5 ms·

But you can't put a dryer on top of it, which is a great space saver. And most dryers are front-loading, why not washing machines?

xeeeeeeeeeeenu 10y ago
In Europe most people don't own separate dryers. Washing machines have that function built-in.
- nommm-nommm 10y ago
  Whereabouts in Europe? When I lived in Europe nobody had dryers at all.
  - shanev 10y ago
    The AirBnB I stayed at in Helsinki had a tiny washer with a built-in dryer. It fit in the bathroom which is the size of my closet in the U.S.
- roel_v 10y ago
  In my part of Europe everybody has separate washer/dryer and combo machines are hard to find/have limited options available in b&m shops.
- yardie 10y ago
  I've used those washer/dryer combos. I don't know why they bothered, except for small loads the dryer was effectively useless. It was faster to bag up the wet clothes and drive over to the laundromat. Gas fired dryer had a load done in 20 minutes.
  - to3m 10y ago
    In Europe we have a device known as "the sun". It's sort of like this big ball of flame that hangs in the sky...
    - eloff 10y ago
      Obviously you're not talking about the UK. Maybe you live in Spain.
      - to3m 10y ago
        I must admit that I do have a south-facing bay window... The sun's drying power certainly isn't at its best at this time of year, but if I wash things after work in the evening, and get them in the sun's line of sight ready for sunrise the next day, I can expect 1 day to dry shirts (ironed in that evening's darkness)/underwear/socks, 2 days to dry pullovers/fleeces/trousers, and 3 days to dry towels/bedsheets/jeans. (That's "dry" as in "bone dry", meaning I can put them in a drawer.) I'm sure that to people accustomed to using their 2.5 ton V8 pickup truck to drive a bag of wet clothes to be dried at a launderette like normal people, this whole thing seems improbably primitive - whatever next, outdoor loos? 3.5mm headphone jacks? - but it works for me!
    - mikestew 10y ago
      I live in Seattle. Please describe more of this thing your people call "sun". Or you could dial back the snark and open your mind to the idea that not everyone lives where to do, even other Europeans.
      - jakobegger 10y ago
        You don't even need sun to hang dry clothes. When there's bad weather, we just hang the clothes in the basement. Or in the living room. It'll take a day or two, but who cares.
        morganvachon 10y ago
        That's what my wife does, she refuses to dry her clothes in the dryer, saying they last longer with air drying. Apparently she's on to something; my oldest surviving clothes are about five years old (apart from my Hawaiian shirt collection which I always air dry), while she still has stuff from college that isn't faded or worn out. We are both in our late 30s. She has several hanging racks that slip onto the top of a standard interior door; each rack can hold up to eight hangers, though in practice she only dries four or five items per rack. With three racks, that covers two loads of her shirts, blouses, jeans, and dress pants. She does use the dryer for her socks (thrown in with my clothes), as well as for our towels and bed linens, but she makes sure we don't over-dry the towels so they stay soft. We also have a line in the back yard for linens in the summertime. Going back to the topic of top-loading versus front-loading washers, we finally had to get rid of our second-hand 30+ year old top loader when a part broke that was no longer available even on the secondhand market (basically we would have had to track down and buy a donor machine to get the part). What we bought to replace it was the closest we could get to a traditional top-loader, and so far it seems to be holding up well. It's a bit more advanced than a traditional machine; it has load sensing and a super-high speed spin cycle, and it's a hybrid digital/analog control system. I have a feeling it will probably last at most 10 years before we need to service it, which is better than I expected from a new machine. I don't remember the model number, but the brand is Amana (first I'd heard of that brand).
- kyriakos 10y ago
  Depends where in Europe. In the hotter south almost no one owns dryers. Clothes are hang dried.
- reitanqild 10y ago
  I only ever had to deal with one of those. I don't really like it. I think all of my friends also have separate ones.
nommm-nommm 10y ago
You can buy a combo http://c.shld.net/rpx/i/s/i/spin/10130653/prod_2041911112?hei=240&wid=240 http://c.shld.net/rpx/i/s/i/spin/10130653/prod_2041911112?he...
msbarnett 10y ago
There are plenty of stacked -top-load washer and dryer combos in the US. They look like this: http://images1.americanlisted.com/nlarge/kenmore-stacked-washer-dryer-set-pair-used-americanlisted_50669015.jpg http://images1.americanlisted.com/nlarge/kenmore-stacked-was...
ekianjo 10y ago
Not everyone needs a drier.
radiowave 10y ago
A front loader dryer doesn't have a lot of water sloshing around inside it, so the load on the bearing at the back of the drum is greatly reduced, compared to a front loader washing machine.
nihonde 10y ago
Top loaders are standard in Japan, where virtually no one uses a dryer. They strongly prefer to air dry here for a variety of reasons, not least of which is energy conservation.

