Not to mention your toilet. And lighting. Sadly, it’s one of the more innocuous things they’ve ruined.
The Founders weep.
14 thoughts on “How Washington Ruined Your Washing Machine”
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Not to mention your toilet. And lighting. Sadly, it’s one of the more innocuous things they’ve ruined.
The Founders weep.
Comments are closed.
Meh… the mold problem is real, but mine has a pause capability for adding a sock. I can also put in a larger load, but that’s been improved in the top loading with the removal of the agitator. For the problems of the front loader, it is much easier to load and unload.
I would rather allow market forces determine the winner rather than government.
Pause capabililty to unlock the door isn’t a big deal early in the wash cycle, but once the water level reaches the bottom of the door or higher, there’s no way to unlock and load in an errant sock.
Not that it’s a big deal to me, as I’ve neglected to install laundry capability in my house for the last 10 years. I have had problems with larger items (bed sheets, etc) in front-loaders spinning out properly, as they tend to “open up” and fill the gap in the center of the machine, instead of spinning to the outside. Having an agitator in the middle of a top-loader avoids this happening.
I’ve found that my clothes ARE cleaner and rinsed and spun out better using the top-loaders at the laundromat, though, compared to their front-loaders.
I had to buy a new washing machine a few months back because my old one’s transmission locked up. The new top-loader I bought has a 4 star energy rating because it has an auto water level sensor that determines the optimal level of water for the given amount of clothes you put in. In fact, it doesn’t even have a water level selector knob. However, I found a dirty little secret of this auto level sensor thingy in that if you decide to start the washer then lift the lid to throw in another shirt or cat then it will stop whatever it is doing and immediately fill the entire wash basin up to the top with water. So, if you just have a shirt and pants in there and then forgot to toss in the socks you either have to wait and do a separate wash for your socks or just let it fill up the entire 4 cu. ft basin for 4 pieces of clothing. So, much for saving energy, huh? Of course, I’m a sucker for a good sale but the fact that it was marked down $120 should have probably been an indicator that there was going to be some quirks to deal with.
The other thing that I can’t stand that the gov’t has screwed up is the dishwasher soap. I thought it was my dish washer at first but when I heard that they banned phosphates from dish washer detergent it all suddenly made sense. Now, I waste more time, water, and energy hand washing gunked up cooking implements that I know will still come out of the dishwasher with scaled on crud; even on the heavy cycle. It’s harder to clean that petrified crap stuck to the back of a spatula after it comes out of the machine than if I were to just clean it by hand from the get go. It even got me to start researching just making my own dishwasher detergent so I can put the phosphates back in there. And lo and behold, when I typed ‘dishwasher detergent’ into google one of the top 4 auto completes already had ‘recipe’ sitting there for me to select. So, I know I’m not alone in the level of frustration at the lack of cleaning performance for these “reformulated” detergents.
Why am I mournfully reminded of what it was ilke when we lived in the Soviet Union, forty years ago? Appliances uniformly sucked, but there was this unspoken conspiracy to never say so, because that would violate standards of revolutionary truth. It was a better washing machine, comrades, because it was Serving The People. We’ve just replaced The People with Gaia, or whatever.
Just wash the damn clothes.
I wish we could have that general philosophy engraved on peoples’ foreheads. Just do the job you’re supposed to do, do it well, and things will work out. Your car is a transportaton device, not a tool for atmospheric engineering. Your clothes are things that keep you warm and dry, not methods of foreign policy and aid. Your food is, well, food — not a jobs program for local farmers or a way to express your morals.
I see it as a vast intellectual failure to understand the point of a specialized economy. The point is that your efforts are more efficient at any goal you choose if you work at what you’re good at, and use the magic of money and trade to purchase the labor of people who are good at what you want done. In short, if you want to Save The Whales but your skill is accounting, the best way to proceed is not to take time off from work to protest the tuna fleet, or volunteer at your local aquarium, but to go do top-notch work as an accountant, earn a big pile of money, and give that money to people who are good at whale-saving, marine biologists and whatnot. That will maximize the value (to the whales) of your labor, and let you do the most good. Any other course is inefficient, and should only be pursued if you’re willing to sacrifice some measure of your ability to save the whales so that you can, yourself, enjoy directly helping the whales. In short, it’s a selfish move.
