When we went appliance shopping, we looked at washing machines first. There were so many options, it was quite exhausting trying to find a good fit. While most households in Japan still don't have dryers, they are becoming more popular. But buying a dryer doesn't mean you have another appliance. Lots of washing machine models have a dryer function as well! I was first introduced to this concept early in my marriage during a vacation to Japan where we stayed with my in-laws. They had the latest and greatest model, that featured a steam dryer. My mother-in-law was very insistent that I use this new machine even though I had no idea how to use it. You put everything in and closed the door. After you put the soap in the drawer, you let it run. And it ran, and ran, and ran. For 4 hours!!! When I pulled my clothes out, they were steamed alright. My brand new pair of jeans had permanent creases in them from the steam dryer. I was not impressed.
Well, the washer/dryer combo has come a long way in the past fifteen years. There were around 6 models of separate dryers, but those were mostly for combining with older machines or very old homes that can't hold a larger combo machine.
Why all the resistance to dryers? Laundry is still primary hung outside. Homes come with skinny porches specifically for the purpose of hanging the wet stuff outside. This is another reason not to let it pile up - crowded wet clothes take much longer to dry! This is fine in the summer, but in the rainy season and winter it gets a bit annoying. You end up having clothes hanging all over your house or clogging up your bathroom.
So, after looking at a lot of different models, we found the washer that we wanted. It took several tries to make sure it would fit, including having a service department representative come to our house to confirm it would fit. It was quite the headache, but worth it when we knew for sure the $3,000 machine would actually work!
After delivery, my husband had to walk me though how to use the machine. There are the "normal" washing features - gentle, regular, heavy duty, and so forth. The biggest difference, in my opinion, is the water selection. You can set up a hose to use the cold bathwater for the first washing cycle. Since you wash before you bathe (the bath is just for soaking), it is not "dirty" water and perfectly good for washing your clothes. After the first washing cycle, it uses tap water for the rinse cycle. I think this is a great way to reduce the amount of water being used in a household.
I prefer to have the machine stop between the washing and drying functions so I can grab anything that I don't want to go in the dryer and hang them to dry. But the machine can do both cycles in about 2 hours. I have enjoyed having the dryer and especially love the fluff feature that tosses the laundry around every minute or two for 30 minutes after the dryer is finished to reduce wrinkling when you can't get right to the clean clothes.
On a sunny day, I hung everything out to dry. Once done, I tossed everything in the dryer for 10 minutes to fluff it. It was wonderful. The smell of the sun, but the softness of the dryer.
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