how big is a typical load for an american who owns a front loader?

[supersuds]

Something that shouldn't be overlooked

Most, but not all, top loaders have water level adjustment. On many older models it was infinite; the Whirlpool I use has 5 levels. I can wait 3 weeks to do my underwear, and have a full tub, but I choose not to have that much dirty laundry sitting around. It might be slightly more wasteful of water, but there's no water shortage here. I do know people who wait until they have no clean clothes and then stuff in as big a load as they can.

It may be that people on this site tend not to want piles of smelly clothes and thus do smaller than average loads, but we have more single people than normal, too, and I'm sure families tend to wash fuller loads.

I don't know if that helps answer the original question or not.

 

[brisnat81]

Rapunzel, you're generalising as much as Chris is.

 

Everyone I grew up with always sorted, even though most things were washed in cold, the chemicals you added had to change .  I've managed to convince family to do towels and sheets on hot and everything else cold if they like to try and stop the scrud marks.  Lights, Darks and Towels/Sheets

 

Growing up, Mum had to wash every third day as that was the number of uniforms we had.  So usually wednesday night and Saturday morning was when she washed.  Mum had full loads in the BD Whirlpool and Simpsons, but when she went to the 7.5kg DD Whirly, she could never fill it up, even at times when there were 6 of us living at home.

 

I will admit that 5.5kg doesnt quite cut it for me on my Darks and Towels loads each week.  I run everything through on Saturday morning, 2 loads of Dress shirts, 1 load of whites, 1 load of sheets, 1 load of towels and 1 load of darks.  Some weeks I wish there was a bit more tumbling room for the Darks and towels, but everything still comes clean.  This would be the only reason I'll be eyeing off the 8kg Miele when it arrives at the end of the year.  I couldnt imagine what I'd do with a US style Frontloader, it'd never be more than half full, I'd have to start mixing loads to fill it up.

 

If I was a family of 4 or 6, then I could see the benefits, but without the matching dryer (As most Aussies dont have a large capacity dryer nor are the sold here (Except Speed Queen)) then you'd need a huge amount of space to hang up and then fold all of that washing, it'd seem much easier to process it in smaller batches during the week, than ending up with enourmous piles of washing.  As it is, I can spend most of my saturday Washing, Hanging, Folding and Ironing for just the two of us.

 

[ronhic]

Big may certainly be more....

....and more is never less when talking about the same thing...

 

BUT

 

Big isn't always BEST.....

 

Washer capacities have morphed over the last 40 years....but particularly in the last 10 years. What was once considered a family sized machine - 10 lb or 4.5kg (Simpson Fluid Drive anyone?) back in 1968, is now not even on the radar for probably 99% of people. Roll forward 25 years and they were now considered small to medium. Add another 10 years, and only the Asian automatics are available in that size.

 

Ultimately, it's a moot point. Choice's statistics reveal that Australians don't fill their machines.....most think them full when just over half so....interestingly though, the 6 friends that have moved from top to front load machines have been floored when shown how to load them properly oft commenting 'I never put that much in my old fisher and paykel/simpson/hoover top loader'....

 

Most people do cold wash here and some would argue that negates the need to sort too much....and I certainly never sort based on temperature, only colour....which I'd suggest, but can't prove, most people do (lights, darks and whites).....but then with 2 men in the house, there isn't exactly a load of 'delicates' to wash either. And I've certainly worked with enough 'young'uns' to know some of them don't sort at all.

 

Bring back the days when clothes weren't cheap to buy and maybe people will care for them a little better.

 

[gorenje]

Yes Big isn't always BEST

"picking up everything and stuffing it into the washer "

Do you think is this the right way to approach to doing laundry? I don't think so. Maybe is more polite that I say, me personaly I would never do laundry this way.

Having a HUGE front loader forces people to do mixed loads and wash in Cold (the lowest temperature for those items in the washer that cannot stand a higher temperature)

I think sorting is necessary for many reasons:

first of all because of the different colours, than because of the temperature that some garments can stant, (so I can for example take advantage of the higher temp. to achieve a better result on some garments), than because of the level of soiling (I would never wash breeches or rugs with the rest of my laundry or even jeans with towels or sheets, or something that I had dressed only once with some other more dirty stuff)
than because of the type of textile (delicates with delicates, lint givers with lint givers, lint takers with lint takers and sturdy with sturdy)

Ok don't get me wrong, no need to separate in some kind of "17" different piles but at least try to follow these rules.

I think that a bit bigger front loader (or washer in general) is OK, because they may come convenient in some cases. But not an absurdly HUGE one.

Ingemar

 

[alr2903]

King Size bedding

I think americans and many others consider the largest thing they have to wash.. a king size comforter or quilt.  Coin op laundries are  getting more creepy as time goes by, you dread thinking of who used the machine last and what they actually washed. A load like this would be about once a month for folks with pets.  I love my old Maytags but they do cause me anxiety when its time to wash our bedding.   alr

 

[ronhic]

Comforters...

Duvets (also called 'Doonas' and 'Continental Quilts') are very popular here and have been for about 30 years or more as the primary bedding cover - replacing blankets.....but 'comforters', I'm not so sure about.

