THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

  • 28 Mar 2024, 16:00
  • Welcome, Guest
Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

Poll

How often do you do laundry?

Several times a day
Once a day
Two or three times a week
Once a week
Less than once a week

Pages: [1] 2   Go Down

Author Topic: Doin' Laundry  (Read 11616 times)

Barmymoo

  • Mentat
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 9,926
Doin' Laundry
« on: 21 Jun 2012, 02:13 »

I'm intrigued. I read a lot of homemaking blogs and I've noticed that a lot of them talk about doing laundry every day, or even more than once a day. Admittedly these are blogs written by women with families (and no jobs), but I'm still gobsmacked that they can have enough dirty laundry to need to put on a load three times a day.

So, how often do you do your laundry? Also, bonus question: do you use a front-loading or top-loading machine? I've never, ever seen a top-loading washing machine in a British house, so I was also amazed to discover that they are common amongst the mommy-blogger set. Is this a self-selecting sample or do the States not like front-loaders?
Logged
There's this really handy "other thing" I'm going to write as a footnote to my abstract that I can probably explore these issues in. I think I'll call it my "dissertation."

Lines

  • Awakened
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10,234
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #1 on: 21 Jun 2012, 03:19 »

We wash about once a week, but there's usually more than one load because I don't like washing small loads of laundry (wastes water). Michael and I bought a top loading high efficiency washer, but the matching dryer is front loading. When we were shopping it looked like most front load washers were high end and rather expensive. Like at least $300 more than the machine we got.
Logged
:grumpypuss: :grumpypuss: :grumpypuss:

Welu

  • It was me, Austin. It was me all along.
  • Global Moderator
  • comeback tour!
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,722
  • That's a smashing blouse. FELLA!
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #2 on: 21 Jun 2012, 05:12 »

I have a front-loader. I'm in Northern Ireland and I've never seen a top-loader.
Laundry isn't something I've quite got the habit of yet since I moved out. We're usually doing two, maybe three loads every other week. There's only two of us in the house and almost all my clothes are black and almost all of my boyfriend's are light/coloured so we probably should do one load a week if we were organized.

I think when I lived at home, when there were five in total and Mammy was working, it probably was a load almost every day needed done. Probably was only three to five that actually got done. More during summer while my brothers and I were off.
I can't imagine how much clothes the family of the women you're talking about must have or how often they change a day to need to do that. I would guess they either have at least four children or less but they're infants so mess up everything in five minutes.

Lines

  • Awakened
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10,234
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #3 on: 21 Jun 2012, 05:59 »

Unless they're those people who only wear things once before they wash? I usually wear pants/shorts/skirts multiple times before I wash them unless they get dirty or sweaty or whatever. Outer shirts, like cardigans, hoodies, etc. get washed less frequently as well, because they rarely touch skin. I know some people, though, that think that's gross, so they will wash everything after being worn only once.
Logged
:grumpypuss: :grumpypuss: :grumpypuss:

lepetitfromage

  • William Gibson's Babydaddy
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2,267
  • addicted to the shindig
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #4 on: 21 Jun 2012, 06:14 »

We tend to do between 3-5 loads every 2 weeks. I usually have 2 loads of dark, 1 load of light, Nick has 1 of each, 1 of our combined whites, then 1 load of sheets and towels. Usually he and I don't do our laundry on the same day, but within a few days of each other. This is especially helpful if we're just shy of a full load of towels/sheets or whites. Then whoever goes last will wash those. I'd much rather do a LOT of laundry all around the same time and be done with it for a few weeks than have to constantly do smaller loads.

Linds, I'm with you to an extent- jeans, cardigans, hoodies are always worn more than once. Everything else is single use. I don't quite know why skirts and trousers aren't as special as jeans, but for some reason I just can't wear them twice. Ditto on leggings.

My parents always had a top-loading machine. The laundry room in our building has front loading and the laundromat we used to use had both. Always front loading dryers.
Logged
If you try to take all the steps at once, you'll fall over.

