Doing the laundry used to be physically challenging but intellectually simple: You dragged your stuff to the nearest stream, wet one item at a time, pounded the stuff on a rock and spread it on the bank or over a branch to dry.
Automatic washers and dryers have taken most of the physical labor out of getting our clothes and linens clean, but it now takes smarts to do the laundry.
The intellectual work starts with understanding the increasingly complex features of the washers and dryers available on the market and matching them to your laundry needs and habits. One of the big variables distinguishing washers and dryers is energy efficiency, and you may find that your next machines can save you significant money by using less water, energy and detergent.
Even after you’ve chosen your machines, the intellectual work continues with relearning your laundry skills. To get the most out of your washer and dryer and out of the high-tech fabrics you’ll be washing, you can’t approach laundry with the old beat-everything-on-a-rock mentality.
“The average consumer knows you don’t wash the denim jeans with the lingerie,” said textile expert Elizabeth Easter. “But people do mix clothes they probably shouldn’t.
“To do laundry well, you have to read the owner’s manual for your washer and dryer and understand all their features, and you have to read and follow the fabric-care labels on your clothes.”
A revolution may be under way in the design of America’s washing machines. The thing that’s changing is the wash tub: Almost all of the washers currently holding EnergyStar ratings for exceptional energy efficiency have horizontal tubs instead of the more traditional upright tubs.
Horizontal-axis machines almost always have a door in the front through which clothes are loaded, so they’re commonly known as front-loading machines. Vertical-axis washers are commonly known as top loaders.
Charles Samuels, a counsel for the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, said front loaders were fairly popular in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. They were particularly prevalent, and still are found, in coin-operated laundries where their energy and water savings add to the laundromat’s bottom line.
Samuels said the older front-loading machines developed a reputation for maintenance problems and faded from common use in the United States. Front loaders remained popular in Europe, however.
As U.S. consumers have become more interested in energy conservation, manufacturers have taken a fresh look at front-loading machines. Samuels said European washers tended to be smaller than U.S. buyers were used to, so manufacturers had to develop larger Americanized versions.
The traditional top-loading machine works like this: You load clothes into a drum with an agitator in the middle and add enough water to submerge the clothes. The agitator moves from side to side circulating water and detergent through the clothes until they are clean.
A front loader doesn’t require that clothing be submerged. The clothes are put in, and the door is closed and sealed. The plopping action is as effective as agitating in getting clothes clean, and it’s at least as gentle on fabrics. But less water is used, so the consumer pays less for water and for heating water.
The Energy Department estimates that the most efficient washers use almost 50 percent less water and 30 percent to 40 percent less energy per load than the average washer.
Front-loading machines don’t need as much detergent as top loaders, either, and special detergent formulas just for front-loading machines are available. Front loaders also may handle unbalanced loads better.
With those advantages, you’d think the new generation of front-loading machines would dominate the marketplace. But most local retailers carry at least five times as many top loaders than front loaders because front loaders are more expensive. It’s common for front-loading machines to cost more than $500 and to exceed the price of similar size top loaders by as much as $200. Samuels said the higher prices reflect the fact that front loaders are more expensive to build.
The machines eventually recoup the extra expense because of their lower operating costs, but that message apparently hasn’t reached the public yet.
Local appliance sellers say some customers come into their stores after reading consumer publications, and they know they want a front-loading machine. Many seem attracted to the prestige of paying top dollar for the top-of-the-line Maytag Neptune front loader that sells for $999.
Other customers simply see the higher price tags on front loaders and walk away. In some communities where excessive energy and water consumption are critical problems, consumers can get rebates for buying energy-efficient washers.
There’s a proposal before the Congress that might help make the most energy-efficient appliances more affordable. The Resource Efficient Appliances Incentives Act of 2000 recently introduced in the House and Senate would create tax incentives for high-efficiency clothes washers and refrigerator-freezers from 2001 through 2006.
The bill, if passed, would work in conjunction with federal efficiency standards proposed by energy advocates, appliance manufacturers and state and local governments in May. Manufacturers making appliances exceeding the standard would receive tax credits of $50 to $100 per unit.
Tom Catania, vice president for government affairs at the Whirlpool Corp., said the incentive program has bipartisan support in Congress, and manufacturers and energy conservation advocates are hopeful it will become law as part of budget appropriations adopted later this year.
Catania said some manufacturers would use the money to develop new energy-efficient appliances while others might use the incentives to lower prices on energy-efficient products already on the market. But either way, he said, the tax incentives would increase the available choices of affordable energy-efficient washers.
Textile expert Elizabeth Easter teaches textile sciences at the University of Kentucky and is a consultant for GE Appliances. She said that often the first issue people consider when shopping for washers and dryers is capacity.
