Somewhere along the line, washers changed from being rated by pounds of laundry to cubic feet of the tub, as I understand it.
As Lord Kenmore, a few others and I have noted, we seldom run our particular washers at capacity, simply because we don't generate enough laundry (doing proper sorting) to require big loads. My first 1977 Filter-Flo was the regular capacity machine, not the extra large; I think it was 14 lb. by the rating of the day, and I never really filled that up. My next two Filter-Flo sets were the extra large because I wanted the features only available on the 18 lb. machines. I never, ever filled those to capacity.
My parents bought a Frigidaire set in 1963 when they built a new home. Going back in the literature sold here, the VIP guide states that that machine now had a 12 lb. capacity. However, they recommended that salesmen place a basket with 6 lb. of laundry on one side of the machine, and another basket with 12 lb. on the other side. The source states that 9 out of 10 women would pick the 6 lb. basket as their average load.
So what's happened? As far as I can tell, we wear fewer clothes than in 1963. Is it what some have stated here, that today's younger people are just slobs who want to throw everything in at once and to hell with fading or lint or wrinkling?
It never made sense to me to buy a washer based on very occasional needs. I've seen not only on here, but on other reviews at websites, that people will down-rate a washer because it won't hold their damn king-sized comforter. Would you all who read this, buy your washer based on something laundered as seldom as that? I have a local laundromat, and if I had one of those monstrosities I'd just take it down and do it on one of their double-capacity front loaders. To me, that's like buying a 9-passenger SUV because at Christmas and maybe Thanksgiving I'd need to haul a bunch of people!
Of course, I've seen those magazine articles from the 50's and 60's that insisted that by this time washers would be gone anyway, replaced by ultrasonic cabinets that would vibrate the dirt away...
As Lord Kenmore, a few others and I have noted, we seldom run our particular washers at capacity, simply because we don't generate enough laundry (doing proper sorting) to require big loads. My first 1977 Filter-Flo was the regular capacity machine, not the extra large; I think it was 14 lb. by the rating of the day, and I never really filled that up. My next two Filter-Flo sets were the extra large because I wanted the features only available on the 18 lb. machines. I never, ever filled those to capacity.
My parents bought a Frigidaire set in 1963 when they built a new home. Going back in the literature sold here, the VIP guide states that that machine now had a 12 lb. capacity. However, they recommended that salesmen place a basket with 6 lb. of laundry on one side of the machine, and another basket with 12 lb. on the other side. The source states that 9 out of 10 women would pick the 6 lb. basket as their average load.
So what's happened? As far as I can tell, we wear fewer clothes than in 1963. Is it what some have stated here, that today's younger people are just slobs who want to throw everything in at once and to hell with fading or lint or wrinkling?
It never made sense to me to buy a washer based on very occasional needs. I've seen not only on here, but on other reviews at websites, that people will down-rate a washer because it won't hold their damn king-sized comforter. Would you all who read this, buy your washer based on something laundered as seldom as that? I have a local laundromat, and if I had one of those monstrosities I'd just take it down and do it on one of their double-capacity front loaders. To me, that's like buying a 9-passenger SUV because at Christmas and maybe Thanksgiving I'd need to haul a bunch of people!
Of course, I've seen those magazine articles from the 50's and 60's that insisted that by this time washers would be gone anyway, replaced by ultrasonic cabinets that would vibrate the dirt away...
