
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Memento posted:Yeah front-loaders are very much a high-end thing in Aus. All the $2000+ washers are front loaders. But for regular brands they're pretty much the same price point as the top loaders for a given capacity. It's not like it was 20 years ago.
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Jan 19, 2018 06:00
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Tiggum posted:No they aren't. The majority of new washing machines for sale are front loaders and the prices are pretty much the same whether you go for front or top loader. Well it's been a bunch of years since I got mine, maybe the market has changed 
Memento has a new favorite as of 06:13 on Jan 19, 2018 |
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Jan 19, 2018 06:10
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I got a top loader because all the front loaders available were too wide for my apartment
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Jan 19, 2018 06:15
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Krispy Wafer posted:We just bought a new top loader in the year 2017, so yes they are still a thing. It's HE and doesn't have an agitator. I hope you didn't get a Samsung - ours had the motor burn out and start smoking and there have been multiple house fires started by Samsung machines in Australia and New Zealand. Replaced it with an LG front loader that is holding up fine and washes much better anyway.
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Jan 19, 2018 07:12
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My apartment came with a top loader and I just had to look up what an agitator is to make sure I wasn't unwittingly brutalising my laundry and oh my god what a hilariously dumb design. Mmm yes let me arrange my clothes around this massive gyrating metal screw, I'm sure they won't get battered to poo poo!!! Why am I not surprised that this is apparently only really a thing in the US
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Jan 19, 2018 07:13
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As the resident laundry guy, I can confirm that front loaders work far better. The thing is, washing machines usually have very long home lives and don't get replaced as often as say, a vacuum, plus it's usually cheaper to repair than to replace still, so I don't see the old top loaders going away any time soon.
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Jan 19, 2018 12:40
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Why would a top loader have worse washing results than a front loaded one?
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Jan 19, 2018 12:46
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Andrast posted:Why would a top loader have worse washing results than a front loaded one? In general, encountered "in the wild" they tend to be the older models. Buying a new one, I do not think there is a meaningful difference. The only difference that comes to my mind is that the toploaders tend to take less space to operate and are usually also narrow-bodied, so they can be installed into smaller bathrooms in places like in student housing, or other one-two-bedroom apartments.
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Jan 19, 2018 12:55
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Ok I can't speak to the water efficiency standpoint but we have a top loader with agitator and I've never (knock on wood) had my clothes come out destroyed by it or been mystified by this rotating rod in the middle and oh dear how could i possibly place my clothes in here, it's not an exact precise science you just place them around the thing Though I will say it's been hilarious a few times we have overloaded it or somehow unbalanced it (like maybe 3 times in the 24 years we've lived here) and mid-wash the machine starts making crazy noises and walking across the laundry room floor, just shuffling foward like a zombie while making a sound you can hear literally anywhere in the whole house!! edit: Thinking about it sometimes we've had bras have problems in the agitator wash but one weird trick discovered by a mom is you can put your bras and anything delicate or prone to getting pulls from a bra clasp into a mesh lingerie washing bag. Also makes them easier to find in the wash later when you're looking for things that hang dry instead of getting put in the washer 
sweeperbravo has a new favorite as of 13:22 on Jan 19, 2018 |
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Jan 19, 2018 13:20
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Andrast posted:Why would a top loader have worse washing results than a front loaded one? quote:They’re better at cleaning. Every controlled test shows that front-loaders remove more soils from fabric than top-loaders. Consumer Reports gives an Excellent mark for wash performance to more than 30 front-loaders. Only a single top-loader earns that same mark. At Reviewed.com, front-loaders dominate the rankings as well. At the time of writing, the best top-loader finally appears at number 34 on its list of the best washers.
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Jan 19, 2018 13:30
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Oh we are talking about top loaders with a vertical spinning axis. I wasn’t even aware that was a thing. My top loader spins the same way front loaders do. Like this: 
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Jan 19, 2018 13:34
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Andrast posted:Oh we are talking about top loaders with a vertical spinning axis. I wasn’t even aware that was a thing. Yeah, I was also talking about vertically spinning models... Now to think of it, I have never seen a horizontal top loader, at least one with that type of "agitator bar", I actually had to google for an explanation. Now that I think of it, some industrial carpet washers do that vertical spinning thing but never a consumer model.
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Jan 19, 2018 13:48
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I had no idea vertical tumbler top loaders were even a thing. Neat.
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Jan 19, 2018 13:56
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Choco1980 posted:I had no idea vertical tumbler top loaders were even a thing. Neat. I’m Finnish so could this be an America vs. Europe thing?
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Jan 19, 2018 14:00
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Andrast posted:I’m Finnish so could this be an America vs. Europe thing? The Air BnB I was at a few months ago in Germany had one of those. Confused the poo poo out of me at first.
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Jan 19, 2018 14:29
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Der Kyhe posted:In general, encountered "in the wild" they tend to be the older models. Buying a new one, I do not think there is a meaningful difference. The only difference that comes to my mind is that the toploaders tend to take less space to operate and are usually also narrow-bodied, so they can be installed into smaller bathrooms in places like in student housing, or other one-two-bedroom apartments. Okay, is it just me who thinks its weird that you have a washing machine in your bathroom? Is this another regional thing, because (in the UK) I assume a washing machine will be going in the kitchen (assuming you dont have a big rear end house with a utility room or something).
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Jan 19, 2018 14:56
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Americans think it’s weird to have the washing machine in the kitchen. It’s indeed a regional thing.
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Jan 19, 2018 15:02
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Choco1980 posted:As the resident laundry guy, I can confirm that front loaders work far better. The thing is, washing machines usually have very long home lives and don't get replaced as often as say, a vacuum, plus it's usually cheaper to repair than to replace still, so I don't see the old top loaders going away any time soon. 
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Jan 19, 2018 15:03
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German reporting: I've never seen a washing machine in any kitchen. Bathroom for apartments, or basement for houses. Also, my last apartment had both (kitchen and bathroom) be tiny, with the former filled to the brim with appliances and shelves anyway, so there was no choice, it's just how things are designed. Also, I got a tiny top-loader as a gift from my in-laws, and that one was perfect because it juuuust fit into the bathroom, and I could, well, load it from the top so there was no swing door to consider. Looked like the picture Andrast posted. To add even more "well, in OUR country..." anecdotal nonsense nobody cares about: I had never seen a top-loader before and was super baffled by the concept in general. Even the old-rear end washing machines my grandma used to use were front-loaded, and I don't think I ever consciously noticed a top-loader in any electronics store. The front-loaders tend to be more energy and water efficient as the study discussed above shows, and that also goes over quite well in the German market, so I don't think there are many more top-loaders around; the one I got was over 10 years old at that point.
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Jan 19, 2018 15:13
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HopperUK posted:Americans think it’s weird to have the washing machine in the kitchen. It’s indeed a regional thing.
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Jan 19, 2018 15:27
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Like I said earlier itt, I worked for like, 7 years at a laundromat. You pick up some knowledge with that length of time.
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Jan 19, 2018 15:28
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