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[-] sexy_peach@feddit.org 134 points 3 weeks ago

You always have to leave the door open...

[-] HornedMeatBeast@lemmy.world 81 points 3 weeks ago

I picked this up from my parents.

When I moved out, I lived with a flatmate for a few years and I left the washing machine door open after using it and my flatmate closed it.

I explained to her why I left it open and she just stared back at me. Not once had she ever thought of this and said it made so much sense. She is about 20 years my senior.

Certain habits seem to be so obvious, but unless handed down, someone may never even think of it.

Reminds me of that guy that never thought to let the shower water get warm before stepping in.

[-] Cris_Color@lemmy.world 20 points 3 weeks ago

Huh... I have a top loader and grew up with one so it'd never occur to me this is needed, since with a top loader there's no reason to close it, it doesn't get in the way by being open

I'm glad I saw this thread, if I ever have a front loader now I'll know to leave it open :)

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[-] Venus_Ziegenfalle@piefed.social 15 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

As well as the hatch where the detergent goes in. Otherwise it will get swampy in there. That part of the post kinda makes me wonder if maybe her mother just takes better care of hers.

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[-] mavu@discuss.tchncs.de 71 points 3 weeks ago

You know the funny thing?

You can still buy appliances that last and have good service.

But you don't earn enough to afford them, like your parents did.

[-] markovs_gun@lemmy.world 14 points 3 weeks ago

This is not the case. Washers used to be more expensive as a proportion of median income back then. According to this page a new Kenmore washer cost $289 in 1980. The median family income in 1980 was $21,023, so a new washer would cost 1.37% of a family's annual income. Compare to now, where the median household income is $83,150. As a proportion of median income, a $289 washer in 1980 would cost about $1500 today, which is about what a durable, well made washer with a 7 year warranty costs. Manufactured goods were largely more expensive compared to wages in the past.

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[-] duckCityComplex@lemmy.world 46 points 3 weeks ago

Similar story for clothes dryers:

My parents' dryer had 2 knobs for temperature and run time, and a start button. Ran forever and dried clothes.

My dryer has like a dozen programmed cycles that rely on a moisture sensor that doesn't work and leaves clothes damp unless you use the manual time & temp settings, which takes several capacitive button presses on a circuit board that is likely to die before any of the actual mechanical components of the dryer. Also for some reason it has Wi-Fi.

[-] Idontevenknowanymore@mander.xyz 35 points 3 weeks ago

"And for some reason it has Wi-Fi ." will be the last line in humanity's epitaph.

[-] exasperation@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 3 weeks ago

The latest xkcd has one of my favorite hover texts of all time:

It's important for devices to have internet connectivity so the manufacturer can patch remote exploits.

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[-] LBP321@lemmy.world 35 points 3 weeks ago

The washer and dryer at my mom's are 30 years old. She's had repairmen laugh at her for having them, but they're much better made than anything new.

[-] sexy_peach@feddit.org 55 points 3 weeks ago

Newer machines are several times more water and energy efficient.

Still nice that they lasted long and were easier to repair.

[-] jmill@lemmy.zip 46 points 3 weeks ago

More water and energy efficient to run, yes. If you have to replace them every couple of years the resources used to make new ones need to be included too though, and that will have a big impact on the comparison. That said, I have had a modern front load pair for at least 5 years now, no issues.

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[-] ekky@sopuli.xyz 24 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Efficiency does little for your wallet and the environment if you need to buy/produce a new machine every few years.

(Not to say that we shouldn't strive for efficiency.)

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[-] Emi@ani.social 18 points 3 weeks ago

If repairman laugh at durable machinery they either just want your money or don't care about longevity. My father usually tells people to keep the old one if it's still working cuz the newer ones break down after a year or two and suck to repair (simple stuff just replaced with electronics that you have to replace whole for half the price of the whole machine).

[-] Lazycog@sopuli.xyz 10 points 3 weeks ago

(simple stuff just replaced with electronics that you have to replace whole for half the price of the whole machine).

Not to mention the waste it creates.. In theory it can be recycled. In practice electronic waste is not recycled at the level you'd expect...

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[-] JamesTBagg@lemmy.world 27 points 3 weeks ago

You can go buy those old washing machines. They're still out there. I got my washer and dryer used for 100 dollars each.

Nothing digital on them, all analog. Fixed a washer overflowing issue by replacing the $20 pressure level switch. Twice I've had to replace the heating element for the dryer, $20 bucks for those. Everything is replaceable with a flat head screwdriver and a youtube video.

Go buy those old washers and dryers.

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[-] Gorilladrums@lemmy.world 27 points 3 weeks ago

This is some bullshit. You can go to Home Depot or Lowe's right now and get yourself a pretty decent washing machine for $600 that will last you a decade.

The only people who end up in the situation like OP are the people who buy overly cheap products or overly gimmicky products, and then wonder why they don't work as well as the standard products. If you buy a $150 washing machine from AliExpress or buy a washing machine that requires wifi, then don't be surprised if they stopped working not too long after you bought them.