Omega Entity

  • Scrabble hacker
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,273
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #5 on: 21 Jun 2012, 07:11 »

I always heard that front-loaders get to smelling kinda nasty if you don't care for them properly (something about mold or something), and so we've always had top-loaders. Our washer's been out of commission for the past few months, so it's been weekly trips to the laundromat - there's only two of us, so it's not like there's a ton of it. We're getting our new washer out of layaway this week, though (also a top-loader), so we can finally be doing our laundry at home again.
Logged

Redball

  • Born in a Nalgene bottle
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3,244
  • What's disease? Where?
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #6 on: 21 Jun 2012, 07:20 »

I've always had top load washers. Front loads use much less water and cost more, but I'm not about to switch, especially since my well water costs only the electricity to run the pump. I run two loads about once a week. I've been pulling some poison ivy, and so clothes and canvas shoes go in the wash soon after. And I go into the shower.
Logged

valley_parade

  • coprophage
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 7,169
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #7 on: 21 Jun 2012, 07:58 »

Go to the laundromat every Saturday afternoon, because I live an exciting life.
Logged
Wait so you're letting something that happened 10 years ago ruin your quality of life? What are you, America? :psyduck:

Barmymoo

  • Mentat
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 9,926
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #8 on: 21 Jun 2012, 08:42 »

Unless they're those people who only wear things once before they wash? I usually wear pants/shorts/skirts multiple times before I wash them unless they get dirty or sweaty or whatever. Outer shirts, like cardigans, hoodies, etc. get washed less frequently as well, because they rarely touch skin. I know some people, though, that think that's gross, so they will wash everything after being worn only once.

I think this might well be it - one of the blogs I read had a post on how to reduce your laundry and her suggestion was (gasp, horror, suggested in the tone of someone who knows she is about to say something scandalous!) that you should wear jeans TWICE before you wash them. I often wear the same pair of jeans for two weeks before washing them, although they get washed more often if it's summer and I'm sweaty.
Logged
There's this really handy "other thing" I'm going to write as a footnote to my abstract that I can probably explore these issues in. I think I'll call it my "dissertation."

Papersatan

  • William Gibson's Babydaddy
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2,368
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #9 on: 21 Jun 2012, 10:40 »

Steve and I do laundry when we realize we are out of things to wear.  I'd like to say this is because of the hassle of going to the laundry mat, but we did the same thing when there was laundry in our basement, only then we also left clothes mildewing in the washer for a week. :(

I have always had a top loading washer and a front loading drier. My last apartment got a new high efficiency washer that makes funny noises and won't let you see how much water is in it, and that was top loading too. 

Maybe if everyone takes a shower everyday and uses a clean towel every time, if you have a house of 5 that could make a load of laundry a day.  Also if they are stay-at-home mommy bloggers they might be using cloth diapers on young children and/or forgoing paper towels for cloths and cleaning a lot of messes . 
Logged
[12:07] ackblom12: hi again honey
[12:08] ackblom12: I'm tired of lookin at that ugly little face

Barmymoo

  • Mentat
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 9,926
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #10 on: 21 Jun 2012, 11:13 »

But why would you use a clean towel every time?! The point of having a shower is so that you become clean, how dirty is the towel going to be when you've dried yourself on it once?
Logged
There's this really handy "other thing" I'm going to write as a footnote to my abstract that I can probably explore these issues in. I think I'll call it my "dissertation."

Redball

  • Born in a Nalgene bottle
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3,244
  • What's disease? Where?
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #11 on: 21 Jun 2012, 11:20 »

I wash towels if they become soiled, but more likely when they become stiff. I don't use the fabric softener sheets, not yet anyway. But I can imagine towels taking a little shed skin and residual oils along with them even from a fairly clean body. And isn't there a rule of thumb that we shouldn't aim to soap ourselves squeaky clean, that we should leave some oils in the skin?
Logged

Papersatan

  • William Gibson's Babydaddy
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2,368
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #12 on: 21 Jun 2012, 11:24 »

I don't use a clean towel each time, but I have known people that do. I think they just get squeaked by it touching them.  "I dried my butt with it! If I save it I might dry my face with the butt part!" or they just are really wasteful.
Logged
[12:07] ackblom12: hi again honey
[12:08] ackblom12: I'm tired of lookin at that ugly little face

Lines

  • Awakened
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10,234
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #13 on: 21 Jun 2012, 11:30 »

Using a new towel every time is extremely wasteful. You can use towels multiple times before they need to be washed, jeeze. And if you're really that paranoid...air dry.
Logged
:grumpypuss: :grumpypuss: :grumpypuss:

lepetitfromage

  • William Gibson's Babydaddy
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2,267
  • addicted to the shindig
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #14 on: 21 Jun 2012, 13:31 »

I used to use a new towel each time when I was in high school, but my mom caught wind of what I was doing and it stopped pretty quickly after that. I think I thought you were supposed to use a new one each time.
Logged
If you try to take all the steps at once, you'll fall over.

