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Tangential but I find it interesting that as a general rule US apartment tenants don’t have a washer/dryer eg as a front-loader combo. I gather from research o

Tangential but I find it interesting that as a general rule US apartment tenants don’t have a washer/dryer eg as a front-loader combo. I gather from research online it comes back to the practice of generally renting furnished apartments, a preference for wood building construction, a practice of having non-water-proofed wet areas, historical custom (perhaps coinciding with apartments being constructed post-war when these appliances were large and highly expensive?), and the chicken-and-egg problem of there not being a market for smaller appliances and therefore there not being great supply of smaller appliances.

deleted 5y ago
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pessimizer 5y ago
I'm not sure I've ever even met someone who rented a furnished apartment. I just think it's because it's weird to have a washing machine in your kitchen for Americans, and nobody has managed to find the right marketing tone to make this feel normal. Also, for landlords to tolerate this, put hook-ups in, or simply offer it as a feature, you'd have to start with upper-middle class people wanting one and have it trickle down. But Americans get bigger places as a sign of wealth, so they really just want normal sized machines in-unit.
- quickthrower2 5y ago
  In Australia too almost never is a washing machine or dryer in the kitchen. Almost all houses and apartments will have a laundry room, away from the kitchen, even if it is just a 1 square meter closet with the washer and dryer stacked in there. Coming from the UK, where the washing machine is always in the kitchen and having a laundry room is seen as extravagant, I think this is great because washing machines are noisy and shaky and sometime leaky. Having a separate wet room with drainage for this is a good idea. It means you can wash/dry at any time too (e.g. even if you are eating in the kitchen/diner area and want some peace!)

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

pessimizer 5y ago

I'm not sure I've ever even met someone who rented a furnished apartment. I just think it's because it's weird to have a washing machine in your kitchen for Americans, and nobody has managed to find the right marketing tone to make this feel normal. Also, for landlords to tolerate this, put hook-ups in, or simply offer it as a feature, you'd have to start with upper-middle class people wanting one and have it trickle down. But Americans get bigger places as a sign of wealth, so they really just want normal sized machines in-unit.

quickthrower2 5y ago
In Australia too almost never is a washing machine or dryer in the kitchen. Almost all houses and apartments will have a laundry room, away from the kitchen, even if it is just a 1 square meter closet with the washer and dryer stacked in there. Coming from the UK, where the washing machine is always in the kitchen and having a laundry room is seen as extravagant, I think this is great because washing machines are noisy and shaky and sometime leaky. Having a separate wet room with drainage for this is a good idea. It means you can wash/dry at any time too (e.g. even if you are eating in the kitchen/diner area and want some peace!)