Washing machines

almost all people I have seen in the Philippines that have a washing machine in their house do so because of the foreign influence of people like us who were brainwashed long ago by the consumer cultures we grew up in into thinking that stuff like washing machines are totally indispensable.

one exception I knew was a woman in Leyte with one kid, quite well off she got seriously ill, recovered, but lost being able to use her hands as well as she did before. This made especially doing the laundry but also even preparing and chopping up vegetables and stuff for cooking more difficult. Her husband was able to help her with the cooking, but drew the line at doing the laundry as well. So they got a washing machine. But they don't particularly like having one. It is not like they think they have 'made it' because they are able to afford to buy a washing machine. It is only because they have no choice, because the woman who had previously done the laundry by hand with no complaint had gotten sick, that they have a washing machine at all in the first place. To their way of thinking the washing machine isn't like this reassuring gurgle in the corner like it is to the western ear, but this artificial noise that they could really do without. It is just a totally different mindset.

another couple I know in Manila, really quite affluent family, can afford big SUV and frequent foreign holidays, could easily afford a washing machine however they do without having one on the basis that they don't need one. Why bother? As well as a driver they have two helpers who can do the laundry by hand better than a washing machine can. Or at least that is what they think. They weren't brainwashed like we were, by all the advertising of the consumer culture when they were really pushing the concept of washing machines into our mindsets, and claiming machines wash clothes better than handwashing does (which they don't), from the 1950s onwards. They missed all that. They may be quite rich but that doesn't mean they make a beeline to the appliance section in the mall for a washing machine as soon as they can afford it. They think clothes are things that are and should be washed by hand, and as they have two domestic servants, that's great because it means that they don't have to do it themselves.

or one more family I know on the Camotes, they have a pension house there, where I have often stayed. I noticed they had a big washing machine in the utility type room they had, but that nevertheless every morning various people - not just staff but family members also, would still do the clothes washing by hand. I asked them why do you do the clothes laundry by hand, when you have a big washing machine. They said the washing machine is just for sheets, pillow cases and bedding, stuff like that, for the pension. Not for our clothes.

it is just a totally different mindset. I'm sure there must be relatively affluent Filipino families where there is no foreign influence, that do buy washing machines, to use to do their clothes laundry, even when it is only a small amount as there aren't all that many of them - like, a couple with maybe just one kid. But I have never seen any. Whereas a western influenced family i.e. one with a kano bloke in it, on the same amount of income, and with only one kid, thinks that a washing machine is indispensable.

I'm a westerner myself. I'm pretty sure that if I had a wife and a kid came along I'd think sheesh we were OK before, but now we're going to need a washing machine. Because I am not immune, I grew up with a washing machine, dryer, later dishwasher and all sorts of other appliances around too and it had an effect. A kid coming along raises the workload a lot. But with just two people, with the kind of light clothes people tend to wear in the Philippines, clothes are so easy to handwash, there would be absolutely no need for me to have one.

compared to us, Filipinos just don't see all that much utility in washing machines. Give them the choice between a washing machine, and a state of the art videoke machine, that are worth the same amount of money, and you just know which one they will likely choose, just as you know hands down, which one a westerner would.

 

I'm married to a Filipina that for most of her 30 years of life washed her clothes by hand. When she moved in with me, she was ECSTATIC that I have a washing machine. She will still wash by hand clothes that I have gotten grease or oil on from tinkering with the car or motorcycle. But everything else, goes in the washer. She absolutely INSISTS that we have a washer when we move to the Phils. The basic move is to put the laundry in the machine with soap, let it soak for about an hour, then turn it on. She believes that it gets the clothes cleaner that she could do it by hand...the BIGGER bonus is that we have more time to do what we please because we spend less time on chores.

 

I believe you but for every one of those that are as you say 'ecstatic' when they have use of a washing machine there is another half-dozen that are distinctly underwhelmed and never actually use it. The thing with the women is that you never know for absolute sure if they are just feigning the 'ecstasy' at having a washing machine, because they can see that is what you like. It is like a badge, of your western-ness.

I guarantee, that if she had moved in with you and you did not have a washing machine and just washed your own clothes by hand like I do, she would not think there was anything unusual or strange about it at all, like a western woman probably would. She would just probably take up the laundry duty herself. That is what girls usually do with me. They say 'I will be the one to your washing'. They don't think, why don't you get a washing machine, or use a laundry, you idiot.

I'll never forget years ago one foreigner I knew of who came to the Philippines for a couple of months, got a girlfriend and put her up in a better guesthouse than she was staying in before. Then he went back to the states to prepare getting a visa for her to join him there. The girl was a friend of a girl I was seeing. As a parting gift, he got her this washing machine and paid to have it installed in the shared kitchen of the boarding house. He thought he was delivering her from this agonising grind of handwashing her clothes, only not realising that he was the one who thought handwashing was an agonising grind, not her who thought it was just a normal part of ordinary life and not a grind at all. The girl was bemused by the gift, never used it, and I think ended up selling it.

and that is not an isolated case. Loads of foreigners report buying washing machines for girl's relatives etc, thinking they are doing them this great big favour, only they end up never getting used. It is not because Filipinos are stupid or that they don't know how to use the appliance correctly. It is because unlike us, most of them just don't see the point in using them at all.

