I had a european one for years but it’s about to die any time now and I am looking for a new one.
I know that most Taiwanese use cold water machines and they seem to be pretty happy with the result
and so I was hoping you guys could give some input as to what type of machine do you use and do you see any difference between the two.
I always thought you’d have to wash you clothes at a correct temperature, whites with whites etc…
So do most of you use cold water washing machines or hot one 45, 60, 90 degrees and do you see a difference.
The price is certainly different.
Don’t know about that … cold water can’t do away with grease, fat and oils and lot’s of other stains … white shirts become gray/yellowish after a while …
of course it uses less energy, but the machines here used loads of water … and they rip apart all apparel … I prefer the ‘European’ machines … but, they are much more expensive than the local or Japanese …
I guess the main issue is the removal of stains, I have a boy who often comes home with all kinds of stains. I doubt cold water get rid of stains like hot water does, but then again, how do Taiwanese mama deal with it?
[quote=“igorveni”]I had a european one for years but it’s about to die any time now and I am looking for a new one.
…
The price is certainly different. [/quote]
Well I am sorry about your old one, but I do think that most people can agree with me that from time to time it is appropriate to exchange it for a younger version. I don’t think that the “price range” differs that much from continent to continent, as it does from age range, I would say that the 20 to 28 range is the most expensive, but if you don’t mind a bit of millage (experience) the 29 to 35 range tend to be very friendly to all parties. You can get a higher “degree” but your environment would probably suffer.
Yes when the clothes get a bit older you should be more careful with how hot you wash them, to much energy usage might make the pump give out to fast.
Of coarse hope is the last thing that dies.
Yes there is always the risk that if the washing is too cold, the owner might start looking for hotter machines outside the home and that is never good.
No matter which one you end up choosing I do wish you happy washing, and remember choose carefully your choice will last for many years ahead.
[quote=“Lappy”][quote=“igorveni”]I had a european one for years but it’s about to die any time now and I am looking for a new one.
…
The price is certainly different. [/quote]
Well I am sorry about your old one, but I do think that most people can agree with me that from time to time it is appropriate to exchange it for a younger version. I don’t think that the “price range” differs that much from continent to continent, as it does from age range, I would say that the 20 to 28 range is the most expensive, but if you don’t mind a bit of millage (experience) the 29 to 35 range tend to be very friendly to all parties. You can get a higher “degree” but your environment would probably suffer.
Yes when the clothes get a bit older you should be more careful with how hot you wash them, to much energy usage might make the pump give out to fast.
Of coarse hope is the last thing that dies.
Yes there is always the risk that if the washing is too cold, the owner might start looking for hotter machines outside the home and that is never good.
No matter which one you end up choosing I do wish you happy washing, and remember choose carefully your choice will last for many years ahead.[/quote]
Duuuuude… what are you on about?
I’ve been using the taiwan washing machine with cold water and so far it is going well but the sweat smell doesn’t go away very efficiently, and it is not good enough for bedspread and pillowcase washing, can’t get rid of smell and I need to add softener to give the clothes a better smell. But on the bright side, my clothes last longer, they dont separate at the seams, the colours don’t fade that fast. My taiwanese friends wash the dirtiest clothes by hand and hang under the sun to get rid of smells.
Front loaders are hilariously expensive here, like a lot of things introduced as “new” into Taiwan, they have to make them really expensive or no-one will buy them. I saw a NT$120k oven, a NT$180k (!) washer-dryer, and a NT$80k dishwasher in Sogo the other day. A £300 front loading washing machine is about £1,000 here.
The main problem with the top-loaders like your granny used to use is that they tie clothes up in knots. This is absolutely fine for the wife-beater and pyjama bottoms brigade, but will eventually kill your work shirts. Also, it’s completely pointless trying to wash anything white in cold water unless you decide to dissolve your clothes in bleach.
The best compromise here seems to be the old Whirlpool made-in-America top-loader that has a hot water input. That’s what I’ve got. And it doesn’t tie stuff up too badly and can do cold, warm, or hot. But is Whirlpool stuff still on the go? This thing is very old but very well made as it’s a direct US import (complete with “Don’t Put Your Children in the Washing Machine Unattended” warnings). American washing machines might be old-fashioned but by God they were made to last. (And while we’re not on the subject, there is an amazing 1980s Whirlpool fridge as well which is bigger than the QE2 and was clearly designed to hold 400 beers at exactly 42 degrees Farenheit. There’s no excuse for dirty clothes or warm beer in America.)