Barmymoo

  • Mentat
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 9,926
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #15 on: 21 Jun 2012, 13:51 »

OK, I have to admit that I went through a year or two of putting on clean underwear to sleep in. These days I still wear underwear to sleep, but I generally wear the same pair I had on all day unless I've just had a shower. So I guess I do understand how you can get into weird wasteful habits... but when you're the one washing all those towels, surely you'd realise how stupid it was?

I only actually own two towels, so it wouldn't even be possible.
Logged
There's this really handy "other thing" I'm going to write as a footnote to my abstract that I can probably explore these issues in. I think I'll call it my "dissertation."

maxusy3k

  • FIGHT YOU
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 436
  • Lurker of Lovecraftian proportion
    • Obligatory Social Networking Page
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #16 on: 21 Jun 2012, 14:33 »

Wait you're supposed to use a towel more than once before washing it?
Logged

Carl-E

  • Awakened
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10,346
  • The distilled essence of Mr. James Beam himself.
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #17 on: 21 Jun 2012, 14:34 »

If you can shave with a towel, it's too stiff. 

You should wash that thing. 
Logged
When people try to speak a gut reaction, they end up talking out their ass.

Redball

  • Born in a Nalgene bottle
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3,244
  • What's disease? Where?
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #18 on: 21 Jun 2012, 14:35 »

If you can shave with a towel, it's too stiff. 

You should wash that thing.
Yeah, but then it'll have to be resharpened.
Logged

Barmymoo

  • Mentat
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 9,926
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #19 on: 21 Jun 2012, 14:38 »

Maxusy, I'm not sure if you're joking or not... Other than pants (as in underwear) and socks, I use everything more than once before washing it. Even bras, because those suckers cost a fortune and I can't afford to have more than two that fit at a time.
Logged
There's this really handy "other thing" I'm going to write as a footnote to my abstract that I can probably explore these issues in. I think I'll call it my "dissertation."

idontunderstand

  • Scrabble hacker
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,474
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #20 on: 21 Jun 2012, 14:56 »

About once a month... I suck horribly.
Logged

bainidhe_dub

  • Scrabble hacker
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,445
    • tumblr
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #21 on: 21 Jun 2012, 15:22 »

I do my laundry about once a week, on average - more like 2 or 3 loads every two weeks like some people said. Robert does smaller loads of his clothes about twice a week - he gets dirty at work and runs everything on heavy duty, which fucks up my office clothes. What we are really bad at is putting clean clothes away. Our closet is like some kind of outbound-only portal for clothes. It's all piled up on the futon in the basement and in the guest bedroom. The only upside is that it means I can actually see what I'm putting on, rather than trying not to wake up Robert and tripping around in the dark looking for the black cardigan, not the green one.
We got a new HE washer and dryer over the winter, and it's a top-loading washer. The front-loaders were more expensive and personally I just don't trust them not to leak, even though I know they must have that sort of thing sorted out by now.
Logged
I am lurking so hard right now. You have no idea.

Welu

  • It was me, Austin. It was me all along.
  • Global Moderator
  • comeback tour!
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,722
  • That's a smashing blouse. FELLA!
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #22 on: 21 Jun 2012, 15:34 »

I use two towels after a shower, one for my hair and one to dry the rest of me. I usually wrap my hair because I keep forgetting to buy a hair-dryer. My family had always used one new towel for showers, although they'd be the same size as the one we leave out for drying our hands. It's not a squick thing but I just find it's soaked after I use it and once it'd dried, it smells and feels nasty so drying my hands with it after washing them seems counterproductive.
Another thing was when I lived at home, our shower was in my parents' en suite so it was a tiny room with a tile floor. We all got into the habit of leaving a towel on the floor after a shower to soak up the condensation and water that got out and have a surface with grip.

