Seewalds 24 - Bought the House from Grandma

[JermajestyDuggar]

I've decided Henry looks a lot like Jordyn as a baby.

[bal maiden]

7 hours ago, QueenieGoldstein said:

I had every intention to cloth nappy my children but in the end disposables won out for conscience sake. Here in the UK laundry services are rare but in some areas are more popular. I don't blame Jessa for using branded, you often get what you pay for with nappies!

Laundry services are rare, but British and European washing machines are much, much easier to wash cloth nappies in than American machines! I have done cloth both living in the US and UK. 

@VineHeart137 you could break your husband in easy with a hybrid cloth/disposable system such as gDiapers, where there is a disposable (compostable iirc) inner bit, and you wash the outer parts. This is how I got my husband to come around to cloth with our first! 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, bal maiden said:

Laundry services are rare, but British and European washing machines are much, much easier to wash cloth nappies in than American machines! I have done cloth both living in the US and UK. 

I knew there was a big difference as American colleagues always rave about our washing machines when they're over here (I live near 2 USAF bases) I never knew there was such a difference until I moved here and lived in a community with a high US population. 

[melon]

I used both cloth and disposable diapers.Once,my mother was visiting,and I had my son in a cloth diaper.She acted appalled.She asked me why I was using cloth diapers.I said,"Well, you did".She agreed but said she thought disposables were so much easier.And then gave me the money to go buy disposables.I used Luvs,Huggies or Pampers,usually with a coupon ,the price wasn't bad.I always rinsed out cloth diapers,then again ,before washing them.Pull Ups,they did not have them.I had training pants,terry style and thicker.

[Carm_88]

Ben reading to his boys. Henry seems interested and so does Spurgeon!

[Percy]

What is the difference between US and U.K. Washing machines?

[calimojo]

in the video posted from today's video ( on pickles), Michelle looks like quite the social butterfly.  She is talking animatedly to people, giving hugs, even full on front hugs to a couple of little girls at the end.  What is odd though is that when she is talking to Derick and Jill, it doesn't at all seem  like how a mom would be talking to her daughter and son in law.  I watched it without sound ( not sure if it has sound), and just the non-verbal, seem so off to me.  If I had no idea who these people were, I would never peg them as mother and daughter.  

[SapphireSlytherin]

24 minutes ago, Percy said:

What is the difference between US and U.K. Washing machines?

UK washing machines are FAR superior. They're front-load, but they don't have all the problems of the US-market front-loaders. They get clothes cleaner - MUCH cleaner. And they fit under the kitchen counter. That means they have a smaller capacity than your typical US front-loader. 

The UK also has much better laundry detergents than we do. Their Persil, for example, is amaze-balls. The US formulation is different. Even better is the German formula for Persil...

Their tumble dryers are generally the same as US dryers.

[Percy]

I wonder why there is such a difference? Is it cost?  Do the US manufacturers have a deal with the clothing market to not clean clothing as well so people update their clothing more often? 

[Cheetah]

OMG I hate UK washers, sorry.    They take forEVER!!!   Family of 5... you can't just show up while traveling at your UK airbnb with several days' worth of laundry and expect to get it done in an hour or 2 :-).   

[Beermeet]

33 minutes ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

UK washing machines are FAR superior. They're front-load, but they don't have all the problems of the US-market front-loaders. They get clothes cleaner - MUCH cleaner. And they fit under the kitchen counter. That means they have a smaller capacity than your typical US front-loader. 

The UK also has much better laundry detergents than we do. Their Persil, for example, is amaze-balls. The US formulation is different. Even better is the German formula for Persil...

Their tumble dryers are generally the same as US dryers.

WTF!  Not fair but good for you guys! But, why??!!!

[SapphireSlytherin]

15 minutes ago, Cheetah said:

They take forEVER!!!

True. Maybe that's why they clean better? lol

[Percy]

I have a top loader that is huge and can clean doonas.

It takes about an hour for a cycle, I am very happy with the cleanliness of my wash.

How long do US machines take to do a cycle?

[kacarlton]

The lack of a People shoot makes me think they may be backing away from the public eye.  I see no reason People wouldn't be interested.  
Having a baby is isolating. It is so much easier to deal with when others are around to have adult conversations with.  If I had a choice I would also be at my family's place, just so I could talk about something other than, yes thats a dog, yep still a dog, yes you love the dog all day long.

If it makes you feel better, I have a young man with Down syndrome in my life who I love dearly. But for him, for the 23 years I've known him (he's 26 now), it's always about what's next ad nauseam. Even if he's doing something he likes to do, he asks what's after and wants to go over the schedule for the next week/month/period of time until his birthday several hundred times a day. [emoji23]

[kacarlton]

I wonder why there is such a difference? Is it cost?  Do the US manufacturers have a deal with the clothing market to not clean clothing as well so people update their clothing more often? 

It may be environmental. Didn't the US outlaw a main ingredient in dishwashing and laundry detergents?

[Beermeet]

1 hour ago, calimojo said:

in the video posted from today's video ( on pickles), Michelle looks like quite the social butterfly.  She is talking animatedly to people, giving hugs, even full on front hugs to a couple of little girls at the end.  What is odd though is that when she is talking to Derick and Jill, it doesn't at all seem  like how a mom would be talking to her daughter and son in law.  I watched it without sound ( not sure if it has sound), and just the non-verbal, seem so off to me.  If I had no idea who these people were, I would never peg them as mother and daughter.  

I just watched.  That was odd.  Seemed more like the Dillards were getting a lecture.  JB stayed seated until after they left.  Michele was touchy and smiley with everone but the Dillards.  Who knows why but by body/face language alone, it was noticeably different.

[SapphireSlytherin]

17 minutes ago, kacarlton said:

Didn't the US outlaw a main ingredient in dishwashing and laundry detergents?

They did. But Europe outlawed those ingredients decades before the USA did.

39 minutes ago, Percy said:

How long do US machines take to do a cycle?

My new washer (high efficiency, but NOT with a locking lid, top-loader) takes about an hour. The one it replaced only took about 30 minutes.

[KnittingOwl]

7 hours ago, bal maiden said:

Laundry services are rare, but British and European washing machines are much, much easier to wash cloth nappies in than American machines! I have done cloth both living in the US and UK. 

@VineHeart137 you could break your husband in easy with a hybrid cloth/disposable system such as gDiapers, where there is a disposable (compostable iirc) inner bit, and you wash the outer parts. This is how I got my husband to come around to cloth with our first! 

I'm considering gDiapers for our second.  With our first, we had a horrible washer that wouldn't have gotten the diapers clean.  I just got to buy my own washer, so it's a lot better than the stackable apartment kind.

I have two much younger siblings and my mom cloth diapered them...the kind with pins!  Pretty sure I poked my little brother in the side at least one (as did my dad).  After the two little siblings, I was pretty grossed out by the whole cloth diaper thing, but they have changed a ton!!

@bal maiden, what makes the washers in Britain & Europe easier for cloth diapers?

[adidas]

I used cloth squares on my kids - the origami type