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

[henene4]

Yeah, true, most american dryers are in basements.

But how about big citys? New York, etc. Bigger, newer, appartment style buildings usually don't have laundry at all or in-house laundry is verry limited. And those who live there usually have the money to spend on a combo and the clothing habbits usually can verry well integrate a combo. (One load a day, started in the morning, come home to already washed and dried laundry).

Just because it dosen't suit you or most, that dosen't mean there isn't a market for that.

 

[launderess]

Here in NYC

Purchasers and or renters are demanding washing machines and dryers; I mean wouldn't you for the kind of money they are paying (rents > 3.5k USD and buying > 2.1 million USD?).

However from pre-war to new construction problems arise placing washer/dryer connections on outer facing walls. Solution? Ja is the condenser dryer!

Our AEG repair/dealer for North American tells us they have sold and installed a good number of Lavamat washers and condenser Lavatherm dryers. Bosch, and Miele are also well represented. In fact IIRC neither of the last two sell vented dryers in North America any longer.

Know a few who have condenser dryers here and they hate the things with a passion. None have had such a machine before and are totally used to vented dryers that heat with gas.

Main problem here in NYC is we are a temperate and humid climate. It really only is cold enough outdoors to use a condenser dryer from (in theory) October or November through maybe April or parts of May. In practice our winters have been warm to the point of it being around 50F to 55F or even near 60F well into December. Being near water of course things are humid outside regardless. As for the summer/warmer times of year, forget it; a condenser dryer just won't work here; well it will if you turn on the air conditioning "low" enough to keep the place chilly.

Have yet to use the Lavatherm dryer this year because it just hasn't been cold outside long enough. Maybe Sunday night into Monday, but things are supposed to warm up again on Tuesday.

 

[liberator1509]

Get a Fisher Paykel Aquasmart!

Hi Chris

I would look out for a F&P aquasmart - the come up every now and again, and as it happens there is one on EBAY right now. I bought one from an Aussie returner before I left the UK and still have it here in Ireland. It is a fantastic machine, as long as you have a decent hot water supply. The standard cycle takes 50 mins or so, and you can use high or low water (it washes really well in both modes) and the spin is excellent, without any balancing time-wasting nonsense (1000rpm, but clothes, especially towels are drier than they are from our H-axis Zanussi top-loader). Drying time for 8kg of towels in our Aqualtis dryer is actually quicker from the F&P. Downsides - hard to think of any (soak duration is fixed, rinse only cycle is fixed, no matching dryer over here).

I'd recommend F&P to anyone, and only wish they would import the new Cleansmart 10kg model to Europe (if Whirlpool/Maytag can sell the basic cabrio model as a semi-commercial, can't see why F&P couldn't either).

Hope this is of help!

David

Pardon our interruption...

 

[vacerator]

Before the late

1960's, true that many American laundry rooms were in basements, but since, most homes have main floor laundries, and some even upstairs where the bed rooms are,
with the exception of warmer climate states, where they are even outside the dwelling.

 

[chrisbsuk]

Update!!

Hi all,
Thanks again for your advice, really appreciate it.

Quick update from me - I got a Whirlpool American Top Loader delivered on Friday evening. The machine was brand new, the guy having bought it a few years back but never used it. Was even in its original box. Found it on Gum Tree and paid £400 for it (about $480 for those of you over the pond!)

I've done several washes in it this weekend, and I have to say I'm pretty impressed so far!

Things I like;
- cycle times are incredibly quick
- capacity of the machine
- ability to have a warm rinse
- the amount of water it uses (!) - I'm not on a meter thank god
- the ease of over riding the lid switch to make it work with the lid open
- much quieter and stable than I thought it would be
- hot wash is hot - its right next to my combi boiler, so plenty of it too!

Things I don't like/need to get used to;
- no extra rinse function, so I'll have to see how I get on really
- the final "high" spin could be a little better, it's fine but could be a little better (guess I'm used to the 1400rpm Siemens and the 1600rpm maytag!)
- The additional detergents needed to keep towels white (e.g vanish oxi action)
- had to upgrade the drain system to cope with the water flow when it's pumping out
- used the hand wash cycle and it's a complete waste of time!

So, so far, so good! Here are a few photos of it too.

Chris

 

[chrisbsuk]

Controls

 

[chrisbsuk]

Controls

 

[chrisbsuk]

Inside - just before I started it

 

[chrisbsuk]

The laundry area set up - sorry it's a bit of a mess at the moment!!

 

[chrisbsuk]

Ps - one other thing I don't like is the fabric softener dispenser - I think it may stain fabrics the way it dispenses. I can either dilute the softener or run an extra rinse after the cycle has done and add the softener when the machine is full of water!

I'll see how I get on over the next few months and will sell it on if it doesn't work out.

Thanks all again!

Chris

 

[brisnat81]

Hey Chris,

Congrats, its amazing it was still new in Box. That style of DD Whirlpool was on sale here back in the early 2000's He's hung onto that for a very long time. Mum had that style of machine with the extra rinse option that she bought new in 2001.

If you're using oxygen bleach and hot water that'll help. Just make sure you soak anything stained in the Oxygen bleach before you wash, or use a spray pre-treater before you load.

They work just as well as a front loader, you just need to handle stains properly first.

Cheers

Nathan

 

[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]