 

Duvets/Doonas are normally encased in a removable cover...you wash it, not the Doona/Duvet/Quilt. Additionally, many people use a sheet between the Duvet/Doona/Quilt, reducing soiling even further. They really only need to be aired over the line for a day in spring.....

 

I've only ever washed a Duvet twice....and that was because of an accident that had it soiled through the cover....so the laundrette was my friend then....

 

 

 

[jetcone]

Well

I think Americans don't fully load their front loaders because for years ever since the 1950's we were told clothes need room to tumble and fall inside the drum to get really clean. And that has carried forward to today, I was very surprised when I bought my Neptune 10 years ago that the manual said "pack the drum full". I couldn't hardly believe what I was reading, I tried it and it worked. But I still don't load my 1950's Bendix more than the recommended 2/3 full. The big difference I see is the Bendix max wash is 9 minutes so it needs all that extra mechanical action to clean. The Neptune and Speed Queen have wash times approaching 25-35 minutes. So I guess that a longer wash gets clean through chemical action and not mechanical action and thats why you can stuff the drums in these new machines.

On  a side note Americans always overstuffed their top loaders almost to the breaking point. I know many "overstuffers" with top loaders!

 

[passatdoc]

I sort my laundry based either on water temperature needs (warm vs hot) and drying needs (perm press vs. cotton). That works out to three different groups, and my laundry center provides three bags. I simply wait until a bag is full, at which point it will fill the drum. If I upgraded to a larger capacity washer, then a full bag would not fill a drum, as these machines have about 1/3 higher capacity. I could still fill the drum using a full bag plus some extra items from the laundry basket or hamper in the bedroom. I can wash a queen size comforter or thin king size comforter, but not a winter-weight kind comforter. It would be nice to be able to do this at home rather than have to take it to a laundromat.

I do laundry when I can. Sometimes I come home late at night from work or from walking the dog. I don't want to stay up 90 minutes longer to wait for a load to wash. In these situations, I set up a load and use Delay Wash, though I wish the 2140 had more flexibility. Its Delay Wash is 8 hours or none. The next higher model, the 2940, has 4-12 variable delay. Had I fully understood the value of this feature at the time of my purchase, I would have paid the extra $100 for variable delay as well as ATC, both of which are not found on the 2140.

 

[rapunzel]

"picking up everything and stuffing it into the washer &

"Do you think is this the right way to approach to doing laundry?"

For me the answer is no. For others, that is for them to work out. My point is that with most households of three or more people it is a matter of convenience to have a large capacity washer. Even if most consumers don't regularly utilize their washers' full capacity, they can when the need arises. If I were to live on my own I would still get a family sized washer and dryer. The convenience factor of being able to wash/dry large and bulky items is important to me.

 

[DADoES]

 
As stated above, I think the mega-capacity frontloaders (and some toploaders) on the U.S. market now is part of what leads to unsatisfactory results and complaints. In an effort to generate large loads and make use of the available capacity, many users are combining items and fabric types together that should be done in multiple loads of the proper different cycle and temp choices.

 

[passatdoc]

combining loads

Sometimes I will combine sturdy cottons (t-shirts, underwear, jeans, etc.) with towels to make a full load, and I just wash on "Warm". I would be more likely to do this if my machine had a greater choice of temperature options, like European machines. I choose "Heavy" cycle and add the extra wash time, extra rinse, and extra spin options, as per towels. Everything comes out clean. Drying time is perhaps longer because I dry such a load on "Medium" heat, not "High" as I might if the load were towels only.

 

[gorenje]

@ Jetcone

"don't fully load their front loaders because for years ever since the 1950's we were told clothes need room"

I was thinking about this and I think you are right!

But the reason is not only linked to front loaders but also to top loaders. You in America were told to drop loosely the clothes in the top loader and not to pack the machine so the clothes can freely float around the agitator.
That's probably why some people think that the same must be done in a front loader. But the front loaders works in a completely diferent way.

 

[rapunzel]

"You in America were told to drop loosely the clothes in

Yeah, but people rarely do what they are told.

Consumers buy these large machines because they perceive them as useful and the right choice for their needs. Some users want to be able to wash large items like duvets, sleeping bags, pillows, etc. and not have to bother with taking them to the laundromat or expensive dry cleaners. Others generate a lot of laundry. Modern front loaders are designed to wash partial loads, they don't have to be filled to capacity and, like top loaders, they adjust the water fill according to load size. It is about convenience, flexibility and choice.

 

[jetcone]

@gorenje

Yes come to think of it you're right we were also told to loosely load the top loader as well. 

 

I needed the Neptune brochure to tell me to stuff it full otherwise I would have never tried that.

 

Funny because as a country we PACK our dishwashers to the point of bursting and never worry about dishes getting clean!