[-] 1D10@lemmy.world 22 points 3 weeks ago

This is my mother in law to a tee, she buys second hand washing machines on craigslist for $100 - 200 they last about a year and she buys a new one. Always complaining about "planned obsolescence". I keep telling her "no one is selling a good used washing machine, they had problems with it and got a new one" Meanwhile she criticizes me for spending $700 on a washing machine we have had for 10 years now.

She has a saying "poor people have poor ways" which she thinks means that when your poor you work with what you have, I have told her it is an insult that means poor people are poor because of their actions and decisions.

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[-] MIDItheKID@lemmy.world 10 points 3 weeks ago

One of these days I hope to eventually own a home. When I do, I want to buy one of the industrial-ass washing machines and dryers they use in laundromat and hotels. I'm sure it will be very expensive, but I firmly believe in "buy once, cry once". I want a laundry machine that is built to run 24/7 for 10+ years. Used at a personal pace, it should last forever.

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[-] markovs_gun@lemmy.world 25 points 3 weeks ago

Your parents washing machine also cost more because it was made better. The best price I could find for a standard washing machine in 1980 was $289. To put that into perspective, according to CPI inflation that is the equivalent of about $1,100 today. As a proportion of median individual income, that's like $1,550 today. You can still buy a Speed Queen washer for consumers that costs $1,500 and will last a long time, but people largely don't because the shitty one costs less than half of that.

[-] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 16 points 3 weeks ago

This the argument I have with clients on a daily basis, in regards to all kinds of manufactured goods. People are astoundingly awful at understanding and visualizing inflation and the value of a dollar over time, even people who are specifically educated on this point and even work with it as part of their jobs. Everyone has some threshold beyond which they absolutely won't countenance paying more than $X for Y, but this is always arbitrary and whenever the course of events drives the median price of whatever-it-is past that line they lose their minds.

Durable goods manufacturing is a race to the bottom because it has to be in order to overcome everyone's moronic preconceptions about what a product "ought" to cost. This isn't just a capitalist greed thing, although it's certainly that, too -- corners have to be cut, panels have to be made thinner, it has to contain more plastic and less metal, because otherwise it'll never be cheap enough for 99% of the population to agree to buy it and even then they'll all still bitch about how shoddily made it is. Year over year every manufacturer has to figure out how to make it cheaper to slide under MSRP. The manufacturers who take the opposite strategy inevitably wind up as niche players, because as much as people spout that they'd happily pay more for a better built thing, the flat out truth is they're all full of shit and to the nearest decimal point, none of them actually will if given the opportunity.

[-] tempest@lemmy.ca 11 points 3 weeks ago

The problem is it is rarely an easy proposition to just "pay more and get a better product" especially when it comes to home appliances.

In most big box stores every option will be shit. Companies know that there are consumers at every price point and so they have a product for every price print.

The problem is the expensive isn't really better, it's the same fridge with the same compressor as a cheap one except it has a wifi dongle or a tablet in the door.

Of course there are the Vikings and Thermidors and whatever but those are Velben goods that priced so high that you could get 5 to 10 of the cheap options for the price of one.

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[-] MrEff@lemmy.world 25 points 3 weeks ago

I want to start an appliance company that offers 10 year warranties with an additional 5 year replaceable parts availability promise. The designs will be simple, functionality simple with minimal quality of life improvements, and all repair manuals will be published on the website along with tutorial videos, while also banking on building a product that simply lasts longer.

I'm willing to bet that if that is what you advertise on, the longevity of the product at a minimal price, then the company should do fine.

[-] AWistfulNihilist@lemmy.world 12 points 3 weeks ago

This was unironically Maytag, they enshitified with the rest. The Maytag man was a real thing.

[-] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 11 points 3 weeks ago

You won't. You'll get annihilated by the next Chinese competitor who produces a piece of shit machine that breaks in 13 months like clockwork (and has a 12 month warranty), but sells for 1/2 or 2/3 of the price of your machine.

The average consumer is dogshit at conceptualizing the actual value of a product over its lifetime in proportion to its cost. They'll just see that the next machine on display at Best Buy or whatever looks modern and costs less to buy up front, and then they'll buy that one. When it breaks they'll bitch and moan on Facebook and Nextdoor and write ranty one star reviews everywhere, and then wheel right back to Best Buy and buy another machine just like it.

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[-] Damage@feddit.it 23 points 3 weeks ago

Buy European: Miele, Rex Electrolux, Beko (Turkish, don't get into that), Smeg, Candy, AEG, etc...

Don't want to jinx it, but my Electrolux washer-dryier is 7 years old and still like new, despite being relatively cheap and despite combined machines being more problematic.

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[-] robolemmy@lemmy.world 21 points 3 weeks ago

Survivorship bias is a heck of a drug.

