Laundry Back to the future

We all know how much I like back to the future stories – what was once old is suddenly new and high tech again – this time with laundry.

As a child in the 60s we had an all in one ventless washer/ dryer installed in our townhouse kitchen. We used it for extra seating and counter space as well as washing and drying laundry. It sat next to the ice box. I don’t remember the brand. The day the laundry died at our house was the day we learned that no one was servicing or selling our one and done wonder any more – circa 1981 -. Replacing it with a side by side or stackable would have involved a kitchen remodel so off to the laundromat we went.

Fast forward half a century and I bought a house that had a 40 year old Whirlpool stackable washer and dryer venting into the basement. Not sure what type of Yankee ingenuity thought that was a good idea, but I decided to see if it worked before I replaced it. I did not dry at all, and while the washer filled and ran, it did not drain or shut off, so that was a no go.

As I researched replacements, I found that ventless is in again. Hurray! If only you can find one in stock. Appliance dealers that didn’t carry them tried to convince me that they were terrible and took hours to complete the wash/dry cycle. We are only washing for two these days – so one load a day is plenty. Reviewers at the big box stores panned them, but I was smitten. I kept calling around until I found a dealer who could deliver one with a pedestal. The delivery crew was blown away by our antique stackable – cell phone came out of pockets when they arrived to haul it away.

It gets better – not only do you not have to remember to check and move your load around – it also connects to your phone and you can check how much time is left and get an alert when it has finished- if you like to fold your clothes immediately. Almost forgot to mention that, yes, I can use my home made “detergent” and the 1 gallon bucket that I use to mix it fits in the pedestal drawer like it was designed for it:)

I will admit – there is a learning curve -there is no quick start guide and I had to watch a you tube video to understand all of the options as well as to make the Wifi connection work – It’s not an intuitive plug and play appliance – Neither is it for families who do multiple loads of laundry a day. My guess is that this is the source of the poor reviews – people can’t be bothered to learn how it works – but once you do – it is an old idea that has turned into a new laundry wonder –

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