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Original poster

Anyone know why top-loaders are not common here??

45 replies

GrapefruitMoon · 06/05/2009 09:39

That's it really, was talking to a friend from NZ recently who claimed to only need to do laundry once a week as her top-loader could wash a huge amount in one go. They seem to be the norm in the US and Australia too so wondered why we have front loaders in UK??

Any views on which is better?

OP posts:
whooosh · 06/05/2009 09:42

I love toploaders-easy to chuck things (halfway through) you forgot to put in or dropped on the way to the washing machine.They are big and I think wash clothes better.
You can get them here but I think they are larger than standard 60cm wide and also you lose some worktop space.Our houses tend to be smaller and every bit of worktop space counts I guess.

GreatGooglyMoogly · 06/05/2009 09:42

I've found that toploaders are harsher on clothes due to the agitator inside so I prefer frontloaders.

Original poster
GrapefruitMoon · 06/05/2009 09:47

Yes I suppose lots of families in those countries have separate laundry rooms so can cope with the fact that they take up more space....

OP posts:
mistlethrush · 06/05/2009 09:49

My parents always had a top loader - but you lose counter space and we don't have sufficient space in modern kitchens to do that.

(They infact had just two toploaders for probably 35 years - one ran on a clothes peg for several years until a hot dye wash melted it and dye bubbled all over the floor - it was replaced with a wooden peg and that washing machine carried on for a further 5 years or so.)

(That's probably why we don't have them - they last too long, less to go wrong, no rubber seal to leak etc - manufactures don't sell so many so don't want to keep making them )

ShauntheSheep · 06/05/2009 09:54

cos they are too big and take up too much space. Counter space above the washing machine is my draining space.

janinlondon · 06/05/2009 09:55

You can buy them here but very few people have enough space (that includes lid lifting space as well as counter space), and they are also often quite noisy - in Oz and NZ almost everyone has a separate laundry. I always had a top loader in Australia - but no room in our tiny London kitchen!

muggglewump · 06/05/2009 09:58

I found they wrecked my clothes (lived in Australia for two years), but they were big which was good for sharing loads when I stayed in backpackers.

I wouldn't want one even if I had the money and space though, I much prefer a frontloader but then there's only two of us so I have no need for a big machine.

Wintersun · 06/05/2009 10:26

Are they more economical? I'm thinking of getting one.
I was impressed with my friends which only took 20mins to complete a wash.

InternationalFlight · 06/05/2009 10:29

I wondered if it was because of the worktop issue, they look quite good as machines.

MummyDoIt · 06/05/2009 10:42

Wintersun, you can get very economical frontloaders. Mine does a wash in 27 minutes.

InternationalFlight · 06/05/2009 10:43

No way! Where can you get them from?
Which manufacturer would you recommend? My old Hoover has done 5 years now, or is it 7? Got to die soon, I reckon.

MummyDoIt · 06/05/2009 10:50

Mine's a Hoover. I got it from Argos and the catalogue had a table of all the different models, comparing how much water and electricity each used so I chose one that didn't use much of either. 5kg load so you don't need to do as many washes. Just checked and it's 29 minutes, not 27, but still good! The short wash is fine for pretty much everything. I only ever used the longer wash for nappies.

woodenchair · 06/05/2009 10:51

I love my top loader! 3 loads a week, white, dark, towels/bedding (that's all towels, 1 single and 1 double set in 1 load).

I'm in rented at the mo and it isn't plumbed in, I've forever got a load to do and a load in, it's horrible.

They use more water per load, definitely, as the whole drum fills.

InternationalFlight · 06/05/2009 10:53

Ooh thanks! Argos eh? I never knew

InternationalFlight · 06/05/2009 10:54

although I had a wash boiler thing once, like a twin tub. It was £10 in the paper. It caught fire one day, armies of lovely firemen in my flat removing it for me.

Ho yes that was worth a tenner!

Hulababy · 06/05/2009 10:57

I loved the top loader machines we have had when staying in the US. They take huge loads and are so much quicker.

Why don't we have them in the UK?

Size I guess. They are much larger and take up more room, and can be noisy - you need the space to have a decent sized laundry/utility room to house one.

dweezle · 06/05/2009 11:41

We have a huge Whirlpool toploader (American). Is excellent. We run a B&B so machine is on at least once a day every day for sheets, duvet covers, towels etc. It will take the bedding from 4 x single beds in a single load.

You can do a gentle wash in them.

They take cold water, so I wash in hot and rinse in cold, saving electricity.

As Whoosh said you can chuck stray clothing in halfway through a cycle.

Machine is big, but we have a laundry so space is not an issue.

We also had toploaders when we lived in Oz. Actually we had one toploader in the 12 years we were there.

They are more efficient and last longer because the weight is on the horizontal, rather than on the vertical as it is in a front loader.

I would never have believed I would have so much to say about a washing machine. Note to self; get a life.

there is no way I would go back to a front loader.

OrmIrian · 06/05/2009 11:42

Because we all have less space so they have to go under the worktops? My parents had a spare top-loading chest freezer that they wanted to pass on to us a few years back, but we had nowhere for it to go.

BonsoirAnna · 06/05/2009 11:44

I think it's probably a space thing. Here in Paris everyone I know has stacked washing machines and tumble driers - you can't use a top loader when they are stacked.

moocowme · 06/05/2009 21:27

when i lived back in Aus my top loader was 30 years old and still going strong. the shaft broke one day so i took it appart and took the broken bit round to the electrical store. they ordered me a new one and I took it home and put the washing machine back together and everything worked fine.

Was very upset to sell it when we moved over here. I will probably go back to a top loader when I go home as i loved being able to have the washing done and out on the line before i went to work. In the summer in QLD I could have the washing done and out then dried folded and back in before work which was bliss really in the hot weather.

Tinker · 06/05/2009 23:54

Isn't there lots of bending to get the washing out? I remember my mum had some sort of large wooden "tweezer" things to get washing out but still...

thumbwitch · 06/05/2009 23:59

as everyone is saying, it is a space thing, plus some people put their tumble driers above their washing machines, which obviously wouldn't work with a toploader.

Am interested to read that toploaders are more damaging to clothes in some people's experience - am moving to Australia soon and will probably end up getting a toploader but not if all my clothes are going to be shredded!
I liked using my MIL's toploader when we were in Aus last time though and especially being able to throw in extra stuff halfway through - but the wash programmes on hers were a bit too basic - hot or medium or cold, long or short. ????

Feelingoptimistic · 07/05/2009 10:40

In Australia it's standard to have a separate laundry room - before coming to the UK, I had never heard of anyone having a washing machine in their kitchen - still seems weird to me. Even small flats in Australia have a separate laundry area - with space for a washing machine and a laundry tub, for any handwashing, etc.

sachertorte · 07/05/2009 10:52

I had one and liked it, it wasn´t big at all, so you can get smaller sizes. My guess it´s a space issue, also that they are old fashioned compared to front loaders..? If I had space I´d definitely consider buying a big top loader!

pramspotter · 07/05/2009 10:59

They don't have many top loaders in this country because they put their washing machines in the bloody kitchen.

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