Laundry Capacity?

[mrboilwash]

John, my only point is that the detergent industry in the USA still considers 6 lb. of dry clothes a medium or in other words a normal load just like Frigidaire did in 1963.

There are precise definitions of what a large or extra large load is on P&G`s website. (Link)

I suppose most people don`t need those extra large capacities on a daily basis or haven`t changed laundry habits that much since 1963, otherwise a medium load today would be considered a small load, a large one medium and so on.
And for what it`s worth it`s just the same in Germany and the rest of the EU.
Our washer`s capacities are getting larger and larger, but a standart load is still 4,5 kg.

 

[johnrk]

Again, I don't know about Germany

but washing has definitely changed over here since Kennedy was president.

As has been pointed out countless times on here, generations behind me (I'm a Baby Boomer) usually dump just about everything in together. And there's a reason for that: our clothing is quite different than it was in 1963. There are treatments for natural materials now that weren't out then. For example, I wear a lot of 100% cotton pullovers and polo-type shirts. Virtually never iron them. However, if I don't get my 100% cotton dress shirts done at the dry cleaners, they will come out very, very wrinkled--and no, it's not a function of machine or settings. In fact, I wear very little that isn't natural and often I don't have to iron anything.

'Bleeding Madras' was so popular in the 60's, at least over here. Shirts or blouses had to be washed separately or they'd ruin other clothing. We really don't have that many articles of clothing now that have that ability.

So, not only have the fabrics that are used to manufacture clothing changed, but the style of clothing has radically changed, particularly for women.

Tendency in this country is to cram all sorts of things together that, 55 years ago, my mother's maid would have separated and washed in separate loads. And my mother had, in 1963, a new Frigidaire that I think had just gone to 12 pound tubs.

 

[johnrk]

Again, I don't know about Germany

but washing has definitely changed over here since Kennedy was president.

As has been pointed out countless times on here, generations behind me (I'm a Baby Boomer) usually dump just about everything in together. And there's a reason for that: our clothing is quite different than it was in 1963. There are treatments for natural materials now that weren't out then. For example, I wear a lot of 100% cotton pullovers and polo-type shirts. Virtually never iron them. However, if I don't get my 100% cotton dress shirts done at the dry cleaners, they will come out very, very wrinkled--and no, it's not a function of machine or settings. In fact, I wear very little that isn't natural and often I don't have to iron anything.

'Bleeding Madras' was so popular in the 60's, at least over here. Shirts or blouses had to be washed separately or they'd ruin other clothing. We really don't have that many articles of clothing now that have that ability.

So, not only have the fabrics that are used to manufacture clothing changed, but the style of clothing has radically changed, particularly for women.

Tendency in this country is to cram all sorts of things together that, 55 years ago, my mother's maid would have separated and washed in separate loads. And my mother had, in 1963, a new Frigidaire that I think had just gone to 12 pound tubs.

 

[mrboilwash]

"In 2014, the average load size of washing machines in North America was 2.8 kilograms."

http://https//www.statista.com/statistics/306823/average-load-size-of-washing-machines-by-region/

 

[mrboilwash]

According to Clorox which is certainly not a German company,

"on average a large load weighs between 6-8 pounds"

Again not so far away from Frigidaire`s view over 50 years ago.
But to be be fair, all of us tend to find exactly those things on the net that confirm our very own points of view...
And my personal point of view is that for most people the average real life load size hasn`t changed much during the last 50 years. Yours may vary and that`s ok for me.

http://https//www.clorox.com/dr-laundry/how-much-laundry-pants-shirts-per-load/

 

[johnrk]

I Won't Argue With the Stats...

I sure thought sizes were more poundage. Of course, as they say, everything is bigger in Texas!

Best wishes-

 

[iowabear]

When I was very young we had a GE Filter-Flo. I saw one in person recently for the first time in decades and was surprised at how small the capacity was.

 

Which explained why my father was dispatched once-a-month or so to the closest laundromat with the bedspreads and blankets.  I loved those trips, the laundromat had a separate island with extra-large Wascomats in different sizes.  There was one truly giant-sized one that I always begged to use but usually the items would all fit in the second-to-largest size, LOL.  Of course I loved watching the machines, especially as they went into spin and the suds poured down the glass door.

 

They also had a Bock extractor that we sometimes used.  I remember helping to tuck the top item in around the top per the instructions.  They must have had a serious warning label on them even back then because I remember he always made me stand back away from it when it was running like it might explode or something!

 

I don't own anything that won't fit in my FL Neptune (which is not large by the today's standards) so I haven't used a coin laundry for years.

 

 

[passatdoc]

My Elux 60 series can handle an entire week's worth of work clothing (khakis and no-iron cotton dress shirts from LL Bean) in a single load. It takes only a bit longer to process the Elux load (loading/unloading slightly longer since there are more articles involved), and thus cuts my laundry time almost in half vs my former Frig 2140. With the 2140 I ran 3-4 loads a week. Now with Elux, only two: the no-iron load above, plus a load of bedding/towels (in winter I use flannel, which is compatible with towel wash/dry cycles). My laundry time is cut in half. In addition, while the largest comforter I own is a Queen, I'm freed from twice yearly laundromat trips, plus the $5-6 in coins needed to run a triple load machine and dryer. The 60 also had the cycles I wanted, and I rarely run small loads in it, unless there are only a few things to wash with separate care guidelines.

 

[passatdoc]

people ask me for the name of my dry cleaner/laundry

agree with johnrk

In college, my freshman dorm had commercial Maytags with only Warm or Hot wash options. I had darkly colored items that bled and ruined other clothes in the load. From soph year on, my fraternity washroom had machines with cold wash, which I used for any darkly colored items, and the bleeding stopped

all of my button-down dress shirts are from LL Bean with a wrinkle free finish, so i wash them with khakis (same finish) on warm, then dry with a cool down cycle and hang them immediately. I have people asking me for the name of my cleaner/laundry because my shirts look so crisp. Answer: "Electrolux"

I only own a few white dress shirts, for those I use a very hot cycle with steam and they come out looking great, but it's somewhat wasteful since I only wash 2-3 items at a time in this manner (I keep the whites in a separate basket and wash them when I"m running out of whites)

 

[bendix5]

Monday I weighed our laundry just for kicks. This included 2 queen sheets and 4 pillow cases. This was a weeks worth of dirty clothes for 2 not including towels. They get done on Wednesday. It was 27 lbs worth. That is spread into 4 loads. Whites (sheets and white socks) mixed colors (colored tees, unders and colored socks. Then a load of light shirts and wifes tops. Last a small load of jeans and a couple of vests. Average 6.75 per load. Our front loader is a Maytag,(Samsung) which we have had since 2005 and it is still going strong. I don't understand why they keep making machines bigger. My sis who is about 5'2' could never get clothes out of these new top loads with out a stool. She loves her front loader.