xeeeeeeeeeeenu 10y ago

In Europe most people don't own separate dryers. Washing machines have that function built-in.

nommm-nommm 10y ago
Whereabouts in Europe? When I lived in Europe nobody had dryers at all.
- shanev 10y ago
  The AirBnB I stayed at in Helsinki had a tiny washer with a built-in dryer. It fit in the bathroom which is the size of my closet in the U.S.
roel_v 10y ago
In my part of Europe everybody has separate washer/dryer and combo machines are hard to find/have limited options available in b&m shops.
yardie 10y ago
I've used those washer/dryer combos. I don't know why they bothered, except for small loads the dryer was effectively useless. It was faster to bag up the wet clothes and drive over to the laundromat. Gas fired dryer had a load done in 20 minutes.
- to3m 10y ago
  In Europe we have a device known as "the sun". It's sort of like this big ball of flame that hangs in the sky...
  - eloff 10y ago
    Obviously you're not talking about the UK. Maybe you live in Spain.
    - to3m 10y ago
      I must admit that I do have a south-facing bay window... The sun's drying power certainly isn't at its best at this time of year, but if I wash things after work in the evening, and get them in the sun's line of sight ready for sunrise the next day, I can expect 1 day to dry shirts (ironed in that evening's darkness)/underwear/socks, 2 days to dry pullovers/fleeces/trousers, and 3 days to dry towels/bedsheets/jeans. (That's "dry" as in "bone dry", meaning I can put them in a drawer.) I'm sure that to people accustomed to using their 2.5 ton V8 pickup truck to drive a bag of wet clothes to be dried at a launderette like normal people, this whole thing seems improbably primitive - whatever next, outdoor loos? 3.5mm headphone jacks? - but it works for me!
  - mikestew 10y ago
    I live in Seattle. Please describe more of this thing your people call "sun". Or you could dial back the snark and open your mind to the idea that not everyone lives where to do, even other Europeans.
    - jakobegger 10y ago
      You don't even need sun to hang dry clothes. When there's bad weather, we just hang the clothes in the basement. Or in the living room. It'll take a day or two, but who cares.
      - morganvachon 10y ago
        That's what my wife does, she refuses to dry her clothes in the dryer, saying they last longer with air drying. Apparently she's on to something; my oldest surviving clothes are about five years old (apart from my Hawaiian shirt collection which I always air dry), while she still has stuff from college that isn't faded or worn out. We are both in our late 30s. She has several hanging racks that slip onto the top of a standard interior door; each rack can hold up to eight hangers, though in practice she only dries four or five items per rack. With three racks, that covers two loads of her shirts, blouses, jeans, and dress pants. She does use the dryer for her socks (thrown in with my clothes), as well as for our towels and bed linens, but she makes sure we don't over-dry the towels so they stay soft. We also have a line in the back yard for linens in the summertime. Going back to the topic of top-loading versus front-loading washers, we finally had to get rid of our second-hand 30+ year old top loader when a part broke that was no longer available even on the secondhand market (basically we would have had to track down and buy a donor machine to get the part). What we bought to replace it was the closest we could get to a traditional top-loader, and so far it seems to be holding up well. It's a bit more advanced than a traditional machine; it has load sensing and a super-high speed spin cycle, and it's a hybrid digital/analog control system. I have a feeling it will probably last at most 10 years before we need to service it, which is better than I expected from a new machine. I don't remember the model number, but the brand is Amana (first I'd heard of that brand).
kyriakos 10y ago
Depends where in Europe. In the hotter south almost no one owns dryers. Clothes are hang dried.
reitanqild 10y ago
I only ever had to deal with one of those. I don't really like it. I think all of my friends also have separate ones.

nommm-nommm 10y ago

You can buy a combo http://c.shld.net/rpx/i/s/i/spin/10130653/prod_2041911112?hei=240&wid=240 http://c.shld.net/rpx/i/s/i/spin/10130653/prod_2041911112?he...

msbarnett 10y ago

There are plenty of stacked -top-load washer and dryer combos in the US. They look like this: http://images1.americanlisted.com/nlarge/kenmore-stacked-washer-dryer-set-pair-used-americanlisted_50669015.jpg http://images1.americanlisted.com/nlarge/kenmore-stacked-was...

ekianjo 10y ago

Not everyone needs a drier.

radiowave 10y ago

A front loader dryer doesn't have a lot of water sloshing around inside it, so the load on the bearing at the back of the drum is greatly reduced, compared to a front loader washing machine.

nihonde 10y ago

Top loaders are standard in Japan, where virtually no one uses a dryer. They strongly prefer to air dry here for a variety of reasons, not least of which is energy conservation.