laundry

Crucial point- that headline says dryer and British when it means neither of these things and is therefore a bad headline

ya those combo washer dryers are a known useless item everywhere. but that said, US dryers seem insanely large too.

we got big things to dry

A lot of aussies do things like this:

https://www.lowes.com/creative-ideas/images/2013_08/Fall_CI/create-a-closet-laundry-102039130.jpg

Or cram a machine next to the bathtub and just go without a dryer at all (I own one now for the first time in my life - i just used clothes horses before)

Here's the question. How do Canadians do it? If they have shit dryers as well then we have a strong correlation with the teakettle conundrum. If they use real dryers like us to the south, then it's all about rhotic accents and gun collections.

Is it true americans dont at all use outdoor clotheslines?

canadians use real dryers fyi

Hills hoist FTW, one of a few truly Australian inventions ( along with box wine, wifi and water saving toilets)

Although, bloody oath, it takes a long time to dry clothes in a Melbourne winter. In the UK, at least there is central heating to help things along.

I thought I was getting things at least half dry when I had a washer-dryer. I tended not to use the full program cos I wanted to feel greener and would take things and hang them when at least some of the wet had been taken off.
Thought things were reasonably dryish when i ran the full cycle though.

Then got stuck with a washing machine on its own that has really long cycles. So is less convenient during the winter.

These non-American washers and dryers seem very small, and I question what one does with something like a queen-sized (or larger) blanket or bedspread?

Take it to the laundrette or the dry cleaners.

Virtually all British/European appliances work better than their American counterparts because most American appliances are hobbled, sometimes severely, by wimpy 120-volt power supplies that provide only half the power of their UK/European 230v equivalents. Thus, American dishwashers, toasters, and clothes washers take considerably longer than the rest of the world's. Our vacuum cleaners are less powerful. Plug-in electric teakettles, so popular in the UK, are rare in the US because they take too long to heat the water. Electric shower heaters are unheard of, since there isn't enough power to heat the water on the fly. Combo washer-dryers that wash and dry the laundry in a single shot are rare here, again because most try to get by with 120V power as well as slower condensation drying (rather than just venting to the outdoors). Thus they take agonizingly long to heat the water during the wash, then agonizingly long to dry the clothes afterward. There are a very few 240V washer-dryers available which work alright as long as you load them only halfway; otherwise the drying still takes a long time.

The exception to slow American appliances is standalone clothes dryers. Here, American dryers are not only usually bigger (much bigger in recent years) than those made elsewhere, but also much faster. That's because they run on 240 volt/30 amp power rather than the 15 amps used in the UK and elsewhere (or use gas heat of similar intensity). That makes up to 7200 watts available to American dryers vs. the usual 3600 watt maximum. These actually came about to compensate for the suckiness of 20th-century American washing machines, which loaded from the top, and filled with lukewarm water whose temperature was a crapshoot based on mixing water stored in a hot water tank and cold tap water. Controls were not labeled with temperatures, rather just "hot", "warm", or "cold" because the machine lacked a thermostat and the actual temperature varied widely with the seasons. This unlike British machines that fill with cool tap water (thus assuring stains won't set), then internally heat the water to a preset high temperature since hot water cleans better, something that's easily done because front-load washers use wave action to clean and fill with only a small amount of water which is quickly heatable with their internal 230V heating element. American machines didn't have internal heaters - just as well because the top-load configuration required the tub be completely filled to the top with each wash or rinse cycle, using tons of water that would take forever to heat up, especially at 120V. They used an "agitator" mentioned in earlier posts to mix the clothes around - a swiveling post in the center of the tub - which was often hard on clothes and could make them threadbare prematurely. Since top-load washers have no way to balance the tub once it drains, they spun at about 1/3 the speed of European machines so they wouldn't shake too much, and thus didn't extract much water and left the clothes quite damp after they were finished. That's why we needed such powerful dryers.

New American washing machines are more like British ones, only much bigger, but most still use 120 volts so they heat the water slowly and take longer. But the front-load configuration allows for faster spin drying (since it can shake back and forth a few times to redistribute clothes if unbalanced), so our 30-amp dryers seem lightning-fast now when paired with modern washing machines. The move to front-load washers means that dryers stacked above washers (as in Trayce's post) have started becoming popular in the US, corresponding to laundry machines that were once usually relegated to basements now being placed upstairs near the bedrooms in newer houses, often in a small closet. Canadian dryers are just like American ones (except they've had properly grounded/earthed electrical outlets for a long time, so they don't have to deal with the strange US practice of selling dryers with no electric cords since they have no idea what kind of outlet it will need to plug into) Finally, clothelines were once common in the US, but by the 1980s or so became associated with low-income areas and were banned in many areas that had homeowners' associations. But more recently thanks to campaigns by environmentalists, it's become illegal in many states to ban outdoor clotheslines and they've made somewhat of a comeback.

