Update on our new washer and dryer

We’ve lived with our new washer and dryer long enough for me to give a little review. First, we have a pair of matched Samsungs. They are stacked.

The washer – the good. It holds a LOT – double what our old washing machine held. This means that we’re doing laundry less frequently for three teenagers, one child, and two adults. Our king size mattress pad and sheets fit without a problem.

The washer also seems to use a lot less water than our old one. I haven’t verified this with our water bill. I didn’t notice a significant change in our electric bill.

The laundry is much cleaner. I had no idea that the texture and colors of our rugs, towels, socks, and other clothes were being suppressed by using a different washing machine.

The amount of detergent required is also very small compared to what it used to be.

The spin cycle gets the clothes viciously dry.

The washer — the bad. We are either leaving the door open once a load is removed or wiping it the door and gasket dry, which is inconvenient.

Also, we can’t start a load, then stop it. If you forgot to put something in the wash, too bad. Once you push play (it’s not “start,” it’s “play,” like an electronic media player), you’ve committed to the wash cycle. We manage this by changing our habits.

The dryer — the good. It comes with a shelf for things like shoes and “lay flat to dry “sweaters. We’ve used it once. It works. It’s a nice option.

Also on the “good list,” is the time required. Because the washing machine’s spin cycle is awesome, the dryer loads are usually finished in less than 20 minutes.

The dryer – the bad: The drying shelf fell from its attachment point after a couple minutes, but still worked.

The dryer is mounted on top of our washing machine. We have to use a stool to make sure the knob is turned to the setting we want – it’s so high that we can’t see it.

I still wish they were truly designed to be stacked. The washer is too low and the dryer is too high, which I said earlier.

Tangential: I really want to make the machines, dubbed Mario (washer) and Luigi (dryer), play different music. As in Christmas music, happy birthday, etc. There must be a hack for it.