Proposed EU rules would require clothes to last longer and be easier to repair

Re:Proposed EU rules would require clothes to last longer an... by ClumsyPilot on Sunday April 03, 2022 @12:31PM (#30898103)

What stops a washing machine made in year 2010 from using same amount of water as one made in 2025? Was that water never needed at all?

Did we discover new phisics of washing? Do we have any reason to believe further improvement is possible?

This is a physical process, you can't have infinite improvement - there is a certain minimum amount of water required to dissolve detergent, and it can be easilly calculated.

They don't do much, does anyone have a real explanation without any handwaving?

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Re:Proposed EU rules would require clothes to last longer an... by geoduck14 on Sunday April 03, 2022 @10:11PM (#30902725)

I replaced my washing machine and dryer a year or two ago. I was pretty skeptical that a new set would make any difference, so I held off until it broke.

The new machines are better. I'm not an expert, but I think the biggest differences are: sensors to stop adding water when it isn't necessary, a really powerful spinner in the washer that dries the clothes better, powerful spinner in the dryer. Btw, my washing machine is top load, fwiw.

Oh, and to answer a different question: why didn't we have this stuff years ago? I think, no one cared enough to do it.

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Re:Proposed EU rules would require clothes to last longer an... by ghaff on Sunday April 03, 2022 @03:07PM (#30899687)

Have you watched the cycle of a modern front loader versus an old top loader?

The old top loader basically filled up a big tub with hot water and sloshed it around a bit.

Modern front loaders just incrementally add the amount of water needed as determined by weight. Presumably wouldn’t have worked nearly as well with the available detergents of 50 years ago.

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Re:Proposed EU rules would require clothes to last longer an... by ClumsyPilot on Sunday April 03, 2022 @07:35PM (#30901858)

First, we should be talking about the next 20 years - after all we are talking about a law we will introduce today, not in the past, and noone it talking about appliances lasting a century.

Secondly, while I never used a top loader, from everything I've read, they are worse in every dimention, so the comparison seems inappropriate - you are introducing extra variables.

Also I am not clear why 'incrementally adding water' was not possible previously, People built a 'smart' toaster 70 years ago, that could sence how cooked your bread is, and it was purely mechanical:

https://www.theverge.com/22801890/sunbeam-radiant-control-to...

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Re:Proposed EU rules would require clothes to last longer an... by ghaff on Sunday April 03, 2022 @09:00PM (#30902373)

Top loaders are basically an automated version of doing laundry but by hand. A 40-50 year old top loader which is probably what mine would have been today if it had kept working is much much simpler in many respects than a modern front loader. The spin cycle and it’s control is very different. I doubt you could build a modern washing machine with 1970 technology even if you knew what the end goal should be. And you need the right detergent too.

Added: And toasters still do a crap job of figuring out done-ness.

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