OUR LAUNDRY MAKEOVER (AND WHY WE LOVE OUR WASHER AND DRYER)

Late last year, we finally bid goodbye to our washing machine of 10 years (it was my husband’s even way before I got married to him) for a couple of reasons:

* It’s already an old model, and had been fixed a couple of times.

* We have been using a washing machine more because my son has grown, explores a lot more, hence, changes clothes a lot more often.

* I wanted these two features for a washing machine: front load, and energy efficient.

I wanted a front load washer not only because it saves more water (by up to 40%!), but simply because I want our son to be able to partake in our daily life activities. Our top load was on top of a metal stand because our water outlet was high, so it was even higher than the regular top load. I had a challenging time washing there, because I always had to use a stool — what more my son? Thankfully, we did not have this challenge with our new washer, so we didn’t need a stand anymore.

My husband, on the other hand, wanted a front load machine because front loaders consistently outperform top loaders in terms of cleaning. Front load machines use an action that tumbles clothes in an up and down position (similar to hand washing), so in essence, front load machines do efficient and gentle cleaning.

Also, our rule of thumb whenever we replace an appliance is to get appliances that are energy-efficient, or help us save on our electric bill. So far, considering all our upgrades in the last year (refrigerator, electric fans, washer) and even an addition (the dryer), our bill is still lower than the previous years. Anyway, after asking online and doing our own research, we went for the Electrolux Ultimate Care line for both washer (inverter) and dryer.

Dryer? In the Philippines?

To be honest at first, we were thinking we would only use the dryer when really needed (ex: rainy season). But as our son is growing, and Daday is also getting older, we noticed that she has a hard time just hanging all our clothes (like I said, my son changes clothes quite often), most especially when it suddenly rains and she has to run to get all the sampay (hung clothes). So we decided to go with a dryer, too.

A real confession: I seriously hated our laundry area. I didn’t like hanging out there, but as Marie Kondo says, we must only keep things that “spark joy”, and, I totally get why — I seriously don’t mind hanging out here anymore, and get this: I get excited to actually do the laundry! In fact, I have made a new Family Schedule and put laundry under MY CHORE!!! Haha! Who am I and who have I become? Thank you, Electrolux, for making it easy!

Our laundry space – before and after! To be honest, the before photo looks decent compared to how it really looked with all the detergents, and hangers, etc always “dumped” there.

Now, before I show you our makeover, let me talk about why we chose (or why we love the Electrolux Ultimate Care line).

1) SPACE SAVER – Our previous washer was much wider than this, but could carry less load. This can wash up to 11 kg of load, so even our king-sized sheets can easily fit. And, because it’s slim but powerful, we didn’t have a problem adding the dryer beside it. If you want or need though, this combo is actually stackable! Yey for maximizing spaces! Sidenote: a front loader washer is really a space saver not only because you can stack, but because you can place a table on top of it for folding, hampers, etc.

This was when the washer and dryer first arrived. We tried stacking them to see how it would look, but decided to place them beside each other since we have space, and so we can put a table on top of the appliances. Look at the door – it’s brown! I asked my husband to paint it white, too!

2) USER-FRIENDLY – This is one thing we love about Electrolux — the way they design it is really friendly for the actual users. I mentioned that this combo is stackable, but the cooler thing is that they can even move the controls of the dryer (dryer is on top when you do the stacked setup) to the bottom part of the dryer (instead of on top as seen on the photo) so you can still easily reach and control it without needing a stool! They’re so mindful in that sense — all our Electrolux products are easy to use. It’s also very easy to operate the washer and the dryer in general.

3) WEIGHING SCALE – For each program of the washer, the machine will tell you the recommended limit of the load for that feature (so some features allow 11kg, some only 5kg), but here’s the amazing thing — you don’t even need to guess or put the clothes in a separate weighing scale, because the washer already reads and weighs your items as soon as you place them in the machine! Amazing! By the way, this load sensor technology is there to make sure there is no overloading, no over-washing, hence, less wear and tear. Make sure your follow their recommended weight per program!

4) QUICK 15/ FAST 40 PROGRAM – For those that need washing for next day’s event, have newly-bought clothes/towels, etc, the machine can do light washing in just 15 minutes! And do light drying for only 40 minutes! The washer does the spin drying, and it does it well, so if you would rather sun dry than put it in a dryer, your items will dry quickly, too!

5) PRESET MODES – presets you can do to help your machine do the job needed. Mine would be the “prewash” or “stain”, where I add a little more soap on the prewash container, and it really takes out the stains on the clothes I put. The best for those with children! I’ve tested it HERE. I also love the Vapour preset, where you can put in your clothes that just need refreshing, not necessarily washing (ex: nakulob na damit sa cabinet), and it will revive your garments without water or detergent!

My husband’s polo straight from our dryer.

6) ANTI-WRINKLE FEATURE – We noticed that with this washer and even the dryer, there is less wrinkling on our clothes! The photo above is how my husband’s polo looks like after using the dryer, to think that’s already the type of fabric that gets really wrinkly! We don’t use irons as often anymore, especially when we choose delicate mode, wheee!

