passatdoc
Well-known member
steam update and time savings
One thing I"m learning quickly as owner of new, large capacity laundry machines: the update reports have to wait longer because now it takes longer to accumulate enough laundry for a test load!
Two nights ago ran a load on "Casual" (perm press), which for me are my work clothes: khaki trousers and dress shirts from LL Bean, 100% cotton with wrinkle free finish. After washing, I placed the load in the dryer and the drying was completed in 33 minutes. I deliberately left the load in the dryer overnight, rather than immediately removing them (usual modus operandi), so I could test the Steam Refresh (or whatever it's called) cycle. THis is intended for clothing left in the dryer, or stuff that's been sitting in a laundry basket for weeks without being put away. The cycle takes 15 minutes and extended tumble (wrinkle guard) can be added on the end for a no-heat tumble to prevent wrinkles, if you cannot remove clothing at the exact end of cycle.
Clothes did not feel warm to touch and seemed to be room temperature. No wrinkles that I could see, they had the same appearance--in terms of wrinkles--as if I had removed them immediately from the dryer at the end of drying the day before. With the old Frig dryer, clothing like this not removed promptly from Perm Press cycle would show wrinkles---the solution was that dryer's Touch Up cycle on Low or Med heat---that dryer used heat in lieu of steam.
One thing I'm beginning to see about having a larger capacity washer---of course, it let's you wash larger objects (comforters) that previously had to go to the laundromat. However, now I'm beginning to see/appreciate the convenience of simply not having to run loads as often. With the Frig 2140 (former machine) I typically had to run a perm press load every four days. With the Electrolux, it can handle close to a week's worth of perm press, so I'll likely accumulate a full load every 6-7 days. Hence one load of this type a week instead of nearly two. Laundry is one of the few household tasks I actually don't mind doing, so running four loads a week total in the old days was not onerous to me, but it looks like I"ll only need to run 2-3 loads a week now instead of 3-5 like in the past. For families with kids, I can see now the attraction of the larger capacity machines, you can wash 50-70% more in the same amount of time.
Oddly, there is one feature I thought I'd be giving heavy use but which hasn't been used yet: delay wash. The 2140 had very simple delay wash: 8 hours delay or none. If I came home from work at 9 pm and wanted to go to bed soon, I'd set up a load to run at 5 am so it was ready to dry when I woke up at 6 am. The Electrolux allows delay wash up to 12 hours (on the low end it's 2 or 4 hours, can't remember), which normally would have resulted in my using Delay Wash more frequently. However, with laundry now becoming a once or twice a week activity, I may wind up using Delay Wash less often than I did in the old days. That's progress I suppose.
One thing I"m learning quickly as owner of new, large capacity laundry machines: the update reports have to wait longer because now it takes longer to accumulate enough laundry for a test load!
Two nights ago ran a load on "Casual" (perm press), which for me are my work clothes: khaki trousers and dress shirts from LL Bean, 100% cotton with wrinkle free finish. After washing, I placed the load in the dryer and the drying was completed in 33 minutes. I deliberately left the load in the dryer overnight, rather than immediately removing them (usual modus operandi), so I could test the Steam Refresh (or whatever it's called) cycle. THis is intended for clothing left in the dryer, or stuff that's been sitting in a laundry basket for weeks without being put away. The cycle takes 15 minutes and extended tumble (wrinkle guard) can be added on the end for a no-heat tumble to prevent wrinkles, if you cannot remove clothing at the exact end of cycle.
Clothes did not feel warm to touch and seemed to be room temperature. No wrinkles that I could see, they had the same appearance--in terms of wrinkles--as if I had removed them immediately from the dryer at the end of drying the day before. With the old Frig dryer, clothing like this not removed promptly from Perm Press cycle would show wrinkles---the solution was that dryer's Touch Up cycle on Low or Med heat---that dryer used heat in lieu of steam.
One thing I'm beginning to see about having a larger capacity washer---of course, it let's you wash larger objects (comforters) that previously had to go to the laundromat. However, now I'm beginning to see/appreciate the convenience of simply not having to run loads as often. With the Frig 2140 (former machine) I typically had to run a perm press load every four days. With the Electrolux, it can handle close to a week's worth of perm press, so I'll likely accumulate a full load every 6-7 days. Hence one load of this type a week instead of nearly two. Laundry is one of the few household tasks I actually don't mind doing, so running four loads a week total in the old days was not onerous to me, but it looks like I"ll only need to run 2-3 loads a week now instead of 3-5 like in the past. For families with kids, I can see now the attraction of the larger capacity machines, you can wash 50-70% more in the same amount of time.
Oddly, there is one feature I thought I'd be giving heavy use but which hasn't been used yet: delay wash. The 2140 had very simple delay wash: 8 hours delay or none. If I came home from work at 9 pm and wanted to go to bed soon, I'd set up a load to run at 5 am so it was ready to dry when I woke up at 6 am. The Electrolux allows delay wash up to 12 hours (on the low end it's 2 or 4 hours, can't remember), which normally would have resulted in my using Delay Wash more frequently. However, with laundry now becoming a once or twice a week activity, I may wind up using Delay Wash less often than I did in the old days. That's progress I suppose.
(Although I better do that to keep the seals fresh.)
