Clothes washers take forEVER? Is it just me?

Um, does EVERYTHING in the UK take forEVER? Is it just me? 

Actually, don't even bother answering that. I know it is me. I'm from 'Instant Gratification Takes Too Long' aka New York City, so I totally KNOW it is ME!!!!

 

Oh hush. At least you get to go home for two weeks. LOL!

Um, does EVERYTHING in the UK take forEVER? Is it just me? 

Actually, I have found that many Brits seem to take a perverse pleasure in the difficulty of things. I could be wrong, but it seems like some folk have the attitude that anything worth doing must be difficult or frustrating. 

My answer to the long wash time is that I only use it every once in a while. My clothes just don't get that dirty so a long wash every third time or is fine. Most days I use the 30 minute microprogramme with a second spin.

Our Beko shows how long the cycle will take, or has left. A normal wash states 1hr 30min, though there is an "everyday wash" for items that aren't soiled, maybe work just once or twice, and we use that a lot - only takes 20 mins.

The first time I did laundry in the UK (October 1998), I sat on the floor of my kitchen (which was an issue in and of itself to this California girl!) and cried.

First of all, I was able to fit a pair of jeans, 2 tshirts, and a pair of socks. That was it. i looked at my huge pile of laundry and knew that i was in trouble. Then it took almost three hours to wash. This was a w/d combo, which basically steamed the clothes rather than dry them...

So imagine my sadness when, 6 hours later, my jeans were the size of a damp softball and I had to iron my socks because they had been steamed into a little pitiful heap.

Fast forward to the here and now, and I have a 30 minute wash cycle AND a condenser dryer. Huzzah!!

Meanwhile, my fridge is the size of a handbag...

Meanwhile, my fridge is the size of a handbag...

Yeah, but American handbags are huge! 

The washer we use here in the UK is half the size of the one I used in America and takes THREE TIMES as long to wash our clothes. It's ridiculous. Not to mention, the timer on it is so off! It claims that it takes 1hr 40min but I SWEAR it takes way longer than that. I will look at it, and it will say 20 mins left, and 30 mins later, it's just beginning to stop.

I think mine takes an hour and 20 minutes, which isn't too bad. I still remember too well the horrors I faced as a student doing laundry in halls years , so I guess everything will always be better than that.

Yeah, but American handbags are huge! 

This made me laugh loud enough to startle my husband. (To be fair, I am currently overdue with our first kid, so he is easily startled these days.) Our washer is reasonably new (as the old one conked out recently), and it takes about 90 minutes, plus we do a second "spin" cycle instead of using the dryer. (It means clothes dry that day...instead of three days later.) What we really want is one that's a bit more programmable, as we currently have to select that second cycle by hand.

We have a fridge that is plenty big though, especially as I tend to eat fruit (which we leave out) and DH tends to buy the main on the day. I *do* miss my tumble dryer's ability to get fuzz/hair/etc off clothes. I end up having to brush or shake most of it off here. (and I own a horse, so in the Spring..there is a lot of hair!)

I actually feel better about our washer now.  The 40-degree wash is 1:20, which isn't too bad by comparison.  The 30-degree is 1:45, which sucks, but looking around, I realise it could still be worse!  And our washer & tumble dryer are both on the larger end of the scale here (though still smaller than the ones I had in my last apartment), so I can fit a reasonable amount of clothing in them.

It still drives me nuts.  And makes me feel not even the slightest bit guilty about the fact that I rarely hang clothes out to dry.  I refuse to waste even more of my time, watching things get rained on, or having them hang all over the kitchen so they can get nice and cigarette-and-bacony. 

As someone who would love a dryer but has no room for it, can I just suggest getting a dehumidifier? This winter our clothes were taking three days to dry and the windows were streaming with condensation. We got a dehumidifier and voila! If we put it in the spare bedroom with the laundry and close the door, the clothes are dry in half a day. Plus the condensation is much better if we run it for a bit in the hall. Well worth the money and electricity.

As someone who would love a dryer but has no room for it, can I just suggest getting a dehumidifier? This winter our clothes were taking three days to dry and the windows were streaming with condensation. We got a dehumidifier and voila!

This is what we do, as we wanted to prevent mould. 

I never really got on with front-loaders anyway. I know they're supposed to be better ecologically, economically and all that. Only I always drop a sock somewhere which I discover after I've started the machine up    And I hate using 'powder' detergent -- it always gets all glopped up in the box from the dampness in the kitchen. Sooo glad they're doing liquid detergents now as well.

I pretty much wash everything, except towels and maybe dirty socks, on the cold cycle which takes just under an hour.  That's pretty reasonable and with the cold cycle no more shrunken clothes!