[-] frunch@lemmy.world 24 points 3 weeks ago

There's no comparison between an old Maytag washer and dryer and a new/current Maytag washer and dryer. This is a case where survivorship bias does not apply, imo. Appliances were built more durable back in the day. There are plenty of older appliances working just fine today while some stuff under 5 years is already getting scrapped because it's too expensive to fix and/or parts aren't even available. It's total nonsense

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[-] Thrife@feddit.org 18 points 3 weeks ago

Mine does pretty music when done!

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[-] MiDaBa@lemmy.ml 18 points 3 weeks ago

That's because Whirlpool bought up all of the competition. Whirlpool, Kenmore, Maytag, Amana, JenAir, Roper, Kitchenaid etc are all the same company and the competition they didn't buy has less incentive to produce much better units because now they have to compete with cheaper built machines.

[-] Valmond@lemmy.world 9 points 3 weeks ago

They didn't buy up Bosch (to my knowledge) but maybe they're not in the us?

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[-] Melonpoly@lemmy.world 17 points 3 weeks ago

Don't buy American washers, I think only speed queen still bothers with quality.

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[-] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 16 points 3 weeks ago

We keep having to replace the logic board on our dryer.

Motherfucker, your job is to get hot and spin. I want the old "egg-timer that flips a switch" tech to come back.

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[-] prole 15 points 3 weeks ago

If it's a side-loading washer, you're not supposed to close the door all the way when it isn't in use. That's why it smelled.

[-] 1D10@lemmy.world 9 points 3 weeks ago

Pretty sure this is true for all modern washers, ours is top load and it says leave door open when not in use.

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[-] nevetsg@aussie.zone 14 points 3 weeks ago

I had to buy 4 little plastic things for $15 every few years to keep my 25yo machine working. Last time I got like 50 of them for $25. I can keep her running for the rest of my life.

[-] Soapbox@lemmy.zip 12 points 3 weeks ago

My wife hates our "ugly" fridge that came with our house. It's about 25 years old works perfectly, even the ice maker. She is a frugal person that can't justify replacing it until it breaks. Yet it keeps on ticking. Everyone I know who has a fridge made in the last 10 years has a broken ice maker. I'm happy with the "ugly" perfectly functional fridge.

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[-] Bubbaonthebeach@lemmy.ca 11 points 3 weeks ago

Bet someone chimes in with "but the new one is better because it uses less energy". I'm too lazy to figure the math on that but I can't imagine that the 20% more energy usage of my old machine is greater than the energy cost of manufacturing, shipping, extra repairs (parts, transportation) that the new "better" machines need on 1yr to 18month cycle of fixing or outright replacing.

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[-] Hideakikarate@sh.itjust.works 10 points 3 weeks ago

Don't forget the wifi not connecting or staying connected, keeping it from getting updates for reasons mortals aren't supposed to know.

[-] jqubed@lemmy.world 31 points 3 weeks ago

Why should a washing machine need updates to begin with?

[-] cRazi_man@europe.pub 11 points 3 weeks ago

Always online model of laundry DRM. When the servers shut down then the washing machine stops working.

Also, washing machines tend to eat up one sock. Now there's going to be a micro transaction to get the sock back.

[-] Slotos@feddit.nl 11 points 3 weeks ago

So that manufacturers can patch up remote exploits, duh!

[-] sexy_peach@feddit.org 9 points 3 weeks ago

Why in God's name would you connect it to WiFi?

[-] bus_factor@lemmy.world 10 points 3 weeks ago
  • It can tell you it's done, so you notice the notification after a couple hours instead of finding musky clothes a day or two later
  • It can tell you it's time to do the self-cleaning cycle
  • If you're doing something unusual, like washing reusable diapers which need extra rinse cycles, you can upload a custom program for that to the washer
  • Even more unusual, someone had stacked units and was too short to reach the buttons on the washer, so they liked to start it via the app instead of getting a stool

Most of this can be achieved in other ways (like a smart plug measuring the current draw and a simple monthly reminder), but non-techies want turnkey solutions.

I can't see any reason to have WiFi on your dryer, though.

[-] limerod@reddthat.com 11 points 3 weeks ago

All the things that you mentioned are already possible and have been since a decade or before.

  • It can tell you it's done, so you notice the notification after a couple hours instead of finding musky clothes a day or two later

There's an estimate and a timer and the machine let's you know when its done. This is a 2014 model to say the age.

  • It can tell you it's time to do the self-cleaning cycle

This is also something that is already automated and the machine does itself and can do manually if you ask.

  • If you're doing something unusual, like washing reusable diapers which need extra rinse cycles, you can upload a custom program for that to the washer

You can add extra Rinse cycles for specific clothes and have custom programs too.

  • Even more unusual, someone had stacked units and was too short to reach the buttons on the washer, so they liked to start it via the app instead of getting a stool

The controls being an inconvenience I can give you that. But, barring that its not stone age you would think it to be.

Fully automatic machines without WiFi work fine and don't need any software updates to begin with.

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[-] bdonvr@thelemmy.club 10 points 3 weeks ago

For front loaders you should leave the door cracked at least. Also clean under that rubber seal once in a while...

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this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2025
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