“They think of the largest loads they have, and buy accordingly,” she said. “They don’t want to have to go to the laundromat every time they want to wash a comforter.”
Perhaps we’d be better off investing in slightly smaller machines and accepting an occasional trip to use a commercial washer for the unusually bulky items we must wash.
Easter said the best way to do laundry is to sort and sort again until each load contains items of similar color, fabric and soil level. The clothes should also have matching washing and drying instructions on their fabric care labels.
The results for most families would be more smaller loads and fewer big loads that require the machine’s full capacities. Of course, to wash small loads efficiently means lowering the water level in the washer.
“People who sort clothes completely are going to be interested in machines with lots of options for temperature and motion so they can tailor the cycles to fit the clothes being washed,” Easter said.
For example, a load of heavy-duty, heavily soiled white cottons might require high water temperatures and a vigorous washing motion followed by an aggressive spin cycle to remove as much water as possible from the absorbent cotton fibers.
Nylon and polyester clothing, on the other hand, don’t hold as much water and don’t need to be wrung out as hard.
Sorting properly also helps when the clothes go from the washer to the dryer. Polyesters mixed into a load of cottons will be overdry and wrinkled by the time the whole load is dried.
Here are some features to look for and ideas to consider when shopping for a washer and dryer:
– Fabric care selections: Look at the labels on the washable clothes and linens you usually launder and you’ll notice you’re being asked to control the force of the agitator, the temperature of the wash water, the speed of the spin cycle, the heat of the dryer and so on. Make sure the machines you choose have the flexibility to adjust to all your fabric requirements.
– Controlled water temperature: Automatic washing machines traditionally have had three settings for water temperature: cold, warm and hot. The warm setting was usually an equal mix of water from the hot and cold taps. Modern machines with temperature controls compensate for variables and always give you the water temperature you need. For example, the machines may include more hot water during the warm setting to compensate for the coldness of the water in the cold pipes. Warm water that’s too cold won’t dissolve laundry products effectively.
– Variable water level settings: Because not every load you wash will be a full load, you must be able to customize the water level to the load. Using too much water is wasteful, while not using enough may not clean the clothes and damage the washer. Some machines offer few choices on water level, but it’s preferable to have a machine that offers a precise selection.
– Soak cycles: This option is useful primarily for households that regularly have very heavily soiled clothes such as those that might belong to a mechanic or a soccer player. If you only rarely have to soak clothes before washing, your machine probably doesn’t need a soak cycle.
– Extra rinse setting: Easter said people with unusually sensitive skin use an extra rinse cycle to remove laundry-product residue from clothing that will contact their skin. If no one in the family has sensitive skin, an extra rinse option may not be needed. Most machines rinse adequately for most people, and extra rinsing does use extra water and energy.
– Exotic agitation: Whirlpool and Sears Kenmore have joined forces to develop the Kenmore Elite Washer with “Calypso Wash Motion,” one of the few top loading machines to earn an Energy Star rating. The new machine uses about half the water of a normal top loader. It has no agitator and washes clothes by spraying them from above while lifting and bouncing them with a movable plate at the bottom of the wash tub.
– Space saving: Many brands of washers and dryer are designed to be stacked on top of one another. That can be convenient if your space is limited, but remember stacked components tend to have smaller load capacities and they require some extra lifting and stretching to use.
– Drying sensors: Most modern dryers offer the option of drying clothes for a certain amount of time or drying the clothes until sensors say they are ready. When used properly, the sensor settings dramatically improve the efficiency and performance of the dryer. Some sensors measure the heat coming from the dryer chamber and use that to guess when the clothes are dry; more modern sensor are strips that actually feel when the clothes are dry. Sensors work best when all the clothes in the load are of similar fabrics and weights. In those cases, all the clothes get dry at about the same time, and the dryer stops before anything is overdried. The most common drying mistake is overdrying, which wastes energy and time and can damage fabrics.
– Permanent press drying: Fabrics designed to come out of the dryer ready to wear will only do that if they’re dried correctly. They also require a cooling-off period between the time most of the moisture is removed and the time the clothes are removed from the machine. Before buying a dryer, ask how its permanent-press and delicate drying cycles work. Some machines get too hot even on delicate settings and can damage fragile garments such as items with acrylic webbing. Other machines “step down” the temperatures as permanent press clothes approach dryness to minimize wrinkling.
– Gas versus electric drying: Most of the energy consumed by an electric dryer goes toward heating air to dry the clothes. Because natural gas produces heat much more cheaply than electricity, a gas dryer is generally more economical. Gas dryers cost slightly more initially than electric dryers, and you may have to have a gas line extended from elsewhere in your house to the laundry room. But in the long run, a gas dryer should save you money. Check energy-consumption labels on brands you are considering for a savings estimate.
