Now I Know Why My Clothes Don't Get That Clean
The geniuses that forced everybody to get low-flush toilets messed up the washing machine, too. Not to tell too much information, but I like to conserve resources when possible, so I'm very much of the, um, "let it mellow" school of toilet flushing. But, when somebody needs to flush, you want the toilet to actually flush and carry off everything it's supposed to. Those low-flush toilets tend to be pretty bad at that.
Sam Kazman writes in the WSJ about how government ruined the washing machine:
In 1996, top-loaders were pretty much the only type of washer around, and they were uniformly high quality. When 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." This month came the death knell: Consumer Reports simply dismissed all conventional top-loaders as "often mediocre or worse."How's that for progress?
The culprit is the federal government's obsession with energy efficiency.
...The federal government first issued energy standards for washers in the early 1990s. When the Department of Energy ratcheted them up a decade later, it was the beginning of the end for top-loaders. Their costlier and harder-to-use rivals--front-loading washing machines--were poised to dominate.
Front-loaders meet federal standards more easily than top-loaders. Because they don't fully immerse their laundry loads, they use less hot water and therefore less energy. But, as Americans are increasingly learning, front-loaders are expensive, often have mold problems, and don't let you toss in a wayward sock after they've started.
When the Department of Energy began raising the standard, it promised that "consumers will have the same range of clothes washers as they have today," and cleaning ability wouldn't be changed. That's not how it turned out.
In 2007, after the more stringent rules had kicked in, Consumer Reports noted that some top-loaders were leaving its test swatches "nearly as dirty as they were before washing." "For the first time in years," CR said, "we can't call any washer a Best Buy." Contrast that with the magazine's 1996 report that, "given warm enough water and a good detergent, any washing machine will get clothes clean." Those were the good old days.
For those of you, like me, who are hoarding soon-to-be-banned incandescent bulbs, I highly recommend ordering from WhatWatt.com. 120 or more 100 watt bulbs are 33 cents each. I think it's best to order in lots of 120, as that's the size of a case. Six of them broken in transit, and they refunded my money with zero hassle for every one when I e-mailed them.
P.S. I bought a hybrid car (a 2004,1900-lb Honda Insight) and take other steps to conserve without anybody passing a law demanding that I do so...imagine that!
Oh, and by the way, I heard a presentation at the last Human Behavior & Evolution Society conference on how people who are "green" tend to think they have a pass to behave in all sorts of piggish ways. (The thinking that kicks in is apparently an environmental version of "I gave at the office.")
I don't know about top loaders, but I bought a stackable front loader with dryer (Whirlpool Duet) about three years ago, and I LOVE them!
Seriously, I sat on the floor in front of the washer with a beer the first time I ran it just to watch - it uses VERY little water and my clothes come out really clean with next to no soap. There is also a "whitest whites" setting - add a tiny bit of bleach, and really, your whites are WHITE! NO gray undies, people!
I am really the last person who gives a rat's ass about the planet, but these babies are AWESOME.
Oh, and mold problems - HA! I leave the door open a crack to thoroughly dry out (alternately you can wipe out the rubber seal with a towel to dry) and run the CLEANING setting once a month (1/4 cup bleach on the "clean washer" setting) and NO SMELL. NONE. I did EXTENSIVE research before I bought these and learned quickly that if you just did this it was no problem whatsoever. Trust me, I am a smell freak; I'd bitch if it stunk. 99.9% of the problems are a failure on the users to either a) fully dry out the rubber seal or b) properly clean the washer. It's not that hard - trust me, I am completely lazy, and I can manage to get it done.
And, FWIW, you do get a ten-fifteen second "chance" to put in a wayward piece of laundry. This really only takes 60 seconds of planning on your part. If you miss a freaking sock, is it REALLY a deal breaker?
IMHO, the benefits far outweigh the losses. YMMV.
I was really leery about buying a front loader, but after literally weeks of research, I pulled the trigger and I could NOT be happier. I'm planning on selling my condo and leaving them behind, and I'm quite sad about that. I will miss them.
Daghain at March 17, 2011 12:09 AM
My parents finally got a washing machine (the machine being replaced was from 1969 when the house was built) and the chose a front loader. They are quite happy with it.
My washer (1982) is a toploader and it doesn't work so great.
I thought there was a formula change in most detergents in that time frame too...but all I can find talks about phosphates being removed from dish washer soap so I may be mistaken.
