The washer and dryer at my mom's are 30 years old. She's had repairmen laugh at her for having them, but they're much better made than anything new.
this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2025
841 points (96.1% liked)
Microblog Memes
8400 readers
2666 users here now
A place to share screenshots of Microblog posts, whether from Mastodon, tumblr, ~~Twitter~~ X, KBin, Threads or elsewhere.
Created as an evolution of White People Twitter and other tweet-capture subreddits.
Rules:
- Please put at least one word relevant to the post in the post title.
- Be nice.
- No advertising, brand promotion or guerilla marketing.
- Posters are encouraged to link to the toot or tweet etc in the description of posts.
Related communities:
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
If repairman laugh at durable machinery they either just want your money or don't care about longevity. My father usually tells people to keep the old one if it's still working cuz the newer ones break down after a year or two and suck to repair (simple stuff just replaced with electronics that you have to replace whole for half the price of the whole machine).
(simple stuff just replaced with electronics that you have to replace whole for half the price of the whole machine).
Not to mention the waste it creates.. In theory it can be recycled. In practice electronic waste is not recycled at the level you'd expect...
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(14 replies)
Spend a little more and get yourself a speed queen top loader and never replace it again.
But also … my Maytag (same brand as my parents that came with the house that was built in 82) high efficiency front loader has been reliable af too.
Just don’t get a washer from a brand that is just a tech brand that now makes washers.
load more comments
(2 replies)
Why are appliances shit nowadays >:( i bought a house with 20-30 year old appliances that work fine, but decided to start upgrading so I bought a new washer and dryer. The new machines dont work nearly as well and I know they're not going to last even 10 years. We're already having issues with them 4 months later.
Partly it's survivorship bias.
20 years back my family got a new house.
The wisdom then was same as now, they don't build em like they used to. Within 5 years the stove stopped working and a year later the air conditioning went out. However the rest of the original stuff is still going and the replacements have lasted fine too and now are the prime examples of what people will point to to say things lasted longer back then.
- they are often "cheaper" then what you would have paid in the 80s and they are built to that price
- they are more efficient, which means every thing has tighter tolerances and thus more likely to break
- they are more complicated due to the above which means more to break
- with the above efficiently they use way less water but in my experience that means they clean worse
And also planned obsolescence
Buy European: Miele, Rex Electrolux, Beko (Turkish, don't get into that), Smeg, Candy, AEG, etc...
Don't want to jinx it, but my Electrolux washer-dryier is 7 years old and still like new, despite being relatively cheap and despite combined machines being more problematic.
load more comments
(8 replies)
I've repaired a few dryers, the new ones have the same aluminium drum like you would expect but for some godforsaken reason they're allowed to mount that drum in place on a plastic ring. The dial components and thermostats used to safely operate the heating elements are also much smaller, which is problematic given that gives them less capacitance for high voltage and heat causing them to fail easier.
But worst of all is that when they fail, not if but when, you can't just take the dial off and file the corrosion off the metal contacts, you have to order an entirely new board completely if they offer it at all. You can't just open the top and front panel with a few screws to take the drum out and do repairs, you have to unscrew every panel in order and detatch them from the additional internal chassis, and you're gonna need like 7 fucking arms to put the damn thing back together.
If I were in charge, these sort of blatant obsolences would be punishable with extradition and federal prison.
Survivorship bias is a heck of a drug.
There's no comparison between an old Maytag washer and dryer and a new/current Maytag washer and dryer. This is a case where survivorship bias does not apply, imo. Appliances were built more durable back in the day. There are plenty of older appliances working just fine today while some stuff under 5 years is already getting scrapped because it's too expensive to fix and/or parts aren't even available. It's total nonsense
load more comments
(7 replies)
Don't buy American washers, I think only speed queen still bothers with quality.
load more comments
(15 replies)
If your clothing washer stinks, run it on hot with just bleach inside it, like put in a bit too much bleach, no clothing
load more comments
(3 replies)
I had to buy 4 little plastic things for $15 every few years to keep my 25yo machine working. Last time I got like 50 of them for $25. I can keep her running for the rest of my life.
For front loaders you should leave the door cracked at least. Also clean under that rubber seal once in a while...
load more comments
(1 replies)
Should’a bought a Speed Queen