Curiously, one of this blog’s most read articles is about washing machines: over 12,000 users have read it so far, leaving many comments. It’s one of my first blog entries and dates back to 2015. Since then, I haven’t changed my mind.
My experience with the “Nightmare Washing Machine in the US” sounds catchy enough to get traction. But, the success of that blog post comes mostly from its high-ranking in search engines, as Google directs over 80% of the traffic.
In January, when the US government announced the introduction of a special tax on imported washing machines from Asia, this blog was quoted in many big-name newspapers like the German Die Zeit.
Are American washing machines really so bad?
Commenting on “Nightmare Washing Machines in the US,” reader Rebecca Moon shared the following thoughts:
“I am an American who has been traveling in Europe, staying mostly in apartments rented through Airbnb. European washers and dryers are awful. They take forever … and they don’t actually clean or dry anything better than my U.S. appliances.”
Good point. Saving time is the key for many Americans, but I have to disagree with Rebecca from personal experience. Many washing machines in America don’t wash clothes thoroughly, as I explained in “Doing laundry in America vs. Germany.” It’s all about getting the right mix of water temperature, time, detergent, and movement insight the washer.
Originally, my post appeared in German and got many comments. Christiane Bogdoll, for example, said that she could hardly believe that nothing about American washing machines has changed since the 1980s:
“It happened to me when I lived in the US. I was quite young but really concerned that my favorite outfits (even after only a few wash cycles) were destroyed.”
Another reader’s comment shed more light on the differences. Tasha wrote,
“I’m an American who moved to Germany for grad school, and I’ve gotten quite confused about the laundry system here after I discovered that there is no bleach.”
True, Germans don’t like to bleach their clothes. In the 1990s, Procter & Gamble launched a huge advertising campaign for a mild bleach-based stain remover called ACE. Almost 30 years later, bleach products are still not popular in Germany. For example, the German ACE includes mild bleaching agents while the Turkish or Spanish ACE products use chlorine bleach.
Washing expectations are a real cultural difference between the US and Germany
I haven’t changed my mind about washing machines in the United States. As a member of Homeexchange.com since 2011, I’ve exchanged our house with many other families and still found that all American washers were a nightmare. Florida? Nice pool and the fastest washer ever: the normal cycle was done after 20 minutes, but our t-shirts were a size smaller, and the stains emerged mocking me. California? The cycle ran a bit longer, but the results were similar. New York? Both the washer and dryer were brand new high-efficiency appliances. I may not have used them correctly, but a few items of clothing shrunk.
Honestly, I prefer doing my family’s laundry at home. In order to solve my problems with American washing machines, I invested time and money doing proper research. Four years ago, I investigated test results for washing machines on the Consumer Reports website for three hours. I finally ended up purchasing an American washing machine, a Whirlpool Duett, that I’m happy with in general.
Now, most Americans won’t like my Whirlpool: the normal wash cycle takes 1 hour and 17 minutes. But, my home-exchange partners are welcome to use the “quick wash” function, which finished in 30-something minutes. Well done, Whirlpool.
I lived in Poland for 7 years and moving back to the USA was like stepping back 20 years into the past, regarding laundry. In Poland, I had a Polish made Polar compact washer. It used very little water and took more than an hour to do a load, but the clothes came out clean and undamaged. I use tea towels for my kitchen and I cannot wash them clean in the $2000 USA washing machine that I use. My $200 washing machine in Poland had no trouble doing this.
Almost no one in Poland uses dryers. They are a waste of energy and prematurely age clothing. I had clothing lines above my bath. The floor and towel racks were heated so it was an excellent way to dry clothes.
I miss my wall heaters so much…
I have lived in the US for 30 years and owned many different washers. My whites turn grey and don’t get clean ever. Stains don’t come out like they do in Germany. All American kitchen appliances and washers are absolute crap and way too expensive for what they are. I travel extensively and usually take my whites to Germany. It only takes two wash cycles to get them looking nice again.
I think the problem is the temperature of the water. German washers only have a cold water inlet. While washing the water warms in the washer until it reaches the desired temperature. During the warming process stains get removed.
I did own a Bosch washing machine in the US but it also had a warm and cold water inlet. So whenever I did whites it used warm water to fill the washer.
Wow. I found myself at this site after Googling “German appliances are the worst” to see if other people are as disgusted with their products as I am. I clicked on this site because I thought, “This must be satirical. There is no way in h*ll someone actually thinks American appliances are worse than Germans”.
