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

[gorenje]

Hi guys,

I was watching some videos on youtube of front loaders in the USA. I've noticed that nearly in all videos the amount in the machine is very very small comparing to the capacity of the washer. Than I was also wondering if this is also the cause of so frequent unbalanced loads, noise and vibrations.

I would ask the American friends who owns a front loader how much they actually load the washer.

Here in Europe we tend to use the entire capacity of the washer when we do a load.
Especially for a heavy duty load we fill the entire drum.
For delicates or other things obviously we put in less laundry, to avoid too much creasing.

Do you think you guys in USA are loading less laundry in your front loaders then we do here in Europe and why?

Thanks for your opinions

Ingemar

 

[iheartmaytag]

I think the difference you are seeing is not that the machine is underfilled, but that when the clothes are wet they pack down. 

 

When I wash in my Maytag FL (Duet Clone) 4.4 Cu Ft. capacity. I use the entire drum.  They are stuffed, but not packed. 

One example of a load is (2) King sized fitted sheets (4) pillow cases.  (2) Full Sized sheets and (2) pillow cases (1) twin sheet set and (1) pillow case.

 

Even with this load once they are wet they only about half fill the tub.  Once the final spin is over and things are fluffed back off the side of the drum it is almost full again.  Though machine will handle this load ok, the all sheet load tends to tangle, so I often mix them with towels and do two mixed loads instead of two same loads.

 

This load will fill (3) 25 ft long clothes lines.

 

Another typical load of towels will fill two 25 ft clothes lines. 

 

 

[this post was last edited: 8/26/2011-14:54]

 

[joe_in_philly]

After sorting, I usually don't have a full load. Once in a while I will have a full load of towels or colored clothing that will fill the drum completely (when dry), but that doesn't happen very often. I don't find the washer has any trouble dealing with a smaller load v. a larger one when it comes to balancing for spin. My washer occassionaly will take a while to balance for the final spin when I wash a load of jeans.

 

[logixx]

Though not in America, I have a US-style washer: a Whirlpool Duet (although branded as Bauknecht big). Just follow the link below to watch my playlist of the videos. Especially the three videos of washing towels. This would be a full load. And yes, everything came out absolutely clean and fresh.

Loreality

My channel about washers, dryers and dishwashers. Mein Kanal über Waschmaschinen, Trockner und Geschirrspüler.

www.youtube.com

 

[joe_in_philly]

I can't imagine such a big load (as seen in logixx's link) would come as clean in my washer, even though it is nearly identical. The longest wash time on my washer is 22 minutes (plus fill time), unless I use extra options or the Sanitary cycle.
The stain treat option can increases wash time to around 45 minutes. A sanitary cycle could wash for well over an hour, but it would spend most of the time heating the water to the top temp, and then be at the hight temp (153F) only about 10 minutes or so.

 

[wringingwet]

well I have an asko

and I can stuff that puppy full. Most wonderful washer for whites They have a crappy reputation in the us for service but hell I took that chance and its been 8 years. I do not use paper towels or paper napkins either so it is on the sanicycle a lot and it is about 2.5 hrs if I want a 205 degree wash it is a work horse I love it. The detergent is the cheap kirkland powder and for a full load about 2 Tbs

Philippe

 

[arbilab]

Not an average launderer. I have a compact/120V dryer so cramming the washer wouldn't make things go any faster.

 

[gorenje]

Thank you guys for the responses.

I can understand that filling up such a big machine it's not always so easy and possible, unless you do mixed loads, but this is not the best idea.

Since the drums of the American front loaders are so big a small load (or average) when it's wet it seems even smaller.
But in a front loader you can really use the entire drum space. Like "Iheartmaytag" said, the laundry can be stuffed in it. Not packed but you can fill it up, so it's almost a pity to leave so much space unused.

 

[rapunzel]

It's about flexibility

Here in Australia, as in the US, people don't usually wait until they have a full load. They do their washing as they go along and usually on a daily basis. Having a large capacity machine is about flexibility. Most consumers want to be able to wash one or two items as well as any load size up to the stated max capacity.

