World of Washers

Unless your dryer suddenly dies and you are in need of a new one, they are pretty much an afterthought. I have seen people agonize over picking out a washing machine, but the only thought they really put into the dryer whether it's gas or electric. That's because when a consumer buys a washer, they usually also buy the dryer so they will have a matching set.

I remember this couple who came into the store one day shopping for washers. The husband just kind of stood there with his hands in his pockets while his wife looked at all of the washers we had on display. She turned the dials, lifted the lids, and asked all the right questions. He stood motionless, silent except for the occasional sigh. She'd ask him a question every once in a while, just to make him think his opinion mattered, and he'd look at her like she was speaking Klingonese.

After about two hours, she had finally zeroed in on a model she wanted. Of course, then she had to determine what color she wanted. (Damn you, LG!) Once that was out of the way, we sat down to write up the order. And that's when he finally broke his silence.

"What's your best price?"

"Is that the best you can do?"

"You know I could just take your price over to Best Buy and they'll just beat you."

"How's business been? You could probably really use this sale, couldn't you?" (I told the asshole I didn't work on commission. Ha! I really effing hate people sometimes.)

We finally agreed on a price. It was my original price, but I had thrown in three tubs of pretty good detergent.

Just then the wife piped with, "Oh, and we'll need the dryer to be electric."

"Dryer?" the husband replied, and then he looked right at me with an almost maniacal look of urgency and said, "Six tubs! I want six tubs of detergent!"

Anyway, the point of my post wasn't that people can be real douchebags sometimes, although it quickly degenerated into just that. My point was that when it comes to the dryer, people don't really put a whole lot of thought into the decision. They'll decide on a washer, but how they arrive at that decision does not usually involve the dryer.

Believe it or not, dryer capacity is important. When it comes to the dryer, the size of the drum will not so much effect how much laundry you can do at once. After all, you are only going to put into the dryer what you put into the washer. However, the size of the dryer will have an effect on what condition the clothes are in when they come out of it.

Generally speaking, you want the dryer to be twice as large as the washer. So for a 3.2cf capacity washer, you want a dryer to be at least 6.4cf. As you get into the bigger washers, that guideline can be more difficult to meet as the dryer sizes have not kept up with washer sizes. For instance, Electrolux offers a 4.7cf washer, while the companion dryer is "only" 8.0cf, instead of 9.4cf.

A larger dryer will provide the following benefits:

* less pilling: The clothes have more room to spread out so the fabric does not rub together so much throughout the cycle

* less wrinkling: Again, more room equals more room for the clothes to spread out

* faster dry times: More room equals more airflow and that equates to faster dry times

* more even drying: Yep, you guessed it. A larger drum will provide more room for the clothes to spread out while tumbling, and that will allow the items to dry more consistently (ie, the clothes won't be a massive ball with a big wet spot in the center).

So yes, dryer capacity is important. And that's always why I've hated Frigidaire dryers. Tiny little boxes with crappy airflow that really just tumble the clothes and bake them dry. And then there's that damn thing at the top of the drum, above the door, that clothes always seem to snag on.

Yeah. Frigidaire dryers really kinda suck.