We own a major brand top loader. It has several selections for water lavels and she is quite expert at selecting detergent levels to match. It washes very well and they smell good when washed. Side door washers are a pain in the dorsal posterior anatomy to work with and cause many messes not desired.
I checked out washers a year ago because our was malfunctioning. It’s a small “apartment” model with dryer above and washing top loading below. Perfect. I don’t have to bend over to load it and it’s easy to load the dryer from the hamper below.
Apparently, beside the lousy cleaning, the new models require the use new “special” detergents, which also happens to irritate my skin.
I didn’t vote for the government to screw up my washing machine, or toilet, or car, or food, or the way I can alter my house or . . . .
You lived in the Soviet Union, Carl? I didn’t know that. Great comment, as usual.
I have a washer and dryer that I inherited from my parents. They’re about 20 years old and work fine. Last year a belt broke on the dryer, but it was easily repaired. I’m not looking forward to having to replace them now.
This is absolutely infuriating. (“Infuriated” is increasingly my default mental state.) Whatever happened to “progress”? We’re actually going backwards. Did everybody hear the statement from the head of the UK’s National Grid a couple of weeks ago? Since England is aggressively replacing coal-fired power plants with windmills, he said that people will just have to get used to not having electricity every time they turn on a light switch.
I’m old enough to remember predictions that nuclear-generated electricity would be “too cheap to meter”. Now we’re being told that we will have to learn to live with a Third World electricity grid.
Our front loader is going on 9 years old, still works like a charm. I like it because it accepts huge loads and requires very little detergent.
There isn’t a mold problem, but, with pet bedding to launder often, I use lots of fungus-killing bleach.
danae-
I bet the fact that you “launder often” has a lot to do with it, too. It’s my understanding that most of the mold/mildew problems of front-loaders come from infrequent use and leaving the well-sealed door closed after a user is done with the machine, because the unit saves rinse water between cycles. Frequent travelers who are home only a few days a week or a few days a month are much better served to have a top-loader or use a laundromat than have a front-load washer, from that perspective.
And, speaking of “specialized work”, that’s why I still use a laundromat. The added cost of paying per load of laundry is easily offset by the overall reduction in time spent washing and drying my clothes, because I can get 4 loads of laundry done in about 2 hours, compared to 6 with a conventional home-based approach.
If I were single, I’d use the laundromat too. It’s a great place to meet people, size up prospective dates, watch small dramas unfold before your very eyes.
For me, it’s better to do my nails, walk the dog, etc., while the machines do the laundry.
It’s all about choice, and I vehemently oppose the feds’ persistence in limiting it.
Josh, go to Home Depot, get a box of Tri-Sodium Phosphate, and put a teaspoon in with every dishwashing cycle. Your dishwasher will work correctly again.
As far as front load washers go, we have a washer/dryer combo and to my mind it washes a lot better than old toploaders…in fact the first time I washed my clothes with it I was able to wash without any detergent because there was so much residual soap in my old clothes!
I think that something’s missing from that article, which is any discussion of the benefits energy efficiency standards.
This could be a very important cautionary tale about how unintended side effects can outweigh the benefits of regulation. But did the side effects outweigh the benefits? What were the benefits? I don’t know. The article never even mentioned them.
The author wrote a very one sided piece because it just doesn’t make as good of a “government is so stupid” narrative if you tell the more nuanced (and more accurate) story that some people were trying to create some benefits and actually did create benefits, but also created unintended side effects that may have outweighed the benefits.
My wife who is 5′ 10″ tall prefers a top loader because it is easier than bending over and trying to unload a front-loader. I find it also more convenient to load. Just drop ’em in the top. I’m 6′ 0″ tall. There are water-level knobs that help with the energy and water-waste things.