I can go probably too long without changing trousers/jeans/outer tops and even bras.

dr. nervioso

  • Beyond Thunderdome
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 555
  • No more Mr. Nice Bitch
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #23 on: 21 Jun 2012, 17:35 »

I do laundry a few times a week. See, I have a lot of clothes, but I have several outfits that I really like so I want to wear hem a lot. I do eventually get sick of them though.

Also, I hate washing jeans, they always are hard to dry and I am not sure whether it's the colder weather making me pack on the pounds or the fact that they shrink in the dryer, but they are always tighter when they get out of the laundry. And I already buy them pretty damn tight!
Logged
Quote
this forum is slowly decomposing into butts and kitties

Kugai

  • CIA Handler of Miss Melody Powers
  • Awakened
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 11,493
  • Crazy Kiwi Shoujo-Ai Fan
    • My Homepage
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #24 on: 21 Jun 2012, 21:55 »

I do a once a week trip to the Laundrette on Payday.

Early start at 06:00 too   :-D
Logged
James The Kugai 

You can never have too much Coffee.

Carl-E

  • Awakened
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10,346
  • The distilled essence of Mr. James Beam himself.
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #25 on: 21 Jun 2012, 22:17 »

Our laundry's in the basement.  Seemed like a good idea at the time...

Then my wife's knees went out.  My younger daughter, who had finally started doing her own laundry fell ill, and is now in a wheelchair.  My older daughter's ankles are bad, she avoids the stairs as much as possible.  She'll do a load or two of her own stuff each week. 

I try to get a couple of loads done every week, but the amoeboid mass of dirty laundry keeps growing...
Logged
When people try to speak a gut reaction, they end up talking out their ass.

lepetitfromage

  • William Gibson's Babydaddy
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2,267
  • addicted to the shindig
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #26 on: 22 Jun 2012, 06:28 »

Ahh, I forgot about bras! Yep, they're definitely not washed between every wear.

I do laundry a few times a week. See, I have a lot of clothes, but I have several outfits that I really like so I want to wear hem a lot. I do eventually get sick of them though.

Also, I hate washing jeans, they always are hard to dry and I am not sure whether it's the colder weather making me pack on the pounds or the fact that they shrink in the dryer, but they are always tighter when they get out of the laundry. And I already buy them pretty damn tight!

I definitely get the concept of washing just to wear a certain outfit. But I have more clothes than I'd like to admit so I can get by a few weeks before I run out of the "good" stuff.

And I absolutely hate washing jeans too! If I hang them, they take ages and get stiff. If I stick them in the dryer, they shrink.  :x

If you can shave with a towel, it's too stiff. 

Bwahahahahaa
Logged
If you try to take all the steps at once, you'll fall over.

Lupercal

  • Bling blang blong blung
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,041
  • In conception since 1991
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #27 on: 22 Jun 2012, 07:49 »

Maxusy, I'm not sure if you're joking or not... Other than pants (as in underwear) and socks, I use everything more than once before washing it. Even bras, because those suckers cost a fortune and I can't afford to have more than two that fit at a time.

My girlfriend has a similar dilemma. Cheap ones die quickly, more expensive ones tend to just fade, die, lose any kind of supportive function. Its a shame, because it seems like a black-hole of underwear shopping that men rarely go through. I choose to throw out boxers I've had since like, before college, just because I shouldn't have underwear I've had since I was 16. Too much information? Possibly!  :mrgreen:

I always heard that front-loaders get to smelling kinda nasty if you don't care for them properly (something about mold or something), and so we've always had top-loaders.

Yeah the one in my current house develops a lovely brown squidgy liquid in the rubber rim around the door. It means that if you don't notice it before you take your clothes out, you drag perfectly clean clothes through brown mouldy crap and have to re-wash them. But I don't think top loaders are really a thing over here in the UK (although a top-loading tumble dryer would've been so much more useful for kitchen space this year)
Logged

Akima

  • WoW gold miner on break
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6,523
  • ** 妇女能顶半边天 **
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #28 on: 22 Jun 2012, 08:05 »

I normally do about two loads a week, one for "whites and lights" including things like sheets and towels, and another for "coloureds". It varies a bit depending on what I've been wearing, fabrics, favourite clothes, how hot it's been and so on. I usually have a bag of cycling gear to wash each week apart from anything else.

