Classic DD&U

Machine wash tepid
Sunday, June 10, 2007

Here’s something that I thought of today, and I’m amazed, nay, shocked that it hasn’t already been implemented by someone out there. You know how it takes something like a half hour for a laundry machine to run its course, but between 50 minutes and an hour for a dryer to do its thing.

So imagine this scenario: you roll up to the laundry room as someone is removing their clothes from the laundry machine and putting them in the dryer. Both machines start at the same time. You return a half hour later, with clean, fresh, wet clothes. But alas, you still have to wait another 20 to 30 minutes for the dryer to be done (presuming there are no other available dryers—a distinct possibility). In the meantime, your clothes are sitting in this moist, damp, out-of-the-machine limbo, getting slimy and mildewy, while you wait for the dryer to finish.

Why not make washing machines that take as long as a dryer? Yeah, it’s nice that the washer only takes a half hour, but in a lot of cases, you’re still sitting around waiting for a dryer. I’d like to see a washing machine that takes its time, maybe slows down a little on the rinse, maybe spins a few more times. I know that there are a host of other factors that come into play in the laundry room (like savages who leave their clothes in the machine long after it’s stopped running, or villains that open up your dryer but then don’t turn it back on), but I think we should try to be even-ing up the playing field as much as possible. The best and the brightest minds in the laundry industry should be on top of this.