 

 

[jerrod6]

 

<span>I have a 6K front loader and sometimes it is packed full, but most times it is not.<span>  </span></span>

<span>I sort by fabric type and color which means that<span>  </span>whites will not be mixed with colors. <span> </span>I wash blues with blues, reds with reds, whites with whites, yellows with yellows…….ect.<span>  </span>I also don’t wash cottons with man made fibers, and I also sort by temperature so this tends to reduce the size of each load.<span>  </span>I can’t wash all the towels together from each week because they are different colors and the colors bleed..you will know this well.. if your washer drains into a sink.</span>

 

<span>Duvets can be had here but many times comforters are sold without them.<span>  </span>You buy the comforter with polyester fill and the outside cover is not removable.<span>   </span>Sometimes the polyester fill creates additional bulk which may be why folks need larger machines to wash them.<span>  </span>I use down comforters with a Duvet but these tend to cost more than polyester but are often warmer with less weight..still they cost more.</span>

 

<span>The normal wash time on my machine is about 20 minutes for a full load but it may be reduced to 11 if the load is small…this is followed by 2 rinses or 3 if I select an additional rinse. The time increases by a few minutes if I select a higher temp or if I select the extended option.</span>

 

<span>Every time I have packed the washer full…until no more clothes can be added everything has come out clean…it is just that with my type of sorting method a completely full load is rare.<span>  </span>If I had a family of 6 it would probably be full all the time.</span>

 

 

[mixfinder]

Knock Yourself Out

We bought the highest rated Whirlpool front load washer in the last Consumer Guide ratings.  It is extremely troublesome in balancing loads for the final spin.  Items like bath towels or throw rugs really throw it for a loop and it will give up leaving the load wet.  After several failed attemps at spinning we take the load next door to his sister's LG front loader and spin them out with no problem.  It is hard to create enough clothes to make a maximum load.  We have just about decided to contact the dealer about trading for a different machine.

 

[launderess]

Eider Downs/Comforters

For some strange reason Amercians have this idea that eider-downs/down filled comforters need frequent laundering. I cannot imagine why but they do.

Even in Germany and other parts of Europe where winters are cold often very much so, and where eider-downs are *BIG* the thing is never if ever laundered. One is supposed to keep them covered like a pillow and it that which is washed.

In some households the duvet is all that is used for bed covering and some sleep nude under that. Other households a sheet and or blanket is used beneath the duvet and that provides several layers of protection. Germany for instance has a long tradition of sheets that button onto the top of the duvet helping keep things in place.

Unlike pillows which by their nature must come into close contact with one's body, a properly covered duvet does not do so. However if one or one's pets are going to lay upon the thing, and the cover isn't up to the task/laundered often....

To keep down filled duvets fresh they should be aired, preferably outside each morning after awaking before the beds are made. This allows the down to do what it does naturally; breathe. A few good shakes and or whacks with a beater and things are good to go. Each morning all over Northern European countries you will see down duvets drapped over balconies or window sills each morning to air.

 

[rapunzel]

all over Northern European countries you will see down duvet

Yeah, my mother still does that every morning without fail. If she doesn't get to hang out her comforters and pillows, she gets all antsy. My parents have different comforters for summer and winter, eider-down for winter and silk stuffing for summer. They are placed inside a fitted cover, which is changed weekly. The comforters get washed and machine dried before they are stored in one of those space bags until next season.

 

[passatdoc]

I agree with Gorenje, the instructions for top loaders used to warn against packing the clothes too tightly. That may explain why some here are afraid to pack a FL too tightly.

I remember 23 years ago, moving from an apartment to my present house. It was the first time I had my own washer and dryer. I was accustomed to paying high prices for dry cleaning for sweaters. Now, with a machine that had cold wash and gentle cycle, I could laundry my sweaters at home and hang them on a drying rack. I remember doing the first load of sweaters, I think six of them, and thinking to myself that I had just saved myself over $20.

We (at least I) use duvet covers over here, but I like to wash them (the comforter----the covers are removed and washed weekly!!) once a year. With my Frig 2140, I can wash all of them except for one winter-weight king size comforter. If I had a larger machine, I'd even be able to perform that task. I think people here like to be able to do tasks at home on their own time. Instead of having to take time to go to a laundromat.

Every apartment in which I've lived had a laundry room, open only to residents of the building. Some laundromats in the USA can be rather, well, creepy, depending on who is washing clothes that day. The only laundromat visits I've ever made were to wash and dry king size comforters.

 

[iheartmaytag]

Mixfinder,

Rather than scuttling the machine all together, call for repair.  There was a thread not too long ago where someone had a machine that had problems balancing, it was a computer, or sensor issue. 

My machine, though sometimes, takes a bit to balance, has never failed to complete the load.  The only time it had major problems was when I was washing throw pillows off the couch.  I finally just paused the machine and redistributed them by hand and it was fine.

 

 

I have never really had a complaint about the time it took for a load.  The Heavy Duty cycle with no modifiers is 1hr 20 minutes.  If you figure you are doing about twice the wash at once, then it's about the same as two loads in a top loader.

 

If you are in a big hurry, and only have a few items that just needs freshened, there is a quick cycle that takes 30 minutes start to finish.  Some items that just need freshened, like a suit jacket.  I will toss in the dryer on a steam and it comes out smelling fresh and just needs a little stretching on the hanger to smooth any residual wrinkles.

 

[this post was last edited: 8/29/2011-11:21]