I’m just not going to pay three times the price for a Bosch/Siemens/Miele front loader as it’s cheaper to just send shirts to the dry cleaners. And you also have to be aware that due to the Oh My Conscience Hurts! brigade in Europe, these front loaders now use no water at all and take over an hour to do a cycle and your clothes are still full of soap. Apparently turning a huge motor over and over for hours on end is kinder to the squirrels that using enough water to do the job in 30 minutes like we used to in the Good Old Days when everything was wonderful!
[quote=“Lord Lucan”]
The best compromise here seems to be the old Whirlpool made-in-America top-loader that has a hot water input. That’s what I’ve got. And it doesn’t tie stuff up too badly and can do cold, warm, or hot. But is Whirlpool stuff still on the go? This thing is very old but very well made as it’s a direct US import (complete with “Don’t Put Your Children in the Washing Machine Unattended” warnings). American washing machines might be old-fashioned but by God they were made to last. (And while we’re not on the subject, there is an amazing 1980s Whirlpool fridge as well which is bigger than the QE2 and was clearly designed to hold 400 beers at exactly 42 degrees Farenheit. There’s no excuse for dirty clothes or warm beer in America.)[/quote]
Hey Lucan, what kind of Whirlpool do you have? is it something like this?
[quote=“igorveni”][quote=“Lord Lucan”]
The best compromise here seems to be the old Whirlpool made-in-America top-loader that has a hot water input. That’s what I’ve got. And it doesn’t tie stuff up too badly and can do cold, warm, or hot. But is Whirlpool stuff still on the go? This thing is very old but very well made as it’s a direct US import (complete with “Don’t Put Your Children in the Washing Machine Unattended” warnings). American washing machines might be old-fashioned but by God they were made to last. (And while we’re not on the subject, there is an amazing 1980s Whirlpool fridge as well which is bigger than the QE2 and was clearly designed to hold 400 beers at exactly 42 degrees Farenheit. There’s no excuse for dirty clothes or warm beer in America.)[/quote]
Hey Lucan, what kind of Whirlpool do you have? is it something like this?[/quote]
That’s the tumble dryer version, but mine is the washing machine version. It looks a bit like this:
Costco got a bunch of US models, not really looked closely at them.
A hot water front loader has advantages over a top loader, but yeah, in general they seem quite overpriced here, although you can get the LG Direct Drive machines for something close to a reasonable price here.
We use the local laundrette as it’s really close, but I got problems with whites as well, as loads of stuff doesn’t wash out and the only way to get it out is with bleach. This is despite using cold water detergent.
Also make sure you get a machine that’s big enough for your wash loads and don’t overload it, as then it doesn’t wash well.
Another option might be to get a washer/dryer, but remember that in general, you can’t dry as much as you can wash (in terms of Kg’s of clothes).
I didn’t even know there was such a thing as cold only washing machines until I moved here…
Oh, and just because you have a hot water washing machine doesn’t mean you have to wash all your clothes at 60 or 95 degrees or whatever, 30-45 is usually more than enough and considering the gas costs here, as long as the machine doesn’t heat the water, it’s not going to be that expensive as long as you just was the bits that really needs it in warm water.
I just run a hose from the hot water tap to the washer, that way I get to enjoy all the problems of a top loader (knotted clothes) with the environmental inefficiencies of washing in hot water.
The only problem is my clothes are cleaner, so to make up for it I make sure I wear every pair of socks and underpants at least three days
[quote=“Lord Lucan”]
The best compromise here seems to be the old Whirlpool made-in-America top-loader that has a hot water input. [/quote]
So how does the hot water input work? Does the hot water come from a hot water tank or is it heated by the same water heater that heats your bathwater? Or do you use Rik’s low-tech approach? I know the European front-loaders heat the water internally by electricity, but that’s not how the Whirlpool works, right?
I think that depends on the model, the one I bought in the UK had a hot and cold input and it used the normal hot water which was heated by the gas boiler, so no electricity was wasted on heating the water.
[/quote]
