Had to buy Non USA made

[freewestinghous]

Now that I am just a bumbling old fool living in a tiny subsidized apartment on less income than needed for a family of rodents in New York City, my only choice was to buy a Non American Made portable apartment size washing machine - the lowest cost fully automatic washer available in the USA and it was made in Communist China ! I needed fully automatic, tiny, light weight and LOW COST. Only the Communist Chinese make those which are imported to the USA. Nothing like it is made in the USA and any apartment size automatic washer made in the USA cost's more than a full size automatic washer !!!!! $799 for 2.1 cu ft portable top loader !!!
Yea, I now have a Communist Chinese Haier HLP21N washing machine. Actually my second one. It has and will do all my laundry now except for blankets and quilts. It is a super quiet running machine - no one in adjoining apartments know I have it. The capacity is approx 1/4 of a extra capacity top loader and since rodents don't wear clothes so it is only me - that works out fine. It washes great, uses just a tiny bit of liquid laundry soap and even the clothing comes out quite moisture free after the slow spin. Usually dry by morning on my 1945 wooden clothes rack.
The Haier pulsator non agitator design will twist clothing into a rope as the wash action is quite violent. In a small wash tub an agitator is not necessary as the pulsator at the bottom will roll clothing as violently as an agitator.
I purchased my second Haier HLP21N from Walmart and paid an extra $28 for a 36 month extended warranty. Where can you get an extended warranty on an automatic washer that cheap ?
I gave away my first Haier HLP21N to someone who fell in love with it. That was when it was a week old.

Randy in PDX

 

[arbilab]

If only Japan still imported portable twintubs to the US. If only Japan still made things in Japan instead of farming out to communist china. It just ain't the same world it was.

 

[qualin]

I have to admit that it is a little shocking to see that GE sells a portable washer that costs more than even their lowest end standard top loaders.

Maybe WCI and GE just can't keep the costs down enough to make selling a portable washer at a decent price a possibility.

The other thing you have to keep in mind is that the cost of labor is considerably higher in the US and Japan than it is in China.

How do you compete with a Chinese worker who gets paid $0.55/hr as opposed to a US worker who gets paid $21/hr? You can't.

... and that's the thing. We live in a world economy now. Chinese workers have no unions and the ones that do exist are a joke. The cost of living in China is so much different than in North America.

The person who made your machine may have worked 14 hours a day, 7 days a week.. and there's nothing you can do to change that, short of not buying their product.

Unfortunately, just try and go outside and buying something which wasn't made outside of the US. You simply can't. Or if you can, it's really difficult.

The last US made thing I purchased was a plastic clothing hamper, oddly enough.

 

[combo52]

COMPACT WASHERS

There is almost no market for these in the US as compared to the need in the rest of the world. If WP made this machine totally in the US it would probably cost over $2000.00 and I drought that many would be sold. I am totally in favor of importing unusual items like this. If you really wanted a US machine you could buy a used mid 1990s WP DD compact or the 22" WP built in Mexico TL washer is still being sold here.

 

[mrb627]

Conversion Kit

Wasn't there a conversion kit to convert a regular Whirlpool machine to a portable? Wouldn't a 24" DD machine fit the bill? (except for the noise)

Malcolm

 

[supremewhirlpol]

Do you mean the sink hook-up and faucet adapter?

 

[Jsneaker]

Too bad, so sad...

I totally agree with having to deal with buying non-USA or Canadian-made things today. It truly saddened me to have to buy my expensive Samsung washer, but it is of high quality and I am pretty satisfied with it. There was simply no other "affordable" alternative for me, and I still had to pay the damn machine off. This is the first time ever I had to pay-off an appliance, I now simply cannot afford to do otherwise. If our government and labor unions would keep their selfish hands to themselves from intervening in our lives, we would be in far better shape today.

 

[garyl]

Conversion Kit?

Go to a hardware store and get a faucet quick disconnect adapter (male), a hose quick disconnect (female), and a hose bib cap. Cap off the hot water hose inlet, and install the quick disconnects. You can get piano dollys at Harbor Freight starting at $9.00 on sale. Voila! Portable! (but it may roll around on its own).

 

[sudsmaster]

Harbor Freight also sells an equipment support that can be rolled around as needed and then locked into place for use. It's a set of four corner pieces (steel) with rollers, and then you supply some wood pieces to link it all together. I have one on my bead blaster cabinet in the workshop and it's good for that. The wood does go on the outside of the footprint so that needs to be kept in mind if the space is tight. But it would be far more stable than a furniture dolly.

 

[launderess]

Isn't This In Your Neck Of The Woods?

To the OP

http://oregon.freeapplianceshopper.com/appliances/large-portable-washing-machine.html