The Constitution gives ONLY CONGRESS the power to create law (Article I, Section 1). Among its enumerated powers, the Congress does NOT have the authority to GIVE AWAY ITS DUTY TO CREATE LAW.
Congress has an obligation to re-claim its Constitutional power to create law, and take it OUT of the hands of unelected bureaucracies.
The washing machine example is just a symptom of the disease known as tyranny--soft tyranny PERHAPS, but tyrany nonetheless.
Think about it: if Congress were to try and pass such a STUPID law as this, they'd hear from constitutents, get testimony, and probably shelve the idea. But even if they DID pass it, they could repeal or get voted OUT.
Bureaucracies do NOT get voted out...which is why they are NOT granted the power to create law in our Constitution.
I actually have to say I like my new energy efficient washer, but that’s perhaps because it replaced a 30 year old washing machine that had only half the capacity and it took 3 loads to do what 1 load can do now.
To make matters worse, last year congress quietly pressured the makers of dishwashing detergents to remove phosphates from their products, supposedly to reduce pollution. However, phosphates are what get your dishes clean. If you dishwasher appears to be working less well than it did a year ago, this may be why.
Thousands of Americans have replaced perfectly good dishwashers in the last several months, and find that the new machines don’t clean any better, through no fault of their own.
Dirty, smelly hippies are in control of the government. Is it any wonder that they want us all to be just like them?...............
I have a frontloader and have always had a frontloader. So did my parents. My grandfather worked for Westinghouse back in the day (1920-1958) and for years Westinghouse held the patent for frontloaders so it was the only machine you could buy. . . . and we all bought Westinghouse appliances out of solidarity with Papa.
Once the patent ran out, everybody started making them. That occurred at least a decade before all this energy efficiency mandate business.
The article says: "front-loaders are expensive, often have mold problems, and don't let you toss in a wayward sock after they've started."
They tend to be more expensive because they're more expensive to make, but we've never had a mold problem (you just leave the door cracked open - just like you leave the door up on a toploader), and you CAN toss in more laundry - there's an "add an item" button which pauses the machine while you throw in more stuff. Then you just hit "start" again and it picks up where it left off. Of course, you can't throw in more stuff after a certain point in the wash cycle (duh).
Front loaders have a couple of real advantages over the toploaders - (1) they don't beat your clothes to pieces (no agitator vane). I have oxford shirts, polos, and dress khakis that are 10 years old or more, a bit faded but perfectly wearable. When we visit my mother in law (who has a top loader), you can SEE the extra damage to the clothes after a couple of runs through her machine. (2) they get the clothes cleaner. They are especially good at removing solid particles like sand and grit, and I really appreciate that because I train retrievers and everything (clothes, bedding, towels) gets muddy and dirty dealing with farm ponds and red mud.
I think the writer is exaggerating for effect.
Also, I haven't trusted Consumer Reports in years. Anything I have enough independent knowledge of to judge, they are often dead wrong. They used to be pretty reliable, I have no idea what's happened. I cancelled my subscription about 3 years ago and never looked back.
I used one once, just once. After following the instructions implicitly I have to admit they clean quite well. My clothes had clean dirt on them when they came out. And yes, yes, to using phosphate free detergent.
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.
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.
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.)
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.
We have a 12 yr old Maytag top loader.
These are wonderful machines that were refined over decades.
Based on the multitude of problems that my daughters have with their new HE front loaders, I’m going to keep running the old Maytag for as long as parts are made. I’m betting if factory parts go away, the Chinese will be doing knockoff parts long after I’m dead.
For anybody who likes to do their own repairs, here’s a great website:
http://www.applianceaid.com/repair-help.html
How well-rated were the washing capabilities of the Founding Fathers’ wives?
I bought a Fisher & Paykel top loader last summer that is wonderful. Pretty good energy efficiency, no agitator, up to 1,000 rpm spin (front loaders do 1,200 rpm, IIRC).
It uses only as much water as the amount of clothes in the load require. It spins the load nearly dry so your dryer cycles can be shorter, saving more money. I can use less detergent, like I would with a front loader. All around, it reduces my laundry costs significantly.
Very simple and easy to use.
There is actually a new technology washing machine in the works, if they can figure out a way to make it practical.
It is based on the fact that pure water is an amazing solvent. By pure I mean water that has been “degassed”, because ordinary gasses in the air strongly reduce this solvent ability in water, which is why we have to add soaps or detergents.
So if you had a clothes washer that used “degassed” water, you clothes would be much cleaner than by using tap water. But unfortunately, when water is exposed to air, it absorbs these gases.
So your clothes washer would have to create a vacuum. Then degassed water would be sprayed on your clothes, so that the water would dissolve any dirt, oil, stains, etc., and flow off. Then, because water low temperature boils in a vacuum, your clothes would be dry when taken out of the wash.
The sales gal at the local Home Depot really tried to sell me on how much water and electricity I would be saving using the newer high-efficiency front loaders versus the older designs of washers and dryers.
Not willing to let any big dollar decision go unresearched, I utilized my electric/gas utility’s web site to calculate how much I would save.
Given that I only do two loads a week, the savings in electricity, gas, and water would total less than $20 per year. Those expensive front loaders would never pay for themselves at that rate.
I’m supposed to spend $1500 on one of the high-tech washers, but the warranties are 1yr parts/labor?
I paid $500 for a Sears washer.
When it breaks in 7 years, I’ll spend another $500.
Although, the construction quality has declined over the past 10 years. The dials are made 100% of plastic and don’t ‘click’ like they used to.
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I call our new front loading washer “The Obama”. They advertised that it could do everything. It makes a lot of noise and jumps around a lot without accomplishing much of anything. It doesn’t work very often and frankly, it stinks.