Why do washing machines have windows? | Hacker News Reader

Why do washing machines have windows?

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To answer questions such as;

* Is it running? * Is there any water in it? * Is my cycling kit in there? * Where is the cat?

  Where is the cat?

I live in constant fear of that moment.

When I was very very young, my sister put a stuffed toy in the oven. Then my mom went to preheat the oven... Then we smelled burning...

The house didn't burn down or anything, but to this day I never turn the oven on without checking to make sure there isn't anything in it first, and I don't live with kids...

> Where is the cat?

> I live in constant fear of that moment.

> When I was very very young, my sister put a stuffed toy in the oven. Then my mom went to preheat the oven... Then we smelled burning...

When I read this sequence, I thought you were going to say your mom thought your cat was left in the oven, until you found it safe later that day.

The toy burned up!! It was obvious because my mom just turned on the oven so she opened up the oven and saw a smoking half burned toy of my sister's. My sister was so upset. She didn't know better though, she was very young, probably 3-4 years old.

One of the worst design decisions I've seen on ovens is that some ovens provide a storage space under the oven and on other cheaper models, that space doubles as the broiler. My roommate said she once put a plastic cutting board in that space because she had been conditioned to think about it as storage from the ovens she was used to. The board melted and almost caught on fire.

We had this here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7074943

I submitted that story 3 hours earlier, and despite OP using the same exact link he was still able to submit it again. Bug?

Looks like it's not exactly the same. This one is prefixed by https://, the one you posted isn't.

However, that probably should be considered a bug.

I almost had a heart attack and was ready to go format it and put Linux on it.

As I understand it, when they first became available in the home, they were so miraculous that those whose former duty it was to wash the clothes by hand would sometimes luxuriate in their newfound free time by sitting in a nice chair and just watching the clothes wash themselves.

Also, I reckon there was a risk of people opening the doors out of incredulous curiosity. As a child, I definitely would have tried to open the thing if it didn't have a window.

True, the invention of the automatic washing machine pre-dates the television by some 30 years!

My grandmother's house has had a front loading washer with a window for my entire life. (Sure, it's been replaced several times, but always with another front loader with a window.) I learned early on that the door actually locks once the water has started. I also remember noticing that the opening was small enough to make climbing in impractical for human children.

Ever try it? You can't. The machine won't let you... Yeah I did try to open it when I lived in Europe and had a front loading machine.

Also do you have a source of this or is it just idle speculation?

Obviously you can't open it. The three year old me likely would have had a bloody good go at it though, if he wasn't pacified by the spinning clothes through the window.

My source for the first bit is a Hans Rolsing ted talk about washing machines, as well as my own grandmother.

More idle speculation, but presumably the very first models weren't advanced enough to have an auto-locking mechanism. Since the only difference (that I can think of) between top- and front-loading models is the safe/disastrous result when opening mid-cycle, I can only imagine it has seomthing to do with that.

Turn it off then wait a couple of minutes until the timer enables the catch on the door.

The top-rated response is a pretty solid one. People find it calming to see the washing action, even if they have no real mid-process control over it. It's all about creating the reassuring perception that your clothes are getting super clean.

Incidentally, this is also the primary reason why American laundry detergents are so sudsy. There is scant evidence that the formation of foamy lather has a significant effect on the removal of soil from clothing. It's mostly for show and psychological peace of mind. In fact, in many countries outside the US, laundry detergents are formulated without the abundant sudsing agents found here. We've been conditioned, over many successive generations of CPG marketing, to believe that more suds = more cleaning action. This goes way back to the days before laundry machines, when brand marketers at soap companies used suds as product differentiators. The experience of hand-washing clothes in a foamy bucket gave the impression that the soap was more effective.

reminds me of febreze. possibly wasn't febreze, but when it was unscented and removed bad odors, people didn't like it.

But people loved it when they added a light scent to it.

Yeah, the same principle applies there. (And to scented anything, really. Laundry detergent, shampoo, deodorant, etc.) Consumers love sensory evidence that something is "working."

I thought this was going to be about embedded Windows.

And the blue-screen-of-filthy-whites.

One more future victim of the end of support of Windows XP.

I like top-loading machines because when I take the damp clothes out, it's easier to keep stuff from falling on the floor. With a front-loader, you pretty much have to keep the laundry basket right under the door. Ditto for dryers. I see no advantage to front loaders except that they can be stacked. Unfortunately, we have stacked machines where we currently live, and stuff always falls on the floor :(

Front loaders use far less water.

Also you can put things on top of them, which means they fit nicely into the kitchen of most apartments.

Front loading machines are much more energy and water efficient. That's their big advantage. They use gravity. You can add much more clothes into a front loader too, so you don't have to do as many loads. Top loaders can be overfilled easily. Also front loaders are better for your clothes.

http://housewares.about.com/lw/Home-Garden/Home-improvement-...

http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-the-advantages-of-a-front-l...

