Does Size Matter?

Sometimes it really does...

My washer in the United States was a large capacity washer. You wouldn't believe how much I could put into a single load.

My washer here in Switzerland would look like a child's toy next to that washer. No, it is not unusually small. At least, not by European standards. It is a typical size for here.

Today I did a bit of research and went to the manufacturer's website for each. Just wanted to see exactly what the size difference is.

Let's do a comparison:

Swiss Washer
Height: 85 cm / 33.4 in
Width: 60 cm / 23.6 in
Depth: 59.5 cm / 23.4 in

US Washer
Height: 106.6 cm / 42 in
Width: 68.58 cm / 27 in
Depth: 64.7 cm / 25.5 in

But size isn't the only thing that matters. In the United States, a wash cycle was 40 minutes and the dryer took about 45-60 minutes. Here in Switzerland, the wash takes 1 hr 20 minutes and the dry could take as much as 2 hours.

So I am now able to do half of the laundry in twice as much time.

No wonder it takes me forever to do laundry. And there are only two of us. I cannot imagine how people with children manage it!

When I first came here, I tried to do laundry one day per week, just like in the US. At the end of the day, I still wasn't done.

Then I tried to do laundry two days per week. I still didn't feel caught up AND I lost two days to laundry instead of just one.

What I finally did was to purchase several small, plastic baskets that are intended for carrying groceries home. But I discovered that the capacity of the shopping baskets was pretty much equal to the capacity of the washer. The baskets are lined up in a corner of the room we call the "Closet Room." Dirty clothes are sorted immediately into one of the baskets. When the basket is full, I put that load in the washer.

I usually do a load or two every day. This way I never feel overwhelmed by mounds of laundry.

But I still miss my large capacity washer and the feeling of satisfaction I had when all of the laundry was clean, folded and put away.

Marian Librarian, please give my old washer & dryer a nice pat. You have no idea what a deal you got when you bought them from us!