This debate really gets tiresome after a while.
European machine are smaller for one simple reason; Europeans adopted modular kitchens in the 1950s. So, all appliances to be installed in a kitchen or utility room have to be 850mm high, and 595 - 600mm wide to fit into those slots. Or, where appliances like fridges or ovens/hobs (cooktops) are wider, they retain that modular sizing i.e. they'll be 1 unit or 1.5 or 2 units wide. E.g. for a side-by-side fridge European style, we sometimes put in a fridge that's 600mm wide and a freezer that's also the same size next to it.
Our clothes aren't smaller, (although we are a little less obese).
US laundry machines are usually installed free standing in a basement or utility room and do not have to slot-in. So, they don't really seem to care too much what their exact dimensions are as long as they're reasonably similar to the old top loaders.
Loading factors are probably more to do with the fact that North Americans are used to agitator machines. You cannot stuff those full or they don't wash where as horizontal axis drum machines are quite capable of washing with the drum stuffed to capacity as the action is more about pushing water and detergent through the clothes by tumbling than about splashing them around.
I use an 8kg Bosch Logixx machine and it will happily hold about 15 towels without any fuss or a large basket/hamper of dirty laundry.
We stuff it to capacity pretty regularly and it does a great job.
Our dryer's a matching 8kg Bosch and it also handles the clothes without any fuss. Although, you might not want to stuff it too full if you're drying delicates or at least you need to take them out as soon as the buzzer rings to avoid wrinkling.
I just find this repetitive debate about Euro vs US washers gets a bit silly though.
We've different designs of utility rooms and kitchens and a very slightly different evolution of laundry technology.
Having lived in several parts of Europe and several parts of the US, there really isn't a lot of difference in terms of clothes or lifestyle.
The washers are just a tiny bit different, although less and less so as European machines are bigger capacity than they used to be and US machines are now more and more FL.
So, perhaps we're harmonising with the best of both worlds?
European machine are smaller for one simple reason; Europeans adopted modular kitchens in the 1950s. So, all appliances to be installed in a kitchen or utility room have to be 850mm high, and 595 - 600mm wide to fit into those slots. Or, where appliances like fridges or ovens/hobs (cooktops) are wider, they retain that modular sizing i.e. they'll be 1 unit or 1.5 or 2 units wide. E.g. for a side-by-side fridge European style, we sometimes put in a fridge that's 600mm wide and a freezer that's also the same size next to it.
Our clothes aren't smaller, (although we are a little less obese).
US laundry machines are usually installed free standing in a basement or utility room and do not have to slot-in. So, they don't really seem to care too much what their exact dimensions are as long as they're reasonably similar to the old top loaders.
Loading factors are probably more to do with the fact that North Americans are used to agitator machines. You cannot stuff those full or they don't wash where as horizontal axis drum machines are quite capable of washing with the drum stuffed to capacity as the action is more about pushing water and detergent through the clothes by tumbling than about splashing them around.
I use an 8kg Bosch Logixx machine and it will happily hold about 15 towels without any fuss or a large basket/hamper of dirty laundry.
We stuff it to capacity pretty regularly and it does a great job.
Our dryer's a matching 8kg Bosch and it also handles the clothes without any fuss. Although, you might not want to stuff it too full if you're drying delicates or at least you need to take them out as soon as the buzzer rings to avoid wrinkling.
I just find this repetitive debate about Euro vs US washers gets a bit silly though.
We've different designs of utility rooms and kitchens and a very slightly different evolution of laundry technology.
Having lived in several parts of Europe and several parts of the US, there really isn't a lot of difference in terms of clothes or lifestyle.
The washers are just a tiny bit different, although less and less so as European machines are bigger capacity than they used to be and US machines are now more and more FL.
So, perhaps we're harmonising with the best of both worlds?
)