 

[ronhic]

They do their washing as they go along and usually on a dail

Olav,

 

For some that may be the case, but certainly not all and I'd suggest that some statistics to go with that statement would be useful with regards to doing laundry daily and not waiting for a full load seeing as you're speaking 'for the Nation'.

 

The latest ABS data would suggest that, for Victoria at least, the average household does 5 loads or less a week...and if anything like our house (?), that would be lights, darks, whites, towels and sheets.....all done on a Friday night and Saturday morning....

 

Mind, that also reflects the house I grew up in too....only one load was done on a Wednesday night and then 3 on a Friday night and 3 on Saturday morning.

 

People wash as it suits their needs. For some, that means running smaller loads more often and for others capacity loads all the time with every variable in-between.

 

According to our consumer magazine, Choice, the average load washed in a machine in this country is 4.5kg. Now given that the majority of machines I've seen of late on retailers floors are 6.5kg or larger, that means we as a nation (and based on averages) do tend to underload....

 

Interestingly, it is very rare that I hear 'damn it! I've got washing out!' when it starts to rain these days - 20 years ago, that was more common....maybe people have finally realised that with both partners working it isn't a good idea to do laundry during the week AND have it on the line...

 

 

 

[gorenje]

In my personal case (that don't mean everyone is doing or has to do like me) I wash on Saturdays and Sundays.

The first reason is that the electricity is cheaper and the second is that I have more time so I can dedicate to the care of my laundry since this is a thing I like to do.
I don't do mix loads. I reather wait a few days to gather a biger amount of laundry rather than put all together and wash on the lowest temperature.
I have a 5 kg machine and for me this is enough.

 

[passatdoc]

I use a "laundry center" next to my washer and dryer. Since my machines are in my garage, there is plenty of room for this additional item. I use it so that I have a place to hang permanent press clothing from the dryer. Most of my work clothes are "office casual" 100% cotton with permanent press finish from www.llbean.com. If they are dried on a permanent press cycle (begins warm, but cools down to room temperature by the end of the cycle) and removed and hung promptly, no iron is needed.

Also, I use the three sorting bags to sort laundry: sturdy cotton (jeans, t-shirts etc), towels, and permanent press. I launder sturdy cotton and towels using Normal or Heavy cycles, but I tend to wash towels with hot water. Permanent press are washed on warm with Permanent Press cycle (less spinning: fewer wrinkles).

I have a Frigidaire 2140 with a capacity advertised as 3.5 cubic feet, which I believe is about 9 kg. When I fill one of the sorting bags, it nearly fills the drum completely, so I tend to wash FULL loads. An exception might be if I need one or two items washed in a hurry, then I would use Quick cycle....very rarely, perhaps once every three months. But I never run one of the main cycles (Normal, Heavy, Perm Press) unless the load is full. I own enough clothing, towels, and linen that I am not running out of clean clothes or linens even if I wait until the sorting bags are full.

Loading…

www.lowes.com

 

[rapunzel]

I'd suggest that some statistics to go with that stateme

You are obviously the one with all the stats, how can anyone argue with that?

I did base my comments on personal observations that span more than 30 years of living in Australia.

 

[DADoES]

 
I do not select a particular day of the week for washing, nor do I run everything that's pending in one day or on consecutive loads. Except under unusual circumstances, I wait until I have a large enough load of whatever type or until I'm nearly out of whatever type of clothing.

