Posted on 03/17/2011 6:27:15 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
...In 1996, top-loaders were pretty much the only type of washer around...Consumer Reports tested 18 models, 13 were "excellent" and five were "very good." By 2007, though, not one was excellent and seven out of 21 were "fair" or "poor." ...The culprit is the federal government's obsession with energy efficiency...washer standards demonstrate the harmfulness of the ever-growing body of efficiency mandates.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
One advantage of owning a tool and die shop, I've done that to every shower head in the family I think. :)
“So, what’s the problem with those guys?”
Our lawmakers are very, very wealthy. You can’t even aspire to office unless you can spend millions. Even if they’re Republicans, they don’t do their own laundry. Clean clothes just appear. Likewise, they have somebody else deal with toilet issues and they never take their car in for maintenance; inspections and, likely, filling the tank, are done by others. Many of them probably ride in limousines. If they do drive their own vehicles, the vehicles are new and problem free. In short, money, what most of us stress about, is not an issue to them. They therefore lack empathy. (Hey, it’s only money.)
I have a buddy who bought a washing machine and dryer from an old laundromat.No frills, no computer programs to make the clothes get cleaner. Says it’s the best working laundry machines ever!
Ha! Our new GE dishwasher is the worst I’ve ever had. The dry cycle must run five hours with a noisy fan venting the thing. The repairman has been out probably five times under warranty. GE says the feds made them reduce the wattage of the drier elements. Typical gubbmint brilliance - reduce the wattage by 50% and run 100% longer.
Don’t get me started on our simple 1 gallon gasoline cans in California! The assholes in any capital can ruin even the simplest things that worked just fine for a century or more.
Congresspeople appear to be mutants or something ~ without external genitalia!
The front loader is definitely easier on clothing than the old top loader. We haven't seen a reduction in cleaning effectiveness, but most of our clothing isn't heavily soiled, so maybe in our case it doesn't really matter. In fact, I like the short cleaning cycle, and typically reduce the detergent from the directions on the bottle. We're not dirty smelly hippies either.
On the downside, the washer was more expensive, it has electronic components that probably won't last as long as our old top loader, and it requires special detergent. My husband complains that the spin cycle is too loud, and because it tends to 'dance' across the floor, I don't use the high speed spin at all. It can get smelly, especially since some of my family members insist on closing the door when I'm trying to dry it out. If I run a load with a bit of bleach every few days, it seems to generally take care of the problem. Not good for the septic, but I figure it gets sufficiently diluted to use a little once weekly. On balance, I think this article is a bit overblown, but I agree that the government regulators are wayyyyy too active in our lives.
That’s exactly what my repair guy told us to do, the new ones are junk and he is our town’s Maytag dealer also.
My mom finally gave up her old washer a couple of years ago, she almost cried that day too.
She had it for decades, it was one of the old ones (I think whirlpool, not sure) that agitated up and down. It literally BEAT the dirt and grime out of the family’s work clothes since I was a kid.
I would put it up against any washer made these days if you actually work and get dirty, the new ones can’t touch that old beast.
“It’s NOT ‘Washington’ that ruined washing machines, toilets, detergents, cars, french fries, etc.etc - it’s LIBERAL ELITES. Let’s put the blame where it belongs.”
And the difference is ????
I got into an argument with a lib about this once.
I basically said that I’m all for energy efficient appliances and renewable/clean energy - IF IT WORKS AT A COST PEOPLE CAN AFFORD.
They didn’t get the concept that solar power is useless unless you have 50,000 square miles of solar panels, and that a low flow toilet is pointless if you have to flush three times after a large “event”...
Thanks for the advice on where to find real TSP.
The problem with mold/odor in washing machines has to do with the HE detergent, not whether it is top or front load. If you have mold and odor in your machine, you are using too much detergent. The HE detergents are enzyme based and will grow mold if not flushed well during the rinse cycle.
- If you have mold present now, buy a product called Affresh from Wal-Mart, etc. and follow the directions to clean your machine.
- Take care to note what level of concentration your HE detergent is. Some are as much as 6X concentrate, ergo require 6 times less per load.
- We use 1/2 of the amount of detergent recommended on the bottle. Even our most grimy loads are well cleaned and no mold or odor in the machine.
- Cleaning with enzymes is not about how much volume of enzyme you use, it is about having the right enzyme to digest whatever is on your clothes. For example, the enzyme subtilisin is added to HE detergents to digest blood and food stains. (If you are sensitive to mold in general, this enzyme could cause an allergic reaction for you.)
If you have the washer on an outside wall, you can probably retrofit that. We had no problem getting a permit, and we lived in the city of Atlanta at the time (permit nazis).
Now we're on the county sewer system so we don't worry. (Isn't that funny - we moved from City of Atlanta to unincorporated Cobb County, and NOW we have actual sewer service! Go figure!)
We recently gave up on our old dryer after over 50 years of use. I’m sure our new one with its electronic components won’t give us anywhere near the length of service.
You are quite correct that front-loaders are in general a superior technology.
Most will develop mold if you don’t leave the door ajar, which it appears most people won’t.
Another way to vastly improve the life of clothes, particularly the more delicate items such as shirts, is to only run them in the dryer for about five minutes, then hang them damp to finish drying. All that “dryer lint” is actually just your clothes wearing out!
I believe my shirts last about twice as long by doing this.
So far I haven’t noticed a problem w/the new dish detergent in our dishwasher, except, if we make eggs and use a plastic spatula, the dishwasher won’t clean the egg off.
We must have either a good dishwasher, or our dishes just aren’t that dirty...
Being bald a ‘la Vin Diesel has it’s benefits...easier for a guy to pull that off though.
I like a front-loader, looks to me like it gets a little more work done with less energy. Used to be fun to watch when I was little. Not so much now, they took most of the suds out of the soap. :(
As for the mold, always keep bleach and vinegar handy. Shock your pipes on a regular basis, sink, toilet, tub, and washer, with a cleansing dose of bleach. A little vinegar in the rinse leaves no odor and costs a tiny fraction of those prettily packaged softeners.
By the way... If you’re into new construction, do yourself a favor and build the laundry room on the sunny side of the house and directly under a bathroom or hall laundry chute.
Of course some things, like good sweaters and rayon dresses, never get into the dryer at all.
Another good thing about a front loading washer that I forgot -- you can do hand wash in it. I have a favorite ragg wool sweater that I use doing yard work and dog work -- just add woolite or some other wool wash to the front loader, toss in the sweater, and hit the "hand wash" cycle. It uses cold water, agitates very slowly and gently, then rinses with a very low speed spin. It does a better job than I do washing the sweater by hand.
My washer and dryer are in a separate room tucked away behind the kitchen, so I don't need to worry about leaving the door wide open. When we have company I shut the door -- that room has a big laundry sink and a counter, that's where all my flower arranging stuff, craft stuff, the cat food, the dog food, and shoe shining stuff hang out. Beyond THAT there's a little closet where the water heater and the litter box live - my husband installed ventilation in there so any fumes go straight outside.
On another thread here at FR, was informed about some stuff called Sodium Tripolyphosphate. Well, bought a 5lb bag (Ebay) and it works excellent - in both dishwasher and the washing machine. Highly recommended if you want your clothes and dishes to get clean. Tried TSP, not sure if that worked, but the STTP is the stuff. About a teaspoon works well. Need to order more, before the commies issue another dictat.
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