and use it to flush toilets...but NOBODY does that...

There is a very good reason why too. If grey water that has shampoo, soaps and body wash in it, not to mention human dander, hair and body oils is left to sit for more than 24 hours in even moderate temperatures it sours, bacteria starts to breed and then you have the potential for a whole different ball game to play with. Consider failing to drain the tank before you head off for summer holidays and what you might come back to or even heading away for a weekend in the heat of summer?

On the other point of using washing machine water on lawns, here in Oz people have been filling their laundry tubs with the rinse water and siphoning it onto their lawns for decades - especially when on tank rather than town water. Furthermore, with the droughts and long-term water restrictions we've had over the preceeding 7 years (and only just lifted in the past 12 months), several enterprising companies have launched conversion kits for 'wheelie bins' specifically designed so you can recycle the water from your washing machine into a moderate storage vessel with a pump and then pump it where you need it via a garden hose....

The actual wash liquid is not recommended due to the chemical content AND the previously mentioned dander/soap/shampoo content. If you wish to stuff your lawn up completely, then by all means use it all for over time, the detergents, oils and soaps will prevent your lawn absorbing water....

Additionally, in some subdivisions, building requirements are such that you MUST install rainwater tanks and have certain plumbing alternatives such as using rainwater to flush the toilet, for the cold tap in the shower and a tap for using rainwater installed in the laundry. This is in addition to the normal plumbing for toilets, bathroom and laundry to help alleviate the pressure of population growth on town water supplies.

I pay for every drop of water and sewer, so I feel it's up to me whether I worry about conservation or not. I usually use Suds Return and get 2 or 3 loads of clothes washed. Maybe 10% of the time I will do a second rinse, there's really not much of another way to ensure clean clothes if they started out super gross and needed excess detergents. I'll admit I conserve to save $$ more than the environment, I'm as green as the middle of the Democratic party tells me to be.

My boyfriend got me into "if it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down" for conservation.

When I was a Florida child and Ohio child, everyone watered their lawns. Nowadays, pretty darn rare except for upscale areas.

Keep in mind, all of these ancient machines are in use in homes instead of rusting in a landfill. That's a type of environment friendly conservation.

I use the "cool down" cycles of each machine ONCE to prove to me agan how incredibly wasteful they are, and prove that the timer works on all cycles. Then, never again.  There are folks here plenty smarter and more experienced and exact than I, but I think that wrinkles are set or removed, fabric dependent, in the dryer, not washer. I may be wrong, but I never use the cool-down wash cycles.

How come the warm rinses in winter? Purely for comfort in handling the clothes? Or is your cold water too close to freezing in winter?

I will admit, in my cold old basement, I do not ever bring out the wringer washer or various twin-tubs in winter. They are all just summertime treats.

Pretty cool of your folks to have the last name Webmaster, eh?

I feel no real guilt because I try to always do things well and efficiently, I have always believed in having my cake and eating it too.

My water&sewer bill is usually running between $10-15 per month billed quarterly. 

I use FL and older TL washers every wash day, I usually drain the Hi efficiently machines into the older TL washers and wash my dirty work jeans etc.

I use Natural gas fired dryers almost exclusively, sometimes I use the old Frigidare Filteraters in the winter to add heat to the basement.

I keep my hot water set in the 125 degree range and wash everything in hot water, and always rinse in cold year around. I respect my vintage machines and the environment and water temperatures much over 120 degrees are not only very costly and wasteful but they GREATLY shorten the life of your water heater and every piece of your homes hot water system and many parts of any washer especially vintage machines.

One of the biggest problems in using vintage washers and dishwashers is that often people don't fill them to capacity or with DWs they pre-rinse the dishes. All washers, dryers and DWs were designed to do a job and most were designed to do it efficiently. Some 1950s and 1960s appliances would actually get an Energy Star rating if still being made today. Early automatics if used with thier Suds-saver feature and the matching electric ignition gas dryer are extremely efficient, to say nothing of using a wringer washer or twin-tub washer.

Over the years that I have been servicing major appliances, when you consider all the energy saving advice that have given my customers, you would not begin to estimate the water and energy savings that I have encouraged, to say nothing of the increased pleasure, life and utility that my customers have gotton out of thier major appliances. 

Everyone of us is IMPORTANT and everyone of us DOES make a difference in the quality of life for EVERYONE in the world. Don't think what you do or do not do does not matter in the big picture, never under estimate your influence!

I was raised on wringer washers and suds savers so conservation is still on my mind but no MORE or no LESS than before. If I do sheets and towels I use HOT water and when playing in my laundry lab, I'll "catch" the wash water, diverting it from one machine to another. I'm not that diligent when it comes to a warm water wash. I use my MAH4000 Neptunes most of the time, with extra rinse. In my locality I'm billed for administrative costs which I believe account for 40% of the bill, so trying to save water is not going to save much money. It's a lot in the manner in which it is perceived. I don't believe I waste water. Therefore I don't feel guilty.

A large part of my becoming a washer man involved draining water and hoses. For the life of me, I can not understand how my fellow and beloved washer brothers hide all or most of their hoses in drainpipes behind the machine and out of view and out of use. I would go crazy. It is just as much that I'm against wasting a natural resource as it is wanting to play with the water and the hoses and pushing the machine into complex, creative maneuvers--although the older I get the more uncomfortable I am wasting water.

As a kid, I would let the 57 Uni drain into the large enamel tub, skipping the overflow so as not to dilute the washing liquors, then I would weave the hose under the faucet and cold water tap to the small tub of our double sink, pretending I had the L-shaped WP/KM drain hose of the suds-return models. For the next load, I'd hold the hose down in the big tub by sliding the lid over till it locked against the submerged hose, and create a siphon by starting then stopping the agitation. The suds would then return to the outer tub. Finally, I 'd hold the hose over the washer and pump the suds from outer to inner. Piece of cake. Geraldine did not approve, but she let me do it.

Today, I re-route the expelled water to another machine, or with the wringers, there's no end to the high jinx. Here is an example : The 56, washing three white bathrobes, had just entered the overflow, which I aborted, allowing the steaming wash water to drain into the 62. Distracted by another chore, when I returned to the garage the rinse was under way. As the spin was about to begin, I stuck the hose into the outer tub of the 62 in the gap between the tub and top. This was new, never having done this one before. All of this water is clear and clean, perfect for use with a dark load.

Later on when I load the 62 with a dark load of biking gear, I will drain the water from the outer tub back into the 56, and rinse the dark load there, after having washed it in the 62. For members unfamiliar: Once the agitation starts, the pump will expel any water in the outer tub. This might sound complicated, but once you start down this road, it becomes very natural, easy and creative.

I'm going to show the 56 that I bought from big Ted in a moment; it's got the gray agitator Jon & John were talking about in the 57 Charcoal thread. Have to switch servers.

One moment please ;-D .........