 

Highway_61...From my experience with Filipinas which spans about 30 years, I think you are painting them with a very wide brush. Even my mother-in-law, who has been hand washing clothes for 50 years for a family of 8 loves the idea and ease of use of the washing machine when they come to visit. All my friends with Filipina wives prefer washers over hand washing. While there may be many Filipinas that would do the laundry by hand while sitting next to a washing machine, I think it is more out of ignorance of how to use it as well as familiarity of the "old-fashioned" way. Perhaps it may be that the performance of the cheap machines they have seen/used truly is inferior to hand-washing; or perhaps I just know Filipinas that have better things to do with their time than beat clothes against a rock all day....YMMV

 

I think you are overstating how hard handwashing actually is. It is not difficult at all. It just looks or seems to us difficult, because we were influenced by all that crap saying how hard handwashing is compared to the ease of these new washing machines in the tv commericals that brainwashed us starting from the 1950s onwards. Handwashing is more work, but is it really any more when there is only one or two of you and the items of clothing you are wearing are all lightweight, and not jeans or sweaters, or anything bulky and heavy?

just out of interest, when is the last time you handwashed your own clothes? What do you actually know for yourself, as to how easy or difficult it is?

I handwash all my own clothes in the Philippines except when some girl does it for me, it is just not difficult even when I am moving around a lot I still manage it very easily and almost never use a laundry. I only wear 3 lightweight items of clothing on most days, and even if I change once a day, it is still easy. I just get one of those element things for next to nothing in a hardware store that heats up a bucket of water that makes it miles easier to get them clean than the way they tend to do it, with cold water. And I am very sceptical indeed with the 'All my friends with Filipina wives prefer washers over hand washing' line. Maybe they are just telling you what you want to hear. You are the reason why there is a washing machine in your house. You, not them, are the one that is so utterly convinced washing machines are a big improvement - they know this, it is like one of those curious western traits to them, so they fall into line with your way of thinking even if they privately think that washing machines are a bit naff, and think instead why doesn't he buy something we really could have a use for instead of that stupid washing machine, like a videoke machine which we would enjoy more. Most Filipinos with as much or more money than foreigners have, don't seem to me to bother with washing machines hardly at all. I can't even think of one apart from that Leyte family that got a washing machine because of health reasons - though I am sure they must exist because all those crappy washing machines in the malls can't be there just for that small number of families with foreigners in them. Basically, if you have enough money to own a washing machine, then you have enough money to hire a helper or two. And guess what happens. They do it.

 

Can I say, since I started this thread, that everyone is entitled to his or her own opinions and personal preferences on whether to hand wash or machine wash! It does not need to be another mud slinging contest! As for me, since I literallly do everything in my household, cooking, cleaning, driving, shopping, and full-time care-giver of a disabled adult, I PREFER the convenience of a washing machine, and shoot me if I get a dryer, too!! I have been used to having a washing machine in my home my entire life, but have been using laundry service and doing my own hand-washing the past 4 years (neither of which is convenient for me), thus I have determined a machine is best suited to my needs. I have had holes torn into clothing by a lady who I let hand wash for a short while. I have had my clothes smell like mildew one too many times from not getting dry when she left them out in the rain. That was when I started using laundry services or doing it myself. So, I don't buy into the "hand-washing is better" train of thought. This is my personal experience and opinion, and I am entitled to it!

 

Back to your original question, redneck. My preference is a front-loader. My reason are; they use less water, IMHO tumbling does get the clothes cleaner vs. sloshing (Top-loader), and believe it or not, a front-loader actually uses less energy to accomplish the same task and has less stress on the parts. Ever seen a top-loader get out of balance? Can you imagine the stress that puts on the shaft, bearings, etc for even the short time until it auto shut-off?

What I absolutely DO NOT recommend is that you buy a front loader combination washer/dryer (All-in-one). When the machine goes from washing to drying, it locks the door and will not unlock it until the drum temperature has cooled to the point that it will not burn your skin if touched. This makes for very wrinkled clothes that will take 16 helpers and a week of time just to get the wrinkles out of your shorts! I had one of these machines once and a king size bed sheet came out so wrinkled that it was the size of a pillow case.

In order of price performance and least maintenance costs, I would recommend Samsung, Haier, Whirlpool, LG, Panasonic in that order.

Cheers!

 

I'm not doing any mudslinging at all and have in fact observed that if I was in the situation of having a kid, but probably not if there was just two of us, I would I think get a washing machine. But if there is only two of us I wouldn't. Because washing clothes in the Philippines, for two people, with clothing in the Philippines being the way it is, is not difficult. There have been times when I've been with girls that had jobs in like offices and banks, where they had to look reasonably good in formalish attire. They had two sets of work clothes, one of which I would wash while they were at work. I'd wash and dry them myself. Just drop them down at reception, to let them iron them for 20 pesos, though if I'd had an iron I would have done that myself probably too.

main thing to remember is that is that Filipinos themselves, provided they aren't being leaned on by some foreigner to get to think that they are a totally indispensable part of life, don't think that much of washing machines. You can see this when you go to their houses (this is the 99% of Filipino families where there is no foreigner in it). You know they could afford one. They have all sorts of other stuff like laptops, tablets, cars, helpers that means they could afford it if they wanted one.

but they don't want one. And it isn't because they are stupid or because they don't know how to operate the machine. It is because unlike us, they think they are a bit of white elephant and not worth having.