Most US dryers are 208V split phase or 240V three phase.
Bonkers system but they've got the power. Don't even get me started on the lack of plug and socket standards.

110V 10A for a kettle is very very frustrating, better to do it on the stove.

I guess that's what you said, so enraged by NEMA plugs that I skipped over the details in your post.

Pretty much. (Actually, both 208V and 240V are split phase - 208V results from using only two "hot" legs of three-phase wiring, a setup frequently found in large high-rise buildings.)

I believe the"120V means an electric kettle is inconvenient so Americans don't use them" argument is falsified by Japan and Canada where electric kettles are everywhere

Maybe Americans are more impatient

Anyway I think there's more to learn about the capabilities of modern appliances in different household wiring paradigms by looking on either side of the Korea Strait than by comparing the US and Europe

Japanese and Canadians are renowned for their patience, also Japanese have those kettles that keep a vat of water a tea temperature all day long.

Is it true americans dont at all use outdoor clotheslines?

True. Trying to think of circumstances where you'd see it... some rural homes maybe? Maybe the occasional suburban home. And in poor parts of a city, I guess. When I was 22, I lived in a pretty poor apartment complex that had clotheslines, which seemed very noteworthy.

But even at that apartment, no one actually used the clothes lines. Except maybe to hang a rug.

This is a fascinating discussion. BTW I have been seeing tankless shower water heaters cropping up in USian ads, so I was curious as to whether it would be a greener option than the big dinosaur in the basement, but it's apparent that they're still very wimpy:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/IHeat-2-5-kW-1-5-GPM-Electric-Shower-Head-Tankless-Water-Heater-AHSH2500/205602695?&cm_mmc=Shopping|THD|B|0|B-BASE-D26P+Water+Heaters|&mid=mEw9n1C2|dc_mtid_8903vry57826_pcrid_73529852738612_pkw__pmt__

And yeah we used line-drying some in my childhood, but usually only for towels/bedding. I love outdoor line-drying for its simplicity (air plus time) and the smell. There are so many situations when it's NOT adequate. It's raining, it's too humid, it's freezing, you don't have a lot of clothes, you need a particular item NOW (like a school uniform or church clothes).

Indoor line-drying is impractical in a small house that is full of rambunctious people. So you need another option, whether it's a laundromat trip or a dryer in your house. And once you have that, you tend to gradually switch over to using it all the time. Because why bother, except in those perfect situations where you have like seven damp beach towels and it's a warm, breezy day.

Instantaneous electric water heaters are the absolute worst. Even the UK ones at 4kW only produce a dribble I can't imagine how poor a 2.5kW one is.

True. Trying to think of circumstances where you'd see it... some rural homes maybe? Maybe the occasional suburban home. And in poor parts of a city, I guess. When I was 22, I lived in a pretty poor apartment complex that had clotheslines, which seemed very noteworthy.

We line dry as long as weather permits (Minnesota), but then we do live in a low-rent neighborhood.

Right, it's great when circumstances allow for it, but most people can't rely on it exclusively.

So you either have a dryer (of whatever quality) or you end up lugging trash bags of clothes to and from a laundromat, scrounging for change in the couch cushions, etpetercetera.

"American dishwashers, toasters, and clothes washers take considerably longer than the rest of the world's."

in my experience with dishwashers and clothes washers, US vs UK, this is completely untrue.

instant water heaters: I lived in a house with one for a year and it was fine. but it does waste more water I think, because it still takes a few minutes to kick in.

Is it true americans dont at all use outdoor clotheslines

lol maybe during the GREAT DEPRESSION

My dad, an infamous cheapskate, insisted my mom line-dry laundry all year round.... including in Montana and northern Minnesota. Things dry eventually, however cold it is, but it was pretty damn dumb.

shit dried on a line comes out stiff as a rock. this is fine for jeans and I dry all mine that way, but unacceptable for a towel

Love drying my laundry on the line outside. Yes, sometimes it will rain when you're out or at work but that's all in the game. The smell is great, and also I prefer the 'texture' of say a towel dried outside versus from a dryer.