 

[mixfinder]

Large Capacity Wrinkles

I have been spoiled by washing in a vintage machine that holds an average size load.  When the clothes from that machine go to the dryer there is plenty of room for the germets to unfold, dry and be ready to take from the dryer wrinkle free.  When I swithced up to a mammoth top loaded in the early 2000, it tooks forever to fold the load from the dryer because of the sheer volume of the load.  I would remove several items and restart the dryer while hanging and folding what I had removed.  From watching friends and family that have front loaders, they seem to have heard license to stuff everything they own plus the floor mats from the car and the family dog it one load.  In some cases the laundry in the center isn't fully wet.  Then the huge, grey mass is stuffed into a dryer where it lays forgotten until some one is out of clothes.  In my opinion that isn't doing laundry its simply distributing the soil and presperation evenly among all the textiles in the house.  Peter has trouble finding enough clothing to fill his cavernous front loader and it does struggle to balance smaller loads.  I currently run a machine nearly 40 years old and if it tanks and I am forced to a new machine it won't be a front loader for the fact I live alone.  I am hoping small loads in a new top loader have a chance of emerging clean and in one piece. Very few Americans depend on line drying clothing and have almost all converted to permanent press clothing which comes best from a dryer.

 

[ronhic]

Big isn't always best....

....as far as I am concerned.

 

I have held a personal view for a long time that the size of the American made/designed machines are too big with unrealistically low water consumption V's cycle times.You should be able to 'fill the drum to capacity' and wash on a normal cotton cycle, normally soiled clothing without having to select a multitude of 'extras' to ensure a satisfactory result.

 

By Australian standards, they also are wider than we are now used to having accepted the European 'standard' for kitchen and laundry cabinet sizes. Most cavities for appliances are now 60cm/24" and anything outside of that, that is larger, generally requires custom making. As a result, the vast majority of front load machines retailed here are 59.5cm wide and get their larger capacities by squeezing slightly wider drums into the existing width, which can make load balancing challenging for smaller loads, and/or making the machine deeper for a longer drum - a better solution, but this does place extra strain on bearings.

 

If it were me looking for a front load machine in the US, I would consider buying one of the older design American brands - Frigidaire 2140? that is a smaller capacity machine than the 'giants' currently offered and isn't energy star rated (or may be to an older standard) OR a European machine such as a Miele or Bosch or ASKO if my budget allowed. The older design should use more water, which with a fast cycle is fine....the European will use a low level of water, but will have a longer cycle - also OK....

 

But then I'm not driven by cycle times having lived in the UK with a Blomberg and having an Italian machine now.....

 

[passatdoc]

You can still buy a Frigidaire 2140, recently I saw one for sale in an appliance store. They may have added ATC to it, unless I misinterpreted the control dial. The 2140 did meet energy/water conservation standards when it debuted (?? 2004??), and when I purchased mine in 2006, I received water and gas utility rebates. Today, the 2140 would not qualify for such rebates, even though one can still purchase one.

The newer Frigidaires (4472 through 4474) are the same width (27 inches or 69-70 cm), but achieve the added capacity (4.2-4.4 cu ft) by being 4 inches/10 cm deeper. However, they are still only 36 inches/90 cm high, so that when stacked the top of the dryer is 72 inches or 180 cm high. You are correct, other makers of larger capacity units have made the cabinet taller, so that a stack is not practical unless the owner is tall, say 6'4"/193 cm or taller.

Most US homes are designed so that the washer is NOT in the kitchen or bathroom. Also, electrically-powered wringer washers were commonly used before WW2. As a result, post-war US homes were built on the assumption that the owner had a top loading machine and sooner or later the standard allowance for a washer was 27 inches wide, whether in a laundry room or in a dedicated garage laundry area.

 

[rapunzel]

Big is more

and more is never less and convenience is what people want.

Australians do not follow European laundry habits. What they do here follows pretty close to what mixfinder described. They don't worry about sorting their stuff into 30, 40, 60 and 95 degree piles of colored, whites and darks. Most people do cold washes and laundry sorting consists of picking up everything and stuffing it into the washer as it is collected off the floor or hamper. Machines with 5 kilo or less capacity are considered medium to small and most households purchase washers that are larger. I don't know what they do in Melbourne or Canberra, but in NSW and Queensland we do it the Australian way.

 

[arbilab]

European laundry habits
========================

I'm OCD and I'd call Euro laundry habits OCD. Where was the last big bacterial outbreak? Germany, with OCD laundry habits. They must have been washing 5C above or below the ideal and poisoned themselves.