I’ve been living in Germany for four years now using almost all German appliances due to not wanting to rely on using converters all the time. I use one converter and that is for my coffee machine. I had to switch to American made because the German versions were breaking down every year. EVERY. YEAR. This is my third coffee machine (American made) in four years – so far so good. The washing machines and dryers are pure trash. They don’t clean or dry very well so now I’ve resorted to using drying racks for ALL my laundry. The length of time it takes to wash clothes in the washer isn’t a problem for me. But, if it’s going to take that long the least it can do is CLEAN THE CLOTHES.
We’ve had fans break down.
I have a treadmill that stopped working properly after only a year.
And the last straw is the GERMAN made Air conditioner we have. We’ve only used it for a couple of months so far and ALREADY it’s leaking water where it shouldn’t be.
I’ve told my husband that I think this is a money ploy. They make their products to last for a VERY specific amount of time to force people to keep buying their products. Their industry should be shamed. They have piss poor products and I will tell anybody who asks EXACTLY that.
I hear your pain. Where did you buy yr appliances?
It sounds to me like all your appliances have the same issue. User Error, Air Conditioners , every single last one of them regardless of manufacturer accumulates water and either drains it via a drain hole (after you remove the stopper plug) or thru evaporation using the heat generated by the compressor. Air conditioners are after all dehumidifiers. It would probably be worth the time for you to read the little booklet each appliance comes with. I suspect the only reason the America “Coffee Machine” has lasted as long as it has is because you can read and understand exactly what each function does. But do I know, other than the fact that every air conditioner collects water that must be removed in some fashion.
I hear your pain. American washers are worse than a blender. No real hot water and 0 ability to remove stains. Sometimes I even get double stains like mirrored stains after washing ..,
Exactly!!
I can so totally relate to this Catherine! I am a Dutch woman but I live in Saudi Arabia on a compound and the washer in my house is a Frigidaire toploader with spin in the middle. This is a real nightmare! Before we moved here I had a reliable Siemens machine which washes at 30, 40, 60 and 90 degrees which is so good with small kids. This toploader has been nothing more than a nightmare. Torn clothes, clothes with oil staines on them, residue leftover with mold and the clothes come out so dirty. How I long for a Siemens! I have an American friend who always says: I learned to know what clean clothes are when I moved to Europe. So there! So I am now waiting for our compound maintenance team to fix this horrible washer as it is staining the clothes so much I can just throw them away.
I feel with you Henriette! Good luck with the repair.
The reason you’ve had so many comments on this blog is because you are so wrong that people feel compelled to respond.
German washers are dreadful and it’s because Germans are more concerned about saving water and electricity than they are about actually cleaning their clothes. This desire to save money also leads to less bathing and an incredible number of just foul smelling people. I truly haven’t smelled worse at hippie gatherings August.
A German washer just doesn’t use enough water which is odd because it rains every day and there’s plenty of water and using less water requires longer cycles, more electricity and still leaves your clothes marginally clean at best. If your clothes are anything other than lightly soiled, you’d better hand wash them because a German washer is totally ineffective. We e tried all the detergents and find Persil the best.
On top of that, the build quality is dreadful. I had the same machine in America for twenty years and it was serviced a few times. Our German machines are constantly broken and being serviced. We actually are having our machine serviced again tomorrow! In just the last three years, we’re on our fourth machine! The one good thing I can say about the whole washer experience in Germany is Höffner. Unlike most German companies, their customer service has been excellent and we’ve had the machines repaired and replaced for free with polite pleasant helpful service. I’d recommend mend Höffner to anyone.
I strongly disagree, most American washers are just crap.
Catherine, great summary and accurate in my world. My friend who recently purchased a high-end stackable high efficiency washer said it destroyed all her most expensive tops when she washed them on “Delicate” for the first time. Whoops! No time to rethink that choice! I suggest if any of your readers purchase a new machine, they first test it out by washing items of clothing that may come out smaller, still stained or destroyed. Otherwise, hand-washing in the sink is a guaranteed winner!
Don’t laugh at me, but I love hand-washing!
I think you will soon be satisfied with today’s new washing machines that are no longer American, German or Italian, Czech or Polish. In fact, almost all of them are now Chinese! Historical companies are becoming brands of Chinese multinationals. Those who want the top of the top only have to choose from a few brands that have remained independent: Schulthess, V-Zug, Miele and maybe Smeg . The rest is all similar although with some differences always by market segment