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Comment by bgbntty2 | Hacker News Reader

Why separate laundry? I've tried it in the past, but don't do it anymore. Same result. The stains that can be cleaned get cleaned. The stains that would persist, persist. The only difference is the temperature setting.

As for separating colors - in my life I've had a piece of clothing stain other clothes 2 or 3 times. Once I put some white shirts and they came out pink because of another red shirt. Funny thing is, the pink was very uniform, so it looked as if the shirts were originally pink.

If my washing machine breaks, I'll get a second hand one. If I get a brand new washing machine, it will have to have a manual mode where I can set the desired program manually. For example, what is "towel setting"? If I can't see and modify the setting (e.g., A temperature for B minutes at C RPM, then D temp for E min for F RPM, etc.), I wouldn't use it.

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Colors don't bleed much these days. Some might, e.g. on handmade clothing such as tyedye but most commercial colors don't.

If you wash items of different weights, fabrics, etc. together the load can get unbalanced more easily. Such as as single heavy towel or jacket in with a bunch of light synthetic items.

The "towels" setting uses warmer water and faster spin speed but an overall shorter cycle (at least on my washer) compared to the "normal" cycle. This probably presumes that towels usually are made of cotton and aren't very dirty.

I agree that a fully manual mode would be nice. My washer (LG) doesn't have that but by knowing what the various cycles and optional settings (e.g. soil level, extra rinse) do you can get pretty close to what you want.

> I agree that a fully manual mode would be nice.

Enter "why wifi on your washing machine makes sense"

Not needed. Pure software change, cycle programs aren't difficult, and there's plenty of buttons to use to input them.

> Colors don't bleed much these days. Some might, e.g. on handmade clothing such as tyedye but most commercial colors don't.

Sadly, with fast fashion, we've regressed to the point places like Shein/Fashion Nova sell pool attire vs swim suit that is not meant to get wet due to the dyes not holding when wet.

Thanks! I forgot about the unbalancing.

I wish the open source washing machine projects actually took off. From what I remember they were created mostly to help poorer nations, which is a good goal. I've had to hand wash in the past and it was awful. So slow, boring and annoying. And you either have to wring by hand, which ruined several underpants I had, or you have to let the clothes dry naturally, which I didn't try. The hand washing videos say to lay the clothes on a towel, but I didn't have a whole free room to lay down all the clothes, so I wrung them.

Consider getting a European model..

I was always confused doing laundry in the US. Warm cycle or cold cycle?

I have 30C, 40C and 60C depending on what I'm washing. I probably have more programs, but never use them. For pillows and stuff I adjust spinning, from 1200 to 400 RPM. And I use special short, low rpm handwash program for wool.

(Side loaded ofcourse, that way the dryer can be on top)

> Consider getting a European model..

Top loader uselessness is my pet peeve.

Front loaders (just like one in video) wring clothes as they spin. The result difference is day and night.

Top loaders don’t have seals that can fail (and smell), and they also wrong clothes when they spin at the end. The clothes experience about 200g, the extra 1g isn’t a big difference.

End spin just removes water. Wringing as it washes (clothes drop from top to bottom) dramatically improves cleaning.

I'd love to, but doubt it would work. US washers meant for home use run on 120V and that's what the electrical outlet will be delivering. I would assume Euro are 220V or maybe higher? Also the 50/60Hz difference might matter.

Laundry rooms in the US generally have 240 V service for the dryer. Kitchens also generally have it for the range.

It depends. My clothing doesn't (typically) need to tumble for long whereas towels might and bedding needs to go for much longer. In general it's probably better for fabric to be washed for less time if possible. It wears out.

Also if you pay close attention you'll notice that things don't come fully clean (old machines didn't either) just "clean enough". Throw some well used dog bedding in with your shirts and this fact might become more readily noticable. So it makes sense to wash like-use with like-use for that reason alone.

Less time != less wear. Some of the longest programs just let the laundry sit with occasional agitation, similar to how the machine in this article works, in the name of energy saving.

True. However, my fantastically modern machine from this marvelous version of the future we're living in doesn't offer any programs that soak for a noticable length of time. My bedding gets set to a cycle that constantly agitates the drum for the better part of 2 hours which my shirts definitely won't benefit from being subjected to.

> doesn't offer any programs that soak for a noticable length of time

Again, wouldn't it be great if we could program the washing machine? A display and a couple of buttons would be enough.

Something like:

Menu ->

New program ->

(automatically assigns it a number, e.g., "14"; no need for fancy names and a keyboard, just write it down) ->

Enter first cycle ->

(gives you options like "let it soak", "rotate", "dispense soap", "remove water" or whatever) ->

(gives you sub-options like temperature, RPM) ->

Enter second cycle ->

(and so on).

I don't know much about washing machines, but it seems doable.

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