I think I LOVE this

Aaak. I have become the grown-up of my teenage nightmares; I am excited about an appliance. 

Our old top-loading washing machine gave up the ghost last week and we decided to invest in a front-loader - based on our resolve to replace old appliances with energy star rated ones as the old ones die.  This one had been terminal for a while and required one of us to reach in and give the tub an initial whirl before it would start the spin cycle. When it leaked oil all over our clothes, we got the word form the repairman that we had no choice but to let her go.

So we now have a handsome front loader wedged next to my grandmother's 40-year old Lady Kenmore dryer (which the repairman says may never die - a testament to both old-fashioned quality and to two generations of hanging clothes on the line instead). This is by no means the most radical solution to clothes-washing energy-saving; a lot of folks are exploring much more frugal methods - No Impact Man Colin Beaven, for example, who washes clothes in the bath tub, and Cindy from Waste Wear Daily who diverts used washer water to her garden - but it's surprisingly good. While we got the new one based on energy and water savings (it uses 20 gallons per full load as opposed to 50 gallons), I was thrilled (see how far gone I am?) at how thoroughly it spun out the water from the laundry.  Clothes dry at least twice as fast on the clothesline, and I imagine it wouldn't take nearly as long in the dryer either.  With our humid summer weather fast approaching, and our hoped-for move to the Catholic Worker House, I am interested to see how many loads we can get on the clothesline each day.

Be still my heart.