Washer/Dryer Woes and Joys

Turkey Tracks: July 11, 2020

Washer/Dryer Woes and Joys

I knew my American washer was on the way to dying. At only eight years old, it was making ominous grinding noises. It’s predecessor, the same maker/size washer, died after eight years.

I was bracing for doing something about the washer so I wouldn’t find myself without one at any moment now, when the 19-year-old gas dryer died about 10 days ago. Getting an old Sears product repaired, or even examined, in this rural area was going to be a real problem.

Oh my!

And “Oh My” again when I learned at our local really good appliance store (Kelsey’s) that no one makes either a washer or a dryer that would fit the built in space where the old ones were now going or gone. No one. Everything is either HUGE or little. The middle ground is…gone.

What to do?

I ultimately went with very high-tech European stackables that will sit side by side. They are smaller, but I did not want to have to redo this whole space to accommodate bigger appliances. The washer plugs into the dryer, so the gas feed had to be capped and a new 220-240 outlet had to be installed. (A shout-out here to Rubenstein Electric who, despite being crazy busy once again bailed me out and came to install the new outlet between the old washer/dryer removal and the new installation.)

Here they are:

There are spaces all around them now, but I’ve since taken the tv trays off their stand and slid them into the side spaces. That’s a streamline that works well as the stand of tv trays was a footprint that wasn’t especially visibly pleasing.

AND HOLY COW!

These very high-tech babes are AMAZING!

The washer will take a 17-pound maximum load. That’s a lot of clothes. The dryer needs no vent. It removes moisture from the air and shuttles it into a drain, so it, basically, dries the air rather than just pouring heat into the drum. And it knows when to just…stop…rather than blindly following a timed schedule. Each machine has an amazing array of controls that allow all sorts of washing and drying possibilities.

There is a whole new learning curve involved here. You can see I have both manuals on top of the counter with a pen.

My first four washes/dries came out beautifully. Basically there were no wrinkles in anything, and the clothes were very clean with very little soap used.

I’m happy now.

PS:

I LOVE to hang out wash on my clothes line. But with the brown tail caterpillar hairs still flying around, I don’t think putting sheets, especially, on the outdoor line is a great idea.

BUT, an outdoor line provides a lot of pleasure in many ways, including saving $$$$, as neighbor and friend Marina Schauffler details in this lovely essay—which also talks about European dryer technology.

Hanging Out: Reducing Clothes Dryer Use