Our apartment has a wash cycle once every 2 weeks but we hav not bought a wash machine because we simply don't have space.
Most often the key arrives 2 days ahead so we have learnt to manage (stock up essentials), the trouble is when we have guests/Family over, our's stay quite long esp in summer.
I was looking at one of those portable/mini washing machines and both amazon.de and amazon.com have great reviews. I would like to know if any of the forum members have had some experience with the same.
I also see a lot of small but normal washing machines on ricardo like novomatic, candy etc which is an under sink model. Would it be easy for me to buy a used one and install in my apartment, My guess is these small/compact models do not need installation and need a water inlet and a sink where water can drain.
I have been to FUST and INTERDISCOUNT but the sales guys there is always walking me down to 1200-1400 CHF machine, for standby machine I do not want to spend so much.
We've just replaced a small (3kg wash) Candy machine - much noise in spin cycle (probably bearing gone). As with most things- here, and general - repair was discouraged, with advice being a new machine - "normal" size 7kg Hoover, being bought as a replacement.
The Candy was OK when we were 2 plus a toddler - but when the toddler, got bigger (more clothes) and no.4 came along, it meant that it was running many cycles per week, and after 10yrs. obviously couldn't cope with the workload.
This small type does cost more - 10yrs. ago it was about CHF1000, when regular machines were, on average, about half that. At CHF1000 this was still at the low end of the price range for the small type.
The replacement Hoover only cost just over CHF500 with a CHF300 sale reduction, from Conforama.
For two people the small one should be fine, but may struggle in the long term, if needed to wash for more, regularly. Expect to pay more than for a normal size - but check out Conforama (if one nearby) - they have small Candys (and similar) for about CHF800 - and sometimes cheaper, on offer.
Look into how easy/cheap it may be to have it plumbed in - at least for the outflow - or ensure you can have the pipe positioned where the pressure of the water being pumped out, wont move the the pipe out of the bath/basin.
If you can possibly find space, a normal size m/c would be cheaper to buy.
which had some good reviews and for the size seemed a good deal. We also didn't have to bother the plumbing to start using it. If you just intend to do a few shirts, undies per load then it's ok. But if you want to do heavier materials like blankets, towels, (or rubber shoes?) then the space and spin of this would be too weak.
I'm now looking at a mini washing machine that'll fit under the sink like the Fust Novomatic Aqua-stop or this Kenwood Mini (saw it at toppreise.ch) which has similarls low height (68cm), but I still can't find online reviews on their performance so hoped to see some here in Englishforum.
Will keep an eye out in this thread as well in case some recommendations for a tiny washing machine comes along. Good luck!
TiMow - I think 10 years id a good life time for any machine, normal size or a mini but I agree with you about the cost, the small/mini washing machines cost an arm and a leg, i was hoping to find a 2yr old or 3 year old in Ricardo or one of the moving sale....
Divegurl: Thank you for your response, I am looking at a couple of small loads between the wash cycles
I will wait for more responces before deciding as well :-)
I had one already in my last flat. It was normal size, top-loading, you attached it to the tap and the waste water went down the sink.
The annoying thing was the power cable for it had to go out the door and across the flat on an extension lead and you couldn't shut the bathroom door while it was on, plus every wash took apprx. four hours - so it was quite annoying....
We're about to have our first baby and want to get a portable or mini washing machine to supplement our once a week access to the building's laundry room
Does anyone have a suggestion for getting a portable (around 2 kilo capacity) versus a mini (up to 4 kilo, I believe)? Any brand recommendations? I'm mostly worried about things like the baby's spit up or, ahem, leaky diapers....things I'd want to get washed right away without looking around the house for enough to fill up a medium sized load. Or should I expect a baby to be able to fill up a load a day on his/her own?
Do you realize you will most likely have to ask the apartment owner for permission as many/most contracts say you aren't allowed to use a washing machine in the apartment without permission.
We have a extra tap in the bath to connect a washing machine to, but no space in the bathroom to put one (not even under the sink). To top it off there is a step up into the bathroom and nowhere to put one (permanently) outside the bathroom door.
I have seen some of these small top loading machines that have small wheels on the bottom.
Is there anyway we could move one of these washing machines into place when we want to use it?? Or would this be a complete nightmare??
There really doesn't seem to be any other option for us (we aren't looking to do ALL our washing this way, just to be able to do a couple of small loads in between our weekly washing day).
You can do it, just remember to have two strong people. I bought one used that is upright, and from the picture looks easy, They weight them down with cement blocks and weigh a ton. Bring some extra man power.
If it makes you feel better, I saw in the Niederdorf in Zurich, on the 4th floor of an old building, in the attic converted space, someone, probably at the end of WW1, hauled a massive washing machine that looked like a small green tank. People manage when they want convenience bad enough.
I have a 19 day laundry cycle. 19 days!! How does anyone have space for that many clothes (especially with two adults and an infant)? Anyways, I am obviously in need of a washer/dryer combo solution. How can I tell online if the unit can be hooked up to the tap and a standard outlet? I realize I may just have to hoof it to the store to do a recon mission but I would really like to have a starting point!
We got a brandt 6kg top loader in our apartment from ricardo and it worked great. I have no experience with the mini ones. We thought if we were to go to the effort of getting a machine we might as well go for as big as was possible.
We had to get the go ahead from the landlord to have it installed. Then we called a plumber and got a tap installed under the sink in our small toilet for inlet/outlet. It was a straight forward job, it didn't take long, can't remember the cost sorry. We gave up the use of this area to be a washing machine room as you couldn't pass to use the toilet very well anymore, but it was worth it as we also had a new baby, top floor, difficult laundry arrangement. Also when my family visited it was very handy.
I can only again recommend looking at brandt 6kg. Its the same size as the 4kg machine but holds that 2kg extra, bigger drum. You mightn't always use it but its good to have if there is an emergency towel wash needed! We eventually bathed our baby every evening to help settle her to sleep and towels built up!! For a dayload of clothes though (if you have time with a newborn to keep ontop of it!!) I doubt you would need more than 2kg as babys clothes are tiny My husband complains no end when he has to hang up a 6kg load of teeny tiny bits! haha!
While researching online purchases, I often look for and download the instruction manual (search by brand/model). That could tell you definitevely how to hook up, and features it has (or doesn't have, if not mentioned). A little bit of homework saves much frustration and buyers remorse down the road.
19 days!!! That would drive me nuts. and its only the 2 of us- how anyone can cope with this with kids, beats me. A timely reminded that before you sign a contract for a flat, CHECK THE WASHING MACHINE ROSTA first- or whether you have the space and most importantly, the permission (due to flood risk, noise an vibrations) from the landlord.
If you do not have permission from the landlord, you could get in all sorts of trouble- so this is essential.
It solved all our problems because we had nowhere to install a "conventional" washing machine. But this one is so light that you just move in into place (in our case, we sit it on the end of the bathtub) when you want to use it and voilà. You can connect the inlet pipe to an ordinary tap (or bucket load it like we do) and you are away laughing.
...oh, and did I mention it only takes 15min to wash, 15min to rinse, and 5min to spin....with the clothes coming out really dry.