The best thing about buying a new washer...

[puma guy]

... are the 8 free cardboard targets one can make from the box it comes in!

(Ok, the washer was kinda fun too)

Now I have finally some backers for the li'l target-stand I bought a while back. Seriously, I was struggling to find 18x30" cardboard, sort of IPSC/IDPA size, that I can staple to the legs - 5 minutes of cutting and I'm good for a while :)

Way to recycle, Andy! Which washer was fun? The new one or the old one. Old washers make good targets too.

[vjallen75]

Way to recycle, Andy! Which washer was fun? The new one or the old one. Old washers make good targets too.

[Scott Farkus]

I always thought the best thing about a new washer was that you got to play plumber for a day, because whenever you touch a 30 year old rusted supply valve it immediately starts leaking and won't stop unless you replace it.

[puma guy]

Way to recycle, Andy! Which washer was fun? The new one or the old one. Old washers make good targets too.

The new one - very weird sounds while it washes but it works great. The spin cycle died on my old one so the clothes came out soaking wet - hand-wringing gets old after a while so I bit the bullet and bought this one.

I don't think I'll be shooting the old one, I'll just give it away.

I used to help wring my grandmother's clothes when I was a kid. She refused to get a modern washing machine even in the 1960's and used her old wringer style washing machine in her backyard.

[C-dub]

I used to just go to sears and ask them if they had any empty refrigerator boxes I could have. They gave me as many as I could haul off.

[Skiprr]

I remember my one gran had a clothes-wringer she called the mangler - a hand-cranked thing we kids were forbidden to play with (which of course we did)

So that's why--as a natural lefty--you shoot right-handed.



Seriously, I think I'm days away from having to buy a new washing machine, myself. Bad time of year for it to go belly-up, but it's sounding like someone tossed recovered hollow points in with the bearings when the spin cycle kicks off. Can't say I'm enamored of the new "high-efficiency" machines.

[LTUME1978]

Don't buy a new top load machine. To meet the new federal efficiency requirements, they only fill with half the amount of water that was once used. That means that they only wash half the amount of clothes and can't wash many bulky items. Get a front load machine, you will be much happier. Some eager lawyer should start a fraud legal action against the appliance manufacturers for putting the new top load machines on the market.

[Bitter Clinger]

Don't buy a new top load machine. To meet the new federal efficiency requirements, they only fill with half the amount of water that was once used. That means that they only wash half the amount of clothes and can't wash many bulky items. Get a front load machine, you will be much happier. Some eager lawyer should start a fraud legal action against the appliance manufacturers for putting the new top load machines on the market.

Why blame manufacturers? Why encourage more lawsuits that create no value? The problem, as you stated , lies in the bloated, overreaching Federal Government stock full of unelected career bureaucrats who are devoted to biting the hand that feeds them. What we have to do is support the long over due "draining of the swamp"!

[Abraham]

Hhmmm, I like our new style top loading washing machine and that it doesn't have an agitator to get clothes wrapped around, plus I like that it uses waaaay less water.

The clothes get clean too.

We have a setting especially for "bulky" items, like bedding and when we set it to that the machine lets in more water. Quilts - no problem, washable heavy winter jackets - no problem, and so on.

I was unaware that the new type washing machines were the result of government overreach, as I thought it was just new washing machine technology that I like...

All this talk of washing reminds me I need to clean some of my guns.

[Abraham]

Oh, I forgot to mention, I now use a teeeny tiny amount of HD detergent so I don't use nearly as much as I did in the past. Another plus... Man, you couldn't give me a "new" one of the old fashioned washing machines.

Yeah, I do a lot of the laundry as SWMBO does all the cooking.

Sadly, I didn't think to use the carton/cardboard box it came in as target material.

[LTUME1978]

Abraham,

Glad to hear that your new washer works so well. My experiences have not been the same. I live in a townhouse apartment that is provided with a washer and dryer (stack unit). With the old, conventional washer, I could wash 4 bath towels or a set of king size sheets in a single load. The new, High Efficiency machine only fills with half the water. I know how to bypass the lid switch so that I can see what is going on when the machine is in operation. Now, I can only wash two bath towels at a time or a single bed sheet (no matter whether it is a king size sheet or a single bed sheet). I do use a little less detergent by not by much. However, I have to run the machine twice as much to clean the same amount of clothes and there are some things that I can no longer wash at home (have to go to a laundromat). I have had the Whirlpool rep out to check the machine and he says it functions as designed. He did state that he was surprised that the apartment complex bought this machine as most have gone to front loaders because of the poor performance of the new design top loaders.

Bitter Clinger,

I do blame the manufacturer. If the government sets a requirement that they can't meet, they should not put the machine on the market. What they have done is nothing more than fraud in my opinion and they should be held to account for that. I would love to see someone intimate a class action legal action against Whirlpool. Would you want to pay $1300.00 + for a washer dryer combo that is advertised to wash the same amount of clothes as the older machine when in fact it washes a much smaller load and is much less efficient when one considers that the machine has to be run twice to clean the same amount of clothes. I have read some of the reviews and people wonder why they wash a load of clothes and some of them don't even get wet. Whirlpool finally had to start putting fake reviews on their web site to offset all of the negative reviews.

I hope to be purchasing a home in the near future and will go with a front load machine when I do (and it won't be a Whirlpool).

[Bitter Clinger]

Abraham,

Glad to hear that your new washer works so well. My experiences have not been the same. I live in a townhouse apartment that is provided with a washer and dryer (stack unit). With the old, conventional washer, I could wash 4 bath towels or a set of king size sheets in a single load. The new, High Efficiency machine only fills with half the water. I know how to bypass the lid switch so that I can see what is going on when the machine is in operation. Now, I can only wash two bath towels at a time or a single bed sheet (no matter whether it is a king size sheet or a single bed sheet). I do use a little less detergent by not by much. However, I have to run the machine twice as much to clean the same amount of clothes and there are some things that I can no longer wash at home (have to go to a laundromat). I have had the Whirlpool rep out to check the machine and he says it functions as designed. He did state that he was surprised that the apartment complex bought this machine as most have gone to front loaders because of the poor performance of the new design top loaders.

Bitter Clinger,

I do blame the manufacturer. If the government sets a requirement that they can't meet, they should not put the machine on the market. What they have done is nothing more than fraud in my opinion and they should be held to account for that. I would love to see someone intimate a class action legal action against Whirlpool. Would you want to pay $1300.00 + for a washer dryer combo that is advertised to wash the same amount of clothes as the older machine when in fact it washes a much smaller load and is much less efficient when one considers that the machine has to be run twice to clean the same amount of clothes. I have read some of the reviews and people wonder why they wash a load of clothes and some of them don't even get wet. Whirlpool finally had to start putting fake reviews on their web site to offset all of the negative reviews.

I hope to be purchasing a home in the near future and will go with a front load machine when I do (and it won't be a Whirlpool).

The cause is the onerous regulation. The effect is a lesser performing appliance. We have seen this way too many times before. Think about EPA regulations and the damage those regulations did to many industries. To expect those industries to cease production is naive, although probably not an unwelcome result for big government advocates. If the regulation can put a few more people out of work and onto welfare and food stamps, then that is a victory for the beaurocrats as well. Government dependency and punitive regulations work hand in hand to destroy the economic health of this country. Wash, rinse, repeat.