I have a front-loading washing machine, but no dryer. The climate in Sydney is such that I can generally dry outside all year round if I keep an eye on the seven day weather forecast. I use a front-loader because they use less water and electricity (generally), and are gentler on the clothes (usually). Top-loaders are quite popular here however because they are cheaper to buy. My machine has a neat feature where you can program it to start the wash n hours after you set the timer. I load it in the evening and set it to start at 5am, so it runs on cheaper off-peak electricity, and I can hang the washing out early to catch the morning sun.
Logged
"I would rather have questions that can't be answered, than answers that can't be questioned." Richard Feynman

LTK

  • Methuselah's mentor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,009
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #29 on: 22 Jun 2012, 08:20 »

Maxusy, I'm not sure if you're joking or not... Other than pants (as in underwear) and socks, I use everything more than once before washing it. Even bras, because those suckers cost a fortune and I can't afford to have more than two that fit at a time.

My girlfriend has a similar dilemma. Cheap ones die quickly, more expensive ones tend to just fade, die, lose any kind of supportive function. Its a shame, because it seems like a black-hole of underwear shopping that men rarely go through. I choose to throw out boxers I've had since like, before college, just because I shouldn't have underwear I've had since I was 16. Too much information? Possibly!  :mrgreen:
I remember a stand-up comedian telling how men really never throw away underwear. We wear them until they disintegrate into dust. Then you can just open the window and let it blow away. That's pretty accurate, don't you think?

Regarding front- and top-loaders: Every single washing machine and dryer I've seen in real life and in advertisements/commercials has been a front-loader. I only know top-loaders exist because of American tv shows, and even then it never occured to me that people have a choice about which kind they buy. The More You Know!
Logged
Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

maxusy3k

  • FIGHT YOU
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 436
  • Lurker of Lovecraftian proportion
    • Obligatory Social Networking Page
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #30 on: 22 Jun 2012, 10:42 »

I only do my laundry maybe once a week but I wear pretty much everything for two days, unless I get super sweaty or something, so I usually go through three sets of clothes over the weekend since I go out drinking and dancing.

Maxusy, I'm not sure if you're joking or not...

I'm not... this thread opened up a huge debate where it seems like it might be a roughly even split on those who do and don't, since I'd literally never even thought of this concept before. I own probably more towels than I own pants which I suppose is a result of this, but I don't know... it just doesn't seem right to me. I understand the rationale behind it and to be honest it seems fine - you are clean when you get out of the shower so what's the problem really - but I just... well... after I dry my ass I don't really want that towel anywhere near my face until it's been washed, I guess.

Related; a girl I was seeing once asked me if I used a seperate towel to dry my ass or not, which is how she was raised to dry herself. So that's using TWO towels for one shower! I assume now she let one / both just dry though, that didn't seem relevant at the time.
Logged

Omega Entity

  • Scrabble hacker
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,273
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #31 on: 22 Jun 2012, 10:53 »

Related; a girl I was seeing once asked me if I used a seperate towel to dry my ass or not, which is how she was raised to dry herself. So that's using TWO towels for one shower! I assume now she let one / both just dry though, that didn't seem relevant at the time.

I wasn't raised to, but I use one towel for hair and face and one for body. But I also use those same two towels for probably at least 2 weeks before swapping them out for fresh ones.
Logged

lepetitfromage

  • William Gibson's Babydaddy
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2,267
  • addicted to the shindig
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #32 on: 22 Jun 2012, 11:02 »

I do the same thing as OE, but I end up going about a week/week and a half. Typically after I feel that the "body" towel is almost near the end of its life cycle, it turns into a "hair" towel.



ETA: Who knew laundry could be so interesting?? Makes me wonder what other mundane facets of life could turn into this kind of thing.
Logged
If you try to take all the steps at once, you'll fall over.

