Question For UK Members - American Style Top Loader Availability in The UK

[cfz2882]

"Made in USA"

Interesting that whirlpool says "Made in USA" right on the control panel-haven't noticed that on domestic market American whirlpools,though my Asko condenser dryer says "Made in Sweden" right on the front panel

 

[launderess]

A few points/suggestions.

Welcome to our world!

*LOL*

As for keeping whites that way, you now understand why Americans are so wedded to using chlorine bleach. It just works better in the fast cycles and high dilution (lots of water) that comes with top loading washers.

Another suggestion would be to try and find some American Tide with Bleach powder. That stuff was developed for American top loading automatics and generally gives brilliant stain and soil removing results. In fact many of the powdered detergents sold by P&G and others past and present work well in top loaders. Especially the vintage stuff loaded with phosphates.

Fabric softener liquid; again now you understand why dryer sheets are so popular here in the States. No bothering with having to catch the rinse (the bain of American housewives for ages...), just bung the lot into dryer with a FS sheet.

You will save quite a bit on energy costs (dryer) and perhaps get better overall washing results by investing in a spin dryer, and or bunging loads into a front loader with high final spin speed.

America being a land of abundant natural resources (and or willing to import) that often are billed cheap use of a dryer didn't and or doesn't bother most households. Even if said machine must run hard/long to bake out lots of moisture from laundry spun at not very high speeds. Average for some time was only around 700 rpms for most American top loaders. Some lower and a few higher including some vintage Frigidaire and others.

Besides faster drying use of an extractor can pull out detergent and other residue left behind even after final rinse.

 

[rapunzel]

Re. Gentle Cycle

Not useless at all, but designed for delicate fabrics, knits, silk and your wife's wash'n'wear dresses. When you wash stuff on gentle it is better to wash smaller loads in lots of water. You want the clothes to be near the bottom of the agitator where the washing takes place, but in enough water that the load circulates and moves about freely to keep fabric stress to a minimum.

I wash everything in my machine. Leather jackets, sports shoes and fluffy slippers, soft toys, silk garments, woolen blankets etc. - top loaders are also great for soaking btw.

For mohair and alpaca wool, I fill my machine with just enough tepid water that I can hand-wash the item by gently squeezing it in a mild wool detergent for no more than a minute or two. Then I switch to drain and do a very short spin, so I don't have to do any wringing by hand. I then lay the item out on a clean towel to dry. If you want to be extra careful you can also wrap the garment in a towel before you spin it out.

I love top loaders for their flexibility and when I have a party I can fill it up with ice and put drinks in it.
[this post was last edited: 2/2/2017-07:41]