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Hoover3060 has an interesting point: the fast cycle of the TL lets you finish the washing early enough to put the clothes up on the line. That means zero energy consumption for drying. So the loss in water efficiency is more than made up by a gain in energy efficiency, and is perfectly viable if...

I'm what you'd call a green freak, but I don't a-priori condemn TLs as excessive. The biggest waste of water in most USA households is in outdoor irrigation: over-watering the lawn. And as it turns out, depending on what detergents etc. you use, you can run the output from a TL (at least the...

Yes, Panasonic has front-loaders, including one from a couple of years ago that has an inclined-axis drum and some very clever energy-saving features I can't recall the details of at the moment. They also make twin-tubs with a timed pre-soak feature. None of these are marketed in the US yet. I...

Re. the Folger's ad music: notice how it usually starts out slow and sleepy, and then when they start singing about the coffee, the tempo speeds up a lot, and the texture gets more complex and the vocals get more "oomph!" Those changes are intended to give you a suggestion of the feeling of...

Welcome aboard, Seamus. (Hey, some of us in the US still use twinnies too! If you're looking for early autos in the UK, you might find some lurking in laundromats in small towns; I have seen postings here to that effect.) I'll probably be getting one of these latter-day Constellations, and I...

Bingo! Chris is right on target. Every machine is best for a specific set of applications. A machine that's excellent in one niche may seem crappy in another and vice-versa. Something that works best for a neighbor might not work well for you and vice-versa, because your respective applications...

Excellent! Exactly! That's the point; nowadays we have access to those types of experiences, so we don't need to risk dropping acid to get there.

Crude but effective propaganda techniques, the screaming and so on at the end. Yes, I've done my share of LSD and other psychedelics, in moderation, and it provided some interesting and useful insights including some that addressed core philosophical and religious issues. I've also known three...

When I was a little kid we had one of those with the raised control panel, a few key-shaped pushbuttons on the left, the dial on the right with white lettering on a black background, the words V-12 in the middle, black agitator, and white plastic filter-flo thingie. That one I do remember; the...

Hmm, so (dumb question department), are these still made, and are they available in the US (maybe under a different brand)? Multiple spin-rinses are always a good thing, lets you use lots of detergent to scrub out difficult dirt and then get all of it out so the clothes aren't itchy.

Caution re. replacing motors with more powerful ones: a more powerful motor can apply excessive torque to other components and cause something else to break that is harder to repair or replace. Matty, that's a cool one you found there. Seems to be not much different from a toy/model of a Miele...

Be aware of the current output of the power adaptor. You need "enough but not too much." One possibility is to go to Radio Snack and ask for an adaptor that would specifically replace a stack of 4 D-cells; Radio Snack has a wide range of adaptors and chances are they have one that will work...

Manual input to cycles: the ability to tweak a cycle or otherwise cause the machine to go into whatever mode I choose i.e. fill, wash/rinse, drain, spin. The idea that once a program starts there's no way to tweak it or intervene would be a serious cause of frustration, like missing an exit on...

Brettsomers, thanks for the vote of confidence but I have to say this one has me scratching my head also. Very interesting to watch, and not at all reminiscent of indigestion. It's so counterintuitive it makes one think they have a little black hole hidden in there somewhere to provide a...

Question I have is, does anyone make a front loader with mechanical controls now, or is it all computerized? Also does anyone recall the topic header for the topic where someone spelled out how to hack the water level control in the Danby FL? I'm also thinking of a couple of other hacks I'd...

Guys like to play with mechanical stuff in general. So it doesn't surprise me that there's a bunch of guys around who like to play with mechanical stuff that's used indoors instead of outdoors. I don't get the weird gender tweak that says that guys have to keep their machines outdoors and gals...

That gets major points for clever design. First of all, in Japan, indoor space is at a premium, so turning a vacuum into a piece of casual furniture makes it do double duty and saves space. Second, when you want to vacuum, the vacuum is right in the room, you don't have to go get it from the...

Interesting stories all'round. I recall back in the 80s, Maytag wringer washers were prized by ecology-minded folks, presumably for the ability to do two or more loads through the same batch of hot water & suds. Though, only one household I ever saw managed to get one; it was sitting in the...

Speaking of Calypso, guess what I just found? I'd just pulled an allnighter to send out the month's invoices to clients and do the sales tax, and was heading out about 6:00AM to drive to the post office to post a bunch of checks in the mail, when I see this Big White Thing at the curb next...

Yes, France Telecom, or the P et. T (later PTT) was for a while the joke of Europe. Their telephone sets were reasonable enough though, and were often equipped with additional watch-case receivers so you could listen with both ears (or have your secretary listen & take notes while you were on...