Barmymoo

  • Mentat
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 9,926
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #33 on: 22 Jun 2012, 12:26 »

I was a bit trepidatious about posting this thread, but then I realised that this kind of question comes up all the time in my life thanks to the internet (I would never have even considered the possibility that other countries had different kinds of washing machine without it!) so I decided to go with it :)

I have to hand wash my bras, as you're advised to anyway, because they shrink in the machine. I realised today that I could actually smell the one I was wearing, whilst wearing it... so I took it off and washed it because that really is gross, even for me.
Logged
There's this really handy "other thing" I'm going to write as a footnote to my abstract that I can probably explore these issues in. I think I'll call it my "dissertation."

lepetitfromage

  • William Gibson's Babydaddy
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2,267
  • addicted to the shindig
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #34 on: 22 Jun 2012, 12:51 »

I put mine into the wash but always hang dry them. I never feel as though I can get them as clean as the washing machine can but the dryer messes everything up. They tend to acquire Wonky Underwire Syndrome after a trip through the dryer.

Logged
If you try to take all the steps at once, you'll fall over.

nobo

  • Bling blang blong blung
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,059
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #35 on: 22 Jun 2012, 13:16 »

I go through 2 sets of clothes everyday. My morning gym clothes and my work clothes. The washer fills up in about 3 days from all that, so I have to do my laundry about twice a week. Wife does her own laundry.
Logged
Well yes but (sorry andy) she doesn't look half as fucking bad ass as this motherfucker in Poland.

Dude is hardcore.

Akima

  • WoW gold miner on break
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6,523
  • ** 妇女能顶半边天 **
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #36 on: 22 Jun 2012, 16:10 »

Regarding front- and top-loaders: Every single washing machine and dryer I've seen in real life and in advertisements/commercials has been a front-loader. I only know top-loaders exist because of American tv shows, and even then it never occured to me that people have a choice about which kind they buy.
I think a lot depends on how people typically install their machines. Top-loaders need plenty of space above them so that you can open the lid and get clothes in and out easily, whereas front-loaders can fit under a benchtop or be stacked under a dryer in a cupboard. The Great Australian Dream has traditionally been to live in a suburban bungalow which often has a "laundry area" somewhere near the back door so there's room to spread things out a bit, and top-loaders are fine. If you live in a flat, and perhaps have your washing-machine installed under a kitchen benchtop, there's not really room for a top-loader.

Bras... Yeah, they're annoying. I machine-wash my underwear (except for special delicate items... :-o) but I usually cold wash, or at most set 30C, and don't use a dryer, so shrinkage doesn't seem to be a problem.
Logged
"I would rather have questions that can't be answered, than answers that can't be questioned." Richard Feynman

Barmymoo

  • Mentat
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 9,926
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #37 on: 23 Jun 2012, 02:15 »

I want a laundry room, it's second on my list after "dream kitchen", but I don't think I want a top loading machine. They just feel like they'd be cavernous, and how do you reach in to get everything out? Also, you can just wipe the door clean.
Logged
There's this really handy "other thing" I'm going to write as a footnote to my abstract that I can probably explore these issues in. I think I'll call it my "dissertation."

Lines

  • Awakened
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10,234
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #38 on: 23 Jun 2012, 07:57 »

It's not that hard to get laundry out of a top loader. But then again I'm tall and have really long arms.
Logged
:grumpypuss: :grumpypuss: :grumpypuss:

lepetitfromage

  • William Gibson's Babydaddy
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2,267
  • addicted to the shindig
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #39 on: 23 Jun 2012, 08:34 »

I grew up with a top loading machine and I remember helping my mom get the laundry done- I'd always end up half in and half out of the washer trying to get everything. Obviously when I got taller, the problem went away but I've started to really enjoy the look of the semi-new front loading machines. There are more of them in colors other than black and white than there are in top loading ones. I mean.....if I had these babies I'd probably look forward to doing my laundry.

Logged
If you try to take all the steps at once, you'll fall over.

Carl-E

  • Awakened
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10,346
  • The distilled essence of Mr. James Beam himself.
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #40 on: 23 Jun 2012, 09:17 »

I mean.....if I had these babies I'd probably look forward to doing my laundry.

Marketing at its best. 


