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Thread Number: 12608
OK, now it's all over. |
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Post# 220384 7/3/2007 at 19:09 (6,140 days old) by bajaespuma  (Connecticut) |
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Went to Lowe's for the first time in a while and discovered, to my horror, that every new top loading washing machine on the floor was a Whirlpool or clone thereof. Whirlpool, Roper, Amana, Maytag, every single stinking machine was a whirlpool clone. Wasn't the American system designed to avoid such a monopoly?
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Post# 220387 , Reply# 1 7/3/2007 at 19:14 (6,140 days old) by appnut (TX) |
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Post# 220466 , Reply# 2 7/3/2007 at 22:57 (6,140 days old) by frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie) |
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| Post# 220482 , Reply# 3 7/3/2007 at 23:40 (6,140 days old) by laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii) | ||
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| Post# 220487 , Reply# 4 7/3/2007 at 23:46 (6,140 days old) by alr2903 (TN) | ||
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So true frigilux, but they have added us to the neutral drain club. I was shocked. Is it a separate drain pump motor?i never looked inside of it yet. but alas or oy, it does good enough. ho hum. alr2903 | ||
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Post# 220517 , Reply# 5 7/4/2007 at 03:02 (6,140 days old) by launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Unless something drastic happens, top loadering washing machines that are not "HE" are a dying breed. Great designs came when there were dozens of laundry appliance makers, energy and water were cheap, and everyone wanted to get in on the market. With government mandated energy restrictions, coupled with major appliances rapidly becoming throw away goods, the consolidation that began in the 1970's has pretty much bottomed things out. There are still plenty of famous laundry brand names, but they now all belong to three or four companies. L. | ||
| Post# 220518 , Reply# 6 7/4/2007 at 03:15 (6,140 days old) by agiflow () | ||
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WAHH! | ||
| Post# 220529 , Reply# 7 7/4/2007 at 05:35 (6,140 days old) by laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii) | ||
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So,so sad but so,so true.It was the variety of designs,features,and the way they were advertised that got me so involved decades ago.The different dealerships in the area,in home service,outside drying.I loved going out back when the neighbors or my grandmother would hang out freashly washed clothes-especialy sheets and pillowcases!!!They smelled so good when the wind was blowing just the right way!!!!
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| Post# 220538 , Reply# 8 7/4/2007 at 07:00 (6,140 days old) by lederstiefel1 () | ||
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same here on this side of the big pond.... and I guess as well as down-under or on the asian market... Ralf | ||
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Post# 220539 , Reply# 9 7/4/2007 at 07:06 (6,140 days old) by launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Oh well, the line drying can be had for the most part,but all those innovations by the likes of Frigidaire/GM, Norge, General Electric, et all when they were all competing in the white goods market; and new models rolled out like automobiles is gone for top loaders as we knew. Even without government energy restrictions, top loaders were becoming an endangered species in the United States. Laundry appliances have moved from being an luxury item that consumers would pay dear for, to a common thing. General Motors saw the trend early on as did others that sold off their laundry appliance divisions; people no longer were going to pay vast sums for what they considered an every day appliance. As the market matured, along with designs, there really wasn't much left to do with top loaders. Aside from perhaps higher spin speeds, most everything else had been tried en masse and done; various dispensers, variable washing actions, variable washing and spin speeds and so forth. What was left basically was design and durability, and increasingly consumers weren't willing to pay for either. Maytag could have continued their Dependable Care line, but consumers were balking at the price for all that legendary quality. So Maytag chucked that line, and the rest is one more tale of appliance woe and misery. In a way the "HE" market opens the doors for American appliance makers to once again strive for innovation. However since H-Axis washers have long been the staple in Europe/UK, much of what is crossing the pond is rejiggered European models adapted for Americans. | ||
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Post# 220584 , Reply# 10 7/4/2007 at 10:43 (6,140 days old) by frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie) |
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Come to think of it, the toploading market is still the one with the most diversity in wash mechanisms. You have the obligatory fast/short stroke agitator models (Whirlpool and GE), you have the more traditional slower/long stroke agitator models (Frigidaire, Speed Queen, GE Hydrowave, Fisher & Paykel) and you have various wash plate types. There are a couple of TL H-axis machines (Staber, for instance). Most frontloaders depend on features and cycle idiosyncracies to set themselves apart. They all tumble to wash, then tumble much, much faster to extract the water. Dyson tried the contra-rotating frontloader and that didn't catch on (though what a collector's item it will be!). | ||
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Post# 220585 , Reply# 11 7/4/2007 at 10:45 (6,140 days old) by frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie) |
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Post# 220854 , Reply# 13 7/5/2007 at 13:02 (6,139 days old) by rp2813 (Sannazay) |
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If you watch any of the TV ads for places like Lowe's and other retailers that carry appliances, they invariably showcase FL washers. You don't even see a TL washer anywhere. This is the wave of the future. I doubt I'll ever go back to a TL washer. Just yesterday I threw chaise lounge pads into my Duet HT, something I couldn't have done before, even with my huge capacity Amana TL. I washed the pads in separate loads. Interestingly, one pad caused the machine to suds up like I've never seen. The display panel ended up with the "Sud" indicator. I went in the house to pull the operating instructions out and read up on what the washer does when "Sud" is displayed. I returned to the garage after a few minutes and found the washer operating normally without any sudsing. Whatever it did to de-suds itself, it did it quickly and effectively. How can I not love this washer? OK, don't answer that. It's only a few months old. | ||
| Post# 221088 , Reply# 15 7/6/2007 at 13:44 (6,138 days old) by runematic (southcentral pa) | ||
Who knows what could be next when the neptunes get discontin | ||
| Post# 221098 , Reply# 16 7/6/2007 at 15:49 (6,138 days old) by oxydolfan1 () | ||
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Runematic, does that mean we can expect the Amana front loader to disappear, as well? | ||
| Post# 221794 , Reply# 18 7/10/2007 at 12:21 (6,134 days old) by runematic (southcentral pa) | ||
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does that mean we can expect the Amana front loader to disap | ||
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