7) GENTLE – I love that this line is made to be gentle on our garments! We noticed, after more than month of use, that there’s NO shrinking (this is the usual complaint of people when it comes to dryers), and NO color fading even with our new clothes! When I asked their technician why the garments don’t shrink, he said it’s because of the sensor dry technology – this adjusts the heat depending on the fabrics detected, so they receive the perfect amount of heat. So so happy we chose this line! The BABY CARE program is supposed to even be gentler (though washing takes longer from our observation), and the WOOL program is made to wash even garments that are normally for handwashing only (have yet to try this because I haven’t worn that type of garment since using this)!

8) QUIET – Another thing we truly appreciate about these machines! They’re really quiet — I just realize there’s a machine on when it’s about to end! 

9)  TUB CLEAN – This is probably one of my favorite features of the washer! You see, for our previous washer, we had to put vinegar, etc in our machine to clean it! With this one, all you need to do is press the TUB CLEAN program, and it will clean itself. We do this every 10-14 days, and I don’t have to worry about a dirty washing machine. So easy!

10) BUILT-IN WATER HEATER – When I shared about our washer and how I can choose to just wash with cold water or set the temperature I want in my Instagram stories, I was pleasantly surprised to learn from others that not all washers have built-in water heater. Apparently, there are models where you have to install a mechanism to heat the water. All Electrolux washers come with a built-in water heater, so you don’t need to do anything special or extra. Just plug it and let it do the heating work for you.

11) ANTI-ALLERGY FEATURES – Aside from having these features in the washer itself, I was pleasantly surprised that even for the dryer, I don’t worry about the lint giving me allergy when I clean. See that lint filter/catcher that we’re supposed to take out after every dryer cycle? I remember hating this part so much whenever I had to use a dryer (while traveling) because it would give me allergy once I would start scraping it — because the lint would go everywhere. This one is enclosed, so it’s not messy, and the filter is so smooth that when you scrape it, the whole thing just becomes compact with no flying lint. So neat, so well thought of!

12) ELECTROLUX LIFE APP FOR THE WASHER – You can install the Electrolux Life app and connect your washer through wifi. This is helpful in helping you track your washer even from your room or somewhere else. Say you’re working in your room, you don’t need to keep going back to your washer to check the washing is done. Just check your app to monitor it real time. You can adjust everything (settings, heat temperature, etc) through wifi! This is one of my favorite features! Life really made easy!

Just a few tips should you choose to get the same models:

* I mentioned earlier that we keep a small towel handy in the laundry area. This is to wipe the gasket after each wash to prevent molds. Someone told me about her mold issue with her front load washer (another brand) and she gave me this tip (plus to leave the door open for about 5 minutes). The Electrolux technician said that yes, I can do this if I want to, but said that the tub clean feature of this Electrolux washer should cover the possible molding, so it’s not really needed. I still do it as a precaution, though, since it’s such an easy step to do.

* You can of course keep the manuals somewhere near the machines to make them handy, but another thing I love about Electrolux is you can easily find their manuals on the website! So it’s easy to always get a copy of your manual!

* There’s also a CHILD LOCK feature in the washer. When you turn it on, you will not be able to close the washer.

Now, on to our Laundry Makeover.

This is basically what you see when you get to our laundry area: our Electrolux washer and dryer, a table my husband made (so we can fold clothes here), our hampers, a cute laundry sign given by my sister-in-law, and geometric lamps that we spray painted and filled with plants.

You’re probably wondering where we put our laundry soaps, laundry bags, etc.

Tadaaah!

I bought a spice rack with wheels from Lazada (there’s a sturdier one from Make Room PH), and thankfully, it fits our laundry space (I had to take out a layer to make the height fit)!

Whenever I search for pegs on Pinterest, the laundry soaps tend to be on a shelf on top of the appliances, but I wanted less stuff on our wall, and more importantly, I wanted to place the soaps where our child could also reach them, to help him succeed in doing laundry with very minimal intervention. The spice rack was just perfect for our space! So far, it’s holding up – I just make sure to place the heavy stuff at the bottom.

As for the table, I asked my husband to leave a little space on top of the appliances for this purpose:

These are laundry-related stuff. One is for folding shirts (which our son loves – watch his video working with the adult version HERE), and another is a small washing board, in case we need to do manual washing.

This photo will show how I organized everything:

Aside from the table, detergents rack, and space for our clothes folders and washing board, we also moved our towel bar (it was on another wall previously) on the side (the hampers usually cover it) so we can hang our laundry towel (as explained in one of my tips above). And do you spot that tiny hamper below the towel? That’s where we put the clothes that need handwashing — not because our appliances cannot wash our clothes (it can wash even wool and other delicates), but because our we are still potty learning here at home, so the briefs with pee go in there for handwashing before it’s popped in the machine.

Lastly, this one I encircled is my favorite find:

Can you guess what it is? It’s so useful!

Tadaaaah!

See? You can just fold it when not in use, but I can put my clothes for hanging here! Wheee!

So that’s our laundry room tour for today! I hope this gave you ideas on what appliances and accessories to buy (if you’re looking), and how to maximize your laundry space! Would love to hear your thoughts!  

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1 Comment

  1. Hi! Trying to tidy up our small room and use it as utility room. There is a small toilet inside it but not sure how I can set this up just like you did. First time to have this washer, dryer set up too. How is the water inlet and drain set up? Thanks!

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