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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Getting the laundry done

So, a while back I posted that I would never encourage my wife to take a truck load of laundry to a laundromat and do it there.  Well ... now that is pretty close to true!  Up until last week, we owned an aging Maytag Neptune washer/dryer set that we had purchased when we lived in CA.  Christina must be reading This Daddy's Blog, because I swear she channeled his wife "T" when our taxes came back ...

When we bought the Neptune, it was TOP. OF. THE. LINE. in consumer-grade laundry.  At the time, we had 5 (6th on the way) kids and it's speed and capacity felt just incredible compared to our run down old top-load washer and hand-me-down dryer.  Fast forward 10 years or so, and now we have 9 ... and both the washer and dryer were slowly taking longer and longer per load ... and the washer was leaking ... and the capacity was just not cutting it anymore ... and (dare I say again) we got our taxes back.

So my wife went shopping.  She absolutely fell in love with the electrolux washer dryer set ... this will really surprise you ... TOP. OF. THE. LINE. in consumer-grade laundry, just 10+ years later.  Here's a picture from the electrolux website:

4.7 cubic foot washer          8.0 cubic foot dryer

My pocketbook hurts just looking at them!  $3000* later, they're installed.  The installer put them on the floor, because no way was I paying another almost $600 for the pedistals to put them on.  Did we want them higher ... I'm 6.4, and my wife is no slouch, so YES, but not at that price.  Instead, I got my teenagers to help and built a heavy duty wood pedistal.  Not only was it WAY cheaper, but I got to customize the height so the tops fit nicely under the cabinetry in my laundry room.  I'll spray paint it silver later (sure ... whenever that makes it to the top of my honey-do list ...)

We snaked out the dryer vent, since we were pulling everything out anyway, and reinstalled on a huge 15" pedistal.  All I can say is WOW.  This washer is faster than the old Neptune, and it's WAY BIGGER.  Laundry is getting done in record time around our house!


Now I need to invite This Daddy over ... Maybe then some of it would get put away** ...

Clean clothes ... makes survival nicer, that's for sure!

        aka: goofdad

* We'll be getting upwards of $500 back over the course of the next several weeks from electrolux, power company, and then some on our taxes next year.   But, for now, Easter is on hold because goofdad is feeling broke (fortunately for my kids, I get paid again before Easter comes around, so it'll be better...some...)

** Just so you know ... this is not Christina's job ... most of my kids are easily old enough to put their own laundry away!  Those that aren't have older siblings.  NO EXCUSES ALLOWED! yes, some of that laundry is mine, and I'll get it put away soon ... I promise ... I've been busy and ... and ... and ... damn!

5 comments:

Doug said...

And ... I hope you're not offended Tracy ... I know that, like my wife, you hardly ever ask for anything for yourself ... but that makes picking on both of you all that much more fun!

ericdbolton said...

We only have seven people in the house and we're doing laundry constantly. We have a hand me down washer and a 5 year old dryer (bought new).

What I would like in my washer dryer set is a drying time that would be finished the same time as a wash cycle. Because the laundry stops when there's clothes in the dryer.

Maybe I should just get two dryers.

Doug said...

These are within 20 mins of one another on the cycles we been using ... we're still experimenting. As they are stackable I am trying to remain open to the idea of adding a second dryer on top of the first (take out the cabinets) ... time (and finances) will tell.

Scott S. said...

Whew, looky looky there. Hell yeah. We have front load washer and dryer and the time is cut in half.

Now get to work

Christa said...

I'm pretty sure laundry is THE ONLY drawback to having a large family. :) I slacked on it last week because other things were higher priority... So, to make up for it, I've done more than 15 loads so far this week. Ooof.