The Former Banker at March 17, 2011 1:15 AM
I guess front vs top loader can just be considered as evolution of technology rather than a case of who is a victim of govt. mandates. Sooner or later, front loaders were bound to catch up in popularity just like lcd's caught up with crt's. Eventually consumers were bound to tend towards front loaders not just because of federal regulations, but also because of other advantages of the technology like getting the clothes squeaky clean, but with minimal wear and tear due to the washing. The only problem is that they take more time, but then who cares about that when laundry is done just once a week? I always used the front loaders at the laundromat when I was in USA because all the bigger machines and they were gentle on the clothes, but still cleaned better than a top loader. If I wanted a top loader which cleaned as well as a front loader, I would have to buy clothes three times as often and use 4 times the detergent I use in the front loader. And companies would have also started focusing on front loaders without federal mandates because they were making more money on those machines anyway and they would have eventually had a product mix which was more front loaders and less top loaders.
Redrajesh at March 17, 2011 1:37 AM
We bought and shipped a 220v. top loading Whirpool when we moved to Israel. We've been here 20 years and it's only now starting to complain a little. Glad we bought before the meddling started.
It uses a LOT of water though - and that is a major issue here in Israel. And I don't see any difference between our laundry and everyone else's (they don't even sell top loaders here).
Ben David at March 17, 2011 2:43 AM
So, in recent months, my formerly wonderful Bosch dishwasher has regularly left food and residue on my dishes. Didn't take long to discover that, following government "guidelines", dishwasher soap companies have had to reformulate their products, and now they don't actually, you know, clean.
Robin at March 17, 2011 5:16 AM
We have an LG frontloader. Love it. We went through 3 or 4 top-loaders in five years... We're repeat offender overloaders and managed to break several of the "newer" toploaders. The frontloader can handle almost anything we try to stuff in it. (I wouldn't, say, try to stuff the bath mat and a bunch of towels in there, though.)
I recall, though, that my parents had the same washer forever- 15 years or more, I think.
@Robin: We got a new diswasher in '09, and I started to notice some time last year that it just wasn't cleaning well anymore. I think I saw the phosphate story on NPR shortly after that. So now we have to pre-scrub (not just rinse) everything. Or just hand-wash and be done with it.
ahw at March 17, 2011 7:16 AM
I also have a front loader and I love it! It really doesn't use much detergent and the clothes are nice and clean, plus it cuts down on drying time, which costs us more than water, because the clothes go through the spin cylce, and even on low, it still spins most of the water out. Also, I like that I can put my large comforters into the front loader and not worry about them getting ruined. When I lived in an apartment with a top loader I had my comforter completely ruined from washing because it wrapped around the center spin thing and ripped it all up.
Angie at March 17, 2011 7:45 AM
I've got a Kenmore front loader and it's the best dang machine I've ever had. Easy to use too, and the girls actually like doing their own laundry (yay!).
I hardly ever use my dishwasher, except when I have a lot of company and don't have a lot of time (or energy) to wash every thing by hand. But I've noticed that it doesn't get things as clean as when I do them by hand anyway.
Flynne at March 17, 2011 8:23 AM
I bought a hybrid car (a 2004,1900-lb Honda Insight)
Let us know when the battery packs fail. It will be interesting to see how much and how long it takes to get them replaced. That's a first gen hybrid, and my understanding is that the batteries die in the 7-10 year range for those vehicles.
I R A Darth Aggie at March 17, 2011 8:32 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/03/17/now_i_know_why.html#comment-1934289">comment from I R A Darth AggieLet us know when the battery packs fail. It will be interesting to see how much and how long it takes to get them replaced.
Kind of a nasty thing to say. Also, Honda sent me something saying my warranty on the batteries had been extended. And my car is absolutely fantastic and I still take it to the gas station (the sweet guys at the full-serve at Via Marina Unocal) expecting it to need something: oil, transmission fluid, etc....and it almost never does!
Amy Alkon at March 17, 2011 8:46 AM
I thought things where supposed to get better in the future!
If things continue in this way, kids will actually start listening the granddad about "in his day" stories and thinking they are great and the past was better, instead of rolling their eyes!
