Can I Just Fuss a Little About My Washer?

I don't mean to sound negative, but my washer over here drives me crazy. Firstly, it is a washer/dryer combo, which until I moved to the UK, I had never even heard of. It is also the size of a large stock pot. That's literally as large as the drum gets. No kidding.

Now, I realize that I am spoiled at home. One of the things we splurged on when we built our current house was the Whirlpool front-loading washer and dryer. And I love those things! (Oh, how I know realize that I love those things!) They can fit boatloads of clothes into them. And in this family, it seems that we do produce boatloads of clothes. Now back to my current appliance...it fits...wait until you hear this...three towels at a time! THREE!

The term washer/dryer combo is also a bit of a misnomer because dry it does not. Oh, I suppose it warms up the clothes a little, takes a little bit of the water out of them, but always, always the clothes are damp at the end of the dry cycle, and might I add, very wrinkly because the stinking drum is so small!

Now, let's dicuss the fact that I also do not know how to use this appliance well. Take today for example. I wanted to dry the clothes that I had put into the washer earlier this morning. I did not set my settings properly and the clothes started the complete wash cycle all over again.
How about one more aggravating thing? The washer/dryer cannot be opened until it is good and ready. I'm not sure when that is exactly, but if you want to check on the clothes, forget it! Not until the appliance is ready! The door actually locks you out.

Laundry just seems to be one of those little things that you take for granted in your home country. Rant over. Oh, and one more funny UK laundry note...our current letting agent told us upon explaining how to use the washer and dryer (which I obviously flunked that course!), that his own mum, to this day, handwashes everything with a washing board! Now that was an interesting thought! Seems she's not into these "new-fangled" washing machines.