I do have a washer with a 'dryer'. It centrifuges a bit making the wash not dripping wet, but it's pretty much useless.

xp lol that's what I love about drying towels outside

Youse all don't have drying racks/clothes horses for inside?

Present here in abundance, sir.

Love drying my laundry on the line outside. Yes, sometimes it will rain when you're out or at work but that's all in the game. The smell is great, and also I prefer the 'texture'.

our neighbor seems to have a daily fire in his yard, year-round, so we get a nice wood smoke scent on everything. bonus. (he just persuaded another neighbor to cut down a tree in her yard and now has a great pyre of split wood ~12 foot high)(need to move)

Yeah you can def do without that. And it's not as easy when you're in an apartment downtown somewhere I reckon.

Personally I am looking at the ~ 1,000 square feet I share with six other mammals, and I am not seeing where I would put a drying rack/clothes horse that wouldn't either be intensely inconvenient, or trampled in minutes.

Yes I know they fold WHEN NOT BEING USED; the question is if I am drying four person's worth of laundry, when is a drying rack/clothes horse NOT being used?

Right, it's great when circumstances allow for it, but most people can't rely on it exclusively.

In Europe everyone relies on it exclusively, jsl

Even in London where 1) it rains every goddamned day 2) flats are v small

I feel not enough has been said about Lee's magisterial post about dryers.

Also, getting back to the original article.. I have lived in London for about 10 years and have literally never seen a combo washer dryer. Is it possible the author is confusing the spin cycle for a dryer function? Its purpose IS drying... but only to the extent that you can hang your clothes up without them dripping all over the floor.

"I prefer the 'texture' of say a towel dried outside versus from a dryer."

do you also wipe your ass with sandpaper?

since hot water cleans better

― Lee626, Monday, 24 July 2017 11:45 Bookmark

no

do you also wipe your ass with sandpaper?

― akm, Monday, 24 July 2017 19:37 (sixteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

John Wayne toiletpaper

Would wipe

I own one other person and we have quite a small apartment and it's a combo of dryer (proper dryer not a washing machine with a "would you like your clothes superheated, creased and smelling of rubbershit?” option) and clothes horse and must admit the latter is tbf pretty much a constant fixture

"I own one other person"

I'm glad you let your slave wear clean clothes.

Rumbled

Is it possible the author is confusing the spin cycle for a dryer function?

Nah, those new combo dealies are apparently dreadful at properly drying (and washing, I hear) yr shit.

As to our machines being smaller - i'd never wash a blanket at home anyway, that sort of thing's for the drycleaners surely?

Not in my land.

Also, Trayce? Some of us machine wash our pillows.

Oh god, I had forgot all about that horror ... I posted on facebook or something right?

Yeh I remember seeing that and chuckling.

(But I do do it)

Y'alls water and power bills must be massive.

Recently moved into a new apartment and was really excited about having laundry on premises for the first time in many years. My mood was deflated when I realized the machines are small, the washer loads from the top, and with the dryer you can't independently set heat level and drying time (like if you want medium heat you have to have a 40 minute cycle). Now I miss my old laundromat with its spacious machines, front-loading washers etc. where I could do more than one load at a time.

Fwiw I grew up in a pretty nice American neighborhood and still line-dried all my clothes until about 1980. So did the next-door neighbors.

If I line-dried where I live right now everything'd end up covered in bird shit, so.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CISs0xtWoAAWFpv.jpg:large

tumble dryers are pure decadence, first thing to get banned in the new world order

respect Lee626, truth bombs

Also, getting back to the original article.. I have lived in London for about 10 years and have literally never seen a combo washer dryer. Is it possible the author is confusing the spin cycle for a dryer function? Its purpose IS drying... but only to the extent that you can hang your clothes up without them dripping all over the floor.

― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Monday, July 24, 2017 8:37 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I had one in Ireland until the last one broke and i had it replaced with a straight washing machine. I think we're in the same market at least at the moment as the U.K. I think I saw them over there too.

Also, getting back to the original article.. I have lived in London for about 10 years and have literally never seen a combo washer dryer. Is it possible the author is confusing the spin cycle for a dryer function? Its purpose IS drying... but only to the extent that you can hang your clothes up without them dripping all over the floor.

― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Monday, July 24, 2017 8:37 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

We had one at our when you stayed and it was shit, I think we used the dryer function precisely once.

haha i guess that's why i never noticed!!