Where is the strangest place you have seen someone's washing machine?

[aquacycle]

I was visiting a colleague of mine who has just moved into a new house with her boyfriend. She was giving me a guided tour and took me outside to show me the garden. Along the back wall of their house was a long, wooden shed - about shoulder height that reached just below the ground floor windows and ran the entire back length of the house with 2 sets of doors. In one side was the usual lawn mower, garden equipment and DIY supplies, but in the other side was their washing machine and tumble dryer. This got me thinking. As we are all from different parts of the world where laundry equipment is kept in different rooms (bathroom in Europe, utility room/basement/garage in the US, kitchen in the UK), we are used to seeing pictures of machines in places that we personally would not normally expect to find it. However, I have never seen a set up like the one at my colleagues home. With that in mind, where is the strangest or most unsual place that you have seen a washing machine or dryer in use?

 

[turquoisedude]

It may have been a late 60s early 70s thing, but a lot of folks here in Canada would install them in the bathroom.  

 

BUT the strangest installation I have seen to day was in the old house where I found my 1965 Maytag washer - it was tucked into a corner in a bedroom adjacent to the kitchen.    The plumbing was obviously added to accomodate the machine (standpipe drain and hot and cold water supply just running up through the floor from the basement).   But it obviously worked!!

 

[golittlesport]

The most unlikely washing machine installation I have seen was in the master bedroom closet. The owner had punched a hole in the wall to access plumbing and power from the bathroom.

 

[aquacycle]

That is unusual. There is a couple on my street that have their washer on the first floor in what was a bedroom but has now become their junk room (they go hiking, cycling and scuba diving so the room is dedicated to their gear for such activities). It also where their boiler is. Izzy (the lady who lives their) told me it makes much more sense as they no longer have to take any washing downstairs.

 

[iheartmaytag]

Five years ago when we were house shopping we looked at a house that had had major modifications over the years. One of the modifications was to add a room to the back of the house. The only thing is they didn't move the plumbing when they opened up the wall, so the washer stand pipe and fill pipes were right smack dab in the middle of the family room. The dryer was in the kitchen.

We passed on that house BTW.

 

[polkanut]

We converted our enclosed front porch into a laundry room.  Also made part of it into a storage closet for small appliances, laundry supplies, and other things.  It was insulated all the way around, new thermalpane windows, plumbing , and electricity etc.  It works great for us.

 

[aquacycle]

Polkanut, that sounds great - any pics?

 

[gorenje]

I have seen a washing machine installed on the balcony.
I know it may be possible but for me this is a strange place.

 

[foraloysius]

I saw a washer on a front porch on a trip through the USA.

 

[DADoES]

 
Not so much location as quantity:  Discovered upon visiting friends/acquaintances home about 10 years ago, they have two sets.  One in the standard utility room behind the kitchen (which is also near their daughters' bedrooms at one end of the house) and another set installed in an open alcove in the master bedroom at the other end of the house near an entrance from the garage.

 

[circlew]

I remember seeing washers (usually wringer) sitting on the front porch of houses in rural Mississippi.

One of my mom's cousins in MS had her laundry equipment in the dining room. It was an old country house.

 

[philr]

As Paul said, washers/dryers in bathrooms (even in houses built in the 1950s and after the 1980s) are quite common around here and separate laundry rooms with laundry tubs are not common. Most of my family and friend's houses have them installed in bathrooms. My grandfather had a house from the 1930's that he bought in the early 1950s and the automatic washer was in the bathroom and the dryer was in the living room next to it (there was no separate dining room but there were two living rooms in this house). They had an ironer and a dishwasher in the kitchen/dining room before the mid-fifties. When I was a kid, the ironer was gone but the sewing machine was still in the dining room!

My other grandparents had a house built in 1951 and they had a laundry room in their basement (originally with a wringer and a laundry tub next to the central heating) but when they had their new house built in 1978, they had the washer/dryer in their bathroom like most others here! 

 

A less common place to have a washer/dryer set is in a bedroom, but I have seen that too!

 

[hoovermatic]

When I travelled around Australia, particularly WA (Geraldton, Broome, Carnarvon -places like that) I saw a lot of washer outdoors on balconies and in carports etc. I reckon it's a good idea if you have the right climate - I would do it myself under the right circumstances.

 

[paulc]

I lived in a rented flat where my washing machine was in a cupboard outside my front door on the communal stair case.

 

[wayupnorth]

I have seen laundry set ups in some of the strangest places also. Separate building, washer in kitchen, dryer on an enclosed porch or basement, outside on a patio or in a garage in warmer climates and even in bedroom closets too. When I redid my house over, I did enlarge the bathroom and have the Maytags in there. I do find it to be convenient as the biggest majority of the laundry is generated in the bathroom for me.

 

[whirlcool]

I once had a duplex in college that had the washer in the kitchen and the dryer out on an open porch with no roof at the rear of the place. It was an electric dryer too. When it rained, the poor dryer was fully rained on. I wold never use it while it was raining, but my roommate did. I told him he was going to get his ass charged one of these days. But he never did.

 

[blackstone]

Unlike in Western Australia,

the climate here in Western Mass. does not allow for washing machines on outdoor porches, even if enclosed. However, one customer did have his Maytag installed there. On more than one occasion, we had to change the fill valve, because it had cracked.

Another customer had an electric dryer installed in an unheated basement. The moist lint froze in the vent pipe before it had a chance to exit building.

 

[mrb627]

Growing Up...

seems we were the only family members that had a dedicated utility room in the carport for a washer and dryer. Most other family members had a washing machine in the kitchen and no dryer. Or the machine was in a utility room off the backyard, ie you had to go outside and around to the utility room to get to them.