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/5-benefits-of-front-load-w...

For thise trying to make sense of the top-loading/front-loading discussion: when people say "top loading", they often mean "vertical axis" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washing_machine#Top_versus_fron...)

That page also nicely arguments why horizontal axis machines need less soap and water.

IMO, the top loader with horizontal axis is the superior design: water and energy efficient, clothes can't get stuck between tube and front, and the axis can be suspended from two sides. Disadvantage is that one must build a way to open the basket. That introduces some extra weight, and care must be taken for that not to introduce an asymmetry in the weight distribution.

So you know it's not full of water and safe to open the door.

(Yes, the washer will ensure this can not happen, but you the user do not necessarily know that).

funny I figured it was so I could see whether I'd forgotten to take the wash out, without having to open the door.

There are washing machines in Asia (the top loaders) where there are no windows altogether. Market bias.

These are not unique to Asia and are prominent in the US as well.

I don't know the US market very well, but in Japan the market is like 70% top loaders as far as I can remember.

Top loader are extremely common in the United States, I don't know a single person who has a front loader, however they are still sold, just the market share is very small.

From what I understand (though it might be myth) front loaders are more efficient.

The advantage of front loaders is that you get more "wear" inside the washing machine, so in theory the washing should be more efficient, but it does not matter that much with the modern detergents we have. The big problem with front loaders is that they tend to damage your clothes faster, wash after wash (I know because I used to work on detergents and did extensive cycle testing in front and top loaders). That's why it's recommended to have a softener in your load, so that your clothes would slide better on each other and get less damage by friction.

I still buy top loaders, because they cost 2/3 of what the front-loaders do. Less, if you buy a dented or scratched one. They do indeed use more water, but I make up for that by not running partial loads.

Yeah, it's because they are easier to manufacture and definitely more robust. Because you put the weight of the load on the bottom part on the same direction as the axis. The front loaders need to be build way more solidly to last. On top of having a larger capacity, I prefer top loaders too because you don't have to break your back to get the laundry out.

> I still buy top loaders, because they cost 2/3 of what the front-loaders do.

1. How often do you buy washing machines?

> Less, if you buy a dented or scratched one.

2. Scratched and dented top-loading washers cost less than the ones in perfect condition too. Also, it's really unlikely you'll get any energy efficiency discounts on a top-loading washer. I think I got $150 total between my state and power company's reates.

> They do indeed use more water, but I make up for that by not running partial loads.

3. That doesn't make any sense. Front-loading machines have larger capacities by virtue of not having to make room for the agitator. Mine is an LG with a 5.1 cu. ft. capacity. A front-loader can hold more and uses less water.

You'd probably have to do three loads in a front-loading machine to use as much water as one load in a top-loading machine. But you'd still get less laundry done because the front-loader holds so much more.

Top loading washers don't make any sense unless initial cost is your sole deciding factor.

>they cost 2/3 of what the front-loaders do.

I just searched sears.com for "washing machine" and they are comparable in price.

>Front-loading machines have larger capacities by virtue of not having to make room for the agitator

New HE front loaders don't have an agitator believe it or not, however, front loaders are still more energy efficient and can hold far more clothes per load. Its easy to overfill a top loader. You can probably get two front loader loads per one top loader load. My parents have a HE front loader and my mom hates it because if you overfill it even just a little it starts itself over again and the wash takes like an hour and a half.

It's surely to do with being able to see if there is water in the drum before opening the door. Top-loading washing machines don't have a window, and also don't have a chance of flooding your kitchen if you open them at the wrong time.

Dishwashers don't have windows, because its pointless. The constant shower of water would make it impossible to see anything. As stated by the dishwasher manufacturer quoted in the OP.

Huh. I always figured it came from commercial front-loaders, which need a window so when at the laundromat you don't accidentally open someone else's washer.

Flawed premise: All washing machines have windows.

Disproving premise: This washing machine has no window[0].

Conclusion: Not all washing machines have windows. Therefore the question is flawed.

Additional: There are many types of washing machines. Homogeny of design doesn't necessarily mean there's a reason for the homogeny.

[0] http://www.sears.com/kenmore-top-load-washing-machine-3.4-cu...

> Flawed premise: All washing machines have windows.

Flawed flawed-premise-finder: "every front-loaded washing machine I've seen so far came with a window"

The orignial question is "why every front-loaded washing machine".

Out of interest, here in the UK all washing machines have windows.

Why does North America have top loading machines? What does your region have?

In Finland I think they're pretty fifty-fifty. Toploaders can be made much narrower, so they're the obvious choice in small apartments.

In addition to the reason mentioned above; in case you put too much bleach. in case an item is leaking a dye.

With bleach, it seems like by the time you notice it, it's probably too late. It's likely already saturated your clothes.

Yeah, it's too late even before it starts to discolor your clothes.

Source: Experience. :(

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