John Paulson at March 17, 2011 9:52 AM
well Joh, things ARE better, if your measure for better is "cost relatively less".
this comes up a lot with consumer hard goods. How long did your last VCR last? I still have one for some of the kids' movies, but it is hardly/almost never used, and is wearing out anyway. The Chairman of Matsushita [Panasonic+ others] laid out the problem thus... he could build a VCR that would last, but it would cost 6X more than the $50 we pay today, and nobody would buy it. The VCR [now DVD/Blu-Ray and such] are commodities and as such low price is a driver, not high quality. There is a threshold of quality, but it's ot like they use really expensive power supplies and stuff. AND if it breaks, it's cheaper to buy new than pay a tech $100/hour to fix it. Fixing meaning finding the offending module and replacing it.
The same thing goes on all herd goods including washing machines. This is NOT JUST about energy regulation, but also the drive to keep things inexpensive...
Couple that with the drive to entice you to buy something even better [and slightly more expensive] and viola! You pay more for a frontloader, EVEN THOUGH they are simpler to build.
In many regards, this isn't JUST one thing, but a complex group of them.
On the upside, though? At least a frontloader DOES clean better, with less wear/tear on your clothes, and use less water... and they have for a very long time. My grandmother had frontloaders, and so did my mom... Her White westinghouse from '79 lasted till recently. They have been around, but double the price of a toploader. The question is, how much do you save in water/detergent and clothes wear/tear over the years you will own it? Most people won't make that calculation.
SwissArmyD at March 17, 2011 10:16 AM
Well, you have to buy the HE labeled soap so that you don't have bubbles coming out of the back of your washer, but I can honestly say a quart of concentrate lasts me damn near a month, and I do about four to six loads of laundry a week.
Daghain at March 17, 2011 12:29 PM
In regards to toilets, overseas in Bahrain they had toilets with two buttons. One was a small flush (maybe 1/3 gallon), the other was a large flush. Why not install that here? I think most people would gladly pay a few dollars more to seriously cut back on the water bill without sacrificing efficiency.
Ryan at March 17, 2011 3:50 PM
My wife will not have a front loader. She's had one before and she says it's too rough on the clothes. And I've seen way too many reports of front loaders that have the spider (the part that connects the tub to the motor) break, or the tub bearings fail, after 3-4 years. They are very difficult to work on and most service people will refuse to work on them, so when this happens, you're in line for a new machine. As for the top loaders, they have been crippled by government regs to the point where they just don't work right any more.
And then there's the automaticwasher.org guys who restore and use vintage machines. And maintain a really, uh, unique Web site.
Cousin Dave at March 17, 2011 4:19 PM
The federal government may be highly concerned about energy efficiency, but doesn't always do a very intelligent job of defining and measuring it. For example, both natural gas appliances and electric appliances are measured soley on the efficiency at the point of use, completely ignoring the considerable losses that occur in electrical generation and transmission.
So that an electric water heater may be considered less efficient than a gas water heater, even though the actual amount of gas consumed to make the electricity considerably exceeds the amount consumed directly in the gas heater.
david foster at March 18, 2011 6:14 AM
In regards to toilets, overseas in Bahrain they had toilets with two buttons.
Yes, the two types of flush toilets are common in the rest of the world. I like them. I don't understand why more people don't install them in the US. My parents have one, though I don't like the control... push the little lever down a little for a small flush, push it down a lot for a big flush.
The Former Banker at March 18, 2011 11:51 AM
I have a samsung frontloader, and love it more than my hubby. Uses little water, the clothes get clean, never had a smell issue, and I can add something at any point in the cycle I want. I do about 3 loads a day. I use only HE detergent-NOT the stuff that says it works for both (it doesn't). I leave the door open the rare occasions it's not in use, and that's it.
We have no issue with the low flow potties at our house.
momof4 at March 18, 2011 3:44 PM
I went through 3 dishwashers in 3 years to get the one I have now, that works like I want it to. I refuse to handwash-it uses more water-and I only run when full (not that that is a problem at our place). It's a bosch. Utterly adore it. I also only use Finish tabs in it. They were recommended by several different service people, and they really are the best.
momof4 at March 18, 2011 3:46 PM
Yeah my front loading machine doesn't seem to get dirt out either. Not even big stains, but just dumb little dirt areas. It's a high quality machine, too. I guess realistically there's really no need to waste like 12 gallons of water on a few shirts several times a month! And I guess that means spot treating beforehand from now on?
Andrea at October 22, 2013 2:24 AM
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