Come to think of it, most of these setups emptied the wash water in the grass rather than sewer...

Malcolm

 

[aegokocarat]

a conserventry was the strangest place i have seen one, and also in a garage.
Tom

 

[twintubdexter]

let's see...

Years ago when I lived in the Duboce Triangle in San Francisco I rented a top flat in a 3-story building, pretty old considering the gas lines for lighting were still in the ceilings. I put a 60's Frigidaire washer out on the ricktey rear "balcony" that spanned the 2 upper flats since there was a laundry tub, a 110 plug and hot & cold water. The location wasn't that unusual, but when that Frigidaire went into it's high-speed spin the entire back of the building shook, windows, doors, everything. Standing out there and holding on to the old wood railing was like a ride at Disneyland. It also tended to make the other residents scared since SF is earthquake country.

The little house we had in Cupertino had the washer and dryer in the front yard. We made a small outside patio out of that area so it was shielded from view. I liked doing laundry outside. These were very cheap houses built for returning servicemen. The 2-part, deep Crosley kitchen sink was intended for a wringer washer.

 

[dustin92]

Our new house (built in 1948) has 2 sets, a speed queen set from the late 80's (gas dryer) in the original basement utility room (which is huge) and an early 2000's maytag performa set upstairs (in a small bedroom which was converted to a laundry room) (gas dryer) the upstairs laundry room is in an odd spot, right behind the living room, and another bedroom on the other side. The dryer is a bit noisy so it can be annoying if you are watching tv.

 

[fido]

I did repair one that was used in a greenhouse once. I also had a customer who had the machine in the garage but there was no waste plumbing. She had the hose looped up high them wedged into a beer crate to empty onto the garage floor. As you can imagine, the garage floor developed a crust of old detergent in places and the machines rusted rapidly!

 

[aquacycle]

Tom, I wouldn't say a garage is particularly unusual. I know a lot of people who have their washer and dryer in the garage, my mother being one of them 

 

[aegokocarat]

to me its strange, as no one around where i live (or any one i know for that matter) hasnt got thier washer in a garage

 

[jmm63]

My friends grandparents in Jacksonville Florida have the washer, no dryer, out on the patio. Its under an overhang on the house so its sort of protected from some rain and there's an old cast iron laundry tub it empties into next to it. She uses the rinse water on the garden and lawn.

I lived in a fairly new mobile home for awhile in Michigan. The washer and dryer were on each side of the bathroom door, which I always that was odd. Couldn't they have moved the door and made a closet for the washer and dryer. Thank God they were brand new Whirlpool Design 2000's so they looked nice

 

[omono]

I have had a washer and fridge land on the bonnet (hood ) of my car ,It was fun explaining that one to the insurance company

 

[tolivac]

While looking at houses in Manassas,Va-a home in Manassas Park-the washer and dryer was moved from an alcove in the attic-to the wall in the master bedroom at the foot of the bed.another home there-an alcove off the living room.In the area I am in now-See a few neighbors whose washer dryers are in the garage.In some of the homes out in the country here-old ones-the washer out on a wooden front porch.Hope they winterize them-it can get cold enough here to freeze machines outside.In a townhome in Manassas-the Washer dryer were in a shed in the backyard.Can't see trudging in the snow to do the laundry-and was the shed heated-again for freezing.

 

[newwave1]

My dad owns a rental property firm and I went to work with my brother for a week while waiting to start a new job.

We went to a 3 storey house. The kitchen was where you'd expect it downstairs and the washer was in a cupboard on the top floor inbetween 2 of the bedrooms! I went to repair the washer as it wasn't draining. I wasn't surprised the amount of coins and hair clips I found in the filter!

The other odd one was when I was walking to work and I saw a washer in a rather large front porch!

When I was little my mums friend had her washer in a downstairs toilet!

I thought machines in garages was odd until when living at my parents new place the utility room still wasn't complete so my dad plumbed the machine in the garage. I found it more inconvenient than anything as you couldn't access the garage from the house! Irritating when raining!

My indesit is still plumbed in there as when I moved out if I'd taken it they wouldn't have had a machine, it's now a secondary machine as they bought a new AEG set when the utility room was complete.

Darren

 

[jetsystem1200]

I have seen a house where the washer is in a small garage converted into a dining room. As the plumbing is strange, they had their drain pipe sticking out the window of the room and had the wash water drain the (dead) plants. Also, there is a bedroom next to the dining room which has very thin walls and you can hear the washer washing through the wall.

 

[sudsmaster]

It was in Funtier Town

LOL, it wasn't so much strange as it was memorable.

It was around 1970, and I was visiting SF. I took the streetcar out to Playland, which was in the process of being shut down, or close to it. I remember walking past one of the buildings, and there was an open crude wooden door in the side of a crude wooden building painted a sort of odd blue/green/gray. I think it was attached to some sort of Wild West attraction called "Funtier Town". Inside there was a white automatic washer chugging away. No, I don't remember the brand. I remember looking at this prosaic evidence of domestic life, and how out of place it seemed in an arena dedicated to, well, fantasy. As I gazed curiously an unseen hand swiftly shoved the door closed. Not slamming it, but close to it.

I suppose it was a caretaker's residence, probably in the last year of residence, and not appreciative of my prying eye. Nowadays the site is all apartments and condos. No more narrow gauge roller coaster (it was REALLY small) or whirly rides. No more laughing Sal in the Fun House. And no more old washers chugging away behind the rough hewn doors of Funtier Town.