I'd just be happy bacause they do use less water and energy than the top-loaders. 
Logged
When people try to speak a gut reaction, they end up talking out their ass.

bainidhe_dub

  • Scrabble hacker
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,445
    • tumblr
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #41 on: 23 Jun 2012, 13:11 »

1. Worked for my husband. Apparently "all" it takes to get him to do household chores is to get a fancy new $500 appliance to do them with - he loves doing laundry and vacuuming now.

2. The pedestal that those front-loading machines are marketed as coming with/requiring are actually sold separately, for $250 each. Fucking absurd.
Logged
I am lurking so hard right now. You have no idea.

lepetitfromage

  • William Gibson's Babydaddy
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2,267
  • addicted to the shindig
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #42 on: 23 Jun 2012, 13:35 »

The pedestals also make them look enormous. The website calls them "pedestal drawers" and for $250, I'd rather just put up some shelves and stick whatever's left in the piggy bank.


Carl- the efficiency is definitely the best perk, but I've also always gravitated towards colorful things (which is probably why my apartment looks like a kindergarten teacher's classroom threw up on it, but whatever). IMO, it's about damn time that manufacturers added something to spice up appliances!
Logged
If you try to take all the steps at once, you'll fall over.

Carl-E

  • Awakened
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10,346
  • The distilled essence of Mr. James Beam himself.
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #43 on: 23 Jun 2012, 14:19 »

I remember the last time they tried it - "Avocado" ad "Harvest Gold" spring to mind...
Logged
When people try to speak a gut reaction, they end up talking out their ass.

Lupercal

  • Bling blang blong blung
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,041
  • In conception since 1991
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #44 on: 24 Jun 2012, 05:17 »

I put mine into the wash but always hang dry them. I never feel as though I can get them as clean as the washing machine can but the dryer messes everything up. They tend to acquire Wonky Underwire Syndrome after a trip through the dryer.

Jeez, you're such a WUS  :lol:

I'd like to have some shiny appliances. Stuff in my house this year was white, white, white, white, and black.
Logged

Akima

  • WoW gold miner on break
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6,523
  • ** 妇女能顶半边天 **
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #45 on: 24 Jun 2012, 05:36 »

2. The pedestal that those front-loading machines are marketed as coming with/requiring are actually sold separately, for $250 each. Fucking absurd.
I suspect the pedestals are to accommodate people who can't or won't bend down or kneel to load or unload their laundry.
Logged
"I would rather have questions that can't be answered, than answers that can't be questioned." Richard Feynman

Barmymoo

  • Mentat
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 9,926
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #46 on: 24 Jun 2012, 07:16 »

You could just put them on a shelf. I bet it costs less than $500 to get a custom-built platform made.
Logged
There's this really handy "other thing" I'm going to write as a footnote to my abstract that I can probably explore these issues in. I think I'll call it my "dissertation."

lepetitfromage

  • William Gibson's Babydaddy
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2,267
  • addicted to the shindig
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #47 on: 24 Jun 2012, 08:09 »

My parents always had issues with our basement taking in water when it rained too much and that's where they kept the washer and dryer. They propped them up on cinder blocks and cost wayyyyy less than $250. Not quite as fancy looking but they did the job pretty well.
Logged
If you try to take all the steps at once, you'll fall over.

bainidhe_dub

  • Scrabble hacker
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,445
    • tumblr
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #48 on: 24 Jun 2012, 08:56 »

The one reason I kinda wish we'd gotten both machines as front-loaders is the idea of putting a shelf directly above them, to have a surface for folding or whatever.
Logged
I am lurking so hard right now. You have no idea.

Barmymoo

  • Mentat
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 9,926
Re: Doin' Laundry
« Reply #49 on: 24 Jun 2012, 09:03 »

My dream laundry room, like my dream kitchen, would have an island in the middle. In the laundry room, it would be a combination ironing and folding surface. In the kitchen, it would be a chopping and food preparation surface. Sadly my dream laundry room and dream kitchen occupy my dream house, number 19 Cloud Cuckoo Street, Nevernever Land.
Logged
There's this really handy "other thing" I'm going to write as a footnote to my abstract that I can probably explore these issues in. I think I'll call it my "dissertation."
Pages: [1] 2   Go Up