Front Loader versus Top Loader Washing Machines

I'm having one of 'those' days

I really am going to have to write all my favourite recipes down properly, and then keep them all in one place! I was going to post that curry sauce recipe I promised tonight, but guess what, I have hunted high and low for it, and I cannot, for the life of me, find it. My Grandmother used to say to me; “Look in the first place you looked, but look properly this time!” Well Grandma, I’ve looked in the first place three times now, and have worked my way down the list each time before repeating, and still I can’t find it!
I know what will happen, when I finally give up and stop looking for it, I will find it when I start looking for something else! It always works that way with me! Have I mentioned before I’m a ‘scatter-brain’?

Anyway, on to the Front Loader versus the Top Loader debate I promised.

As I have had one of each I feel qualified to highlight the pro’s and cons’s for both of them, but keep in mind that it is only my point of view. The fact I haven’t had a top loader for many years now, and they must have had some technological advancements in that time, also has to be remembered. I live in the UK where front loading machines are a lot more popular, and so there is a larger selection here, I am aware that in the US the top loading machines are more popular so there is a larger selection of them there.

First up I should explain that I make my own washing powder and use vinegar as a fabric conditioner, whether that makes a difference to the performance of the machine I don’t know, I do know my machines last longer than anyone I know.

So here goes;

Top Loader Pro’s;

• You have more control over the amount of washing your clothing gets. You can choose when enough is enough.
• They don’t need to be plumbed in anywhere, you can put pipes into your sink or water butt if you so wish, without there being a problem.
• I haven’t seen any graphs or anything, but I should imagine a top loader could be more economical on the electric, as long as you don’t use it to heat the water, then this would turn in to a con.

Top Loader Con’s;
• They are very labour intensive. I’m a lazy woman, so I didn’t appreciate this. With the machine I had, you had to pull the soaking wet clothes out of the wash drum and dump them in to the spinner drum. It did nothing for my back I can tell you, as the machine was the wrong height for little old me!
• I’m also a messy puppy and I was always landing up with as much water on the floor as was in the machine.
• Remembering not to overload the machine can a problem and I often landed up with a bucket full of wet clothes that had to be pulled out after the wash had started.
• Top Loaders use a lot more water, so if you are on a meter, then they can work out very expensive, and if you then use the machine to heat the water – well you get the drift.
• Hoses can, (and frequently did for me), come away from their designated positions, often causing small floods, but the floods were kept to a minimum because I was standing over the machine, though it often made me go and get changed into some dry clothes!

Front Loader Pro’s;
• You can put your washing in and walk away; the machine will wash, rinse, add conditioner and spin the clothes without your supervision.
• There is no heavy lifting of soaking wet clothes; they come out spun and ready to hang.
• New machines are economical to run and can do half loads, cool washes etc.
• There are no hoses to contend with, they get plumbed in and then you forget about them! The only time you will have a flood is when the machine breaks down, and that has not happened to me with the three front loaders I have owned.


Front Loader Con’s;
• There is little control over the wash, once the door is shut and the machine turned on, the machine is in control, so you can’t spot a stain, pull the garment out and give it an extra rub.
• Pre-soaking is difficult, unless you use a separate bucket for the job.
• Learning the different controls can be confusing.
• Remembering not to overload the machine can a problem, I just try to think about how heavy the clothes will be once wet.

So to sum up;
If you like to be in control of the wash from start to finish, and have the time to hover over the machine, then a top loader may be the one for you.
If, on the other hand, you are like me, short in stature and short of time, then a front loader may be just what you are looking for.

When did things get so complicated?

Ever since I can remember I have loved pasta, right from my very first taste of spaghetti on toast. Of course my taste in pasta has grown up a little bit since then, but I still enjoy the odd ‘on toast’ experience too. But for some strange reason I have always thought pasta was something you had to buy because it was so complicated to make. In my mind I had images of Delia Smith rolling long thin strips of pastry through a machine and hanging the resultant strands on the backs of dining room chairs to dry for 24 hours. Don’t ask me where I got that idea from though, maybe an old program of hers?

Anyway, there I was tonight, sitting crocheting away like an old granny, with half an eye on the Jamie Oliver program, Ministry of Food, (Boy do I admire that man’s passion and common sense!) and he pops out with a recipe for pasta that even I could make on the busiest of days!

100grms (4oz) of flour and one egg. Mix to a dough, roll out thin, curl the edge over and roll in to a tube, then slice the tube, and hey presto, you have manageable lengths of pasta ready to go in the pan!

Guess what I’m having for dinner tomorrow….

If it is so easy to make, how did I get the idea it was so hard? The simple and obvious answer is I have fallen victim to clever marketing, yet again! They should teach consumer skills in schools I tell you! And you should be able to get a degree in the science of debunking advertising!

Any one who is interested in reducing their spending has read one of the many posts online about making your own washing powder, and that too is a lot simpler than marketers would have you believe, so I wonder how many other things that I now buy, thinking I can’t make a reasonable version myself, are on my shopping list.

Think about it, a 1.5 kilo bag of flour costs (if you buy the cheap stuff) £0. 46p, half a dozen eggs are £1.30, so that’s 3p for the flour and 21p for the egg, a total of 24p! Pasta if you buy it dried is 90p, and upwards of £1.90p if you buy it fresh!

Yes it takes a little longer to make your own than to buy it, IF you don’t add in the time it takes to go to the shop, find the pasta, wait in line to pay, and then transport it home, but if you do factor that in, then if you make your own, from things you already have in the kitchen, you are ahead monetarily and time wise BIG TIME!

I’m off to go through my shopping list again, just in case there is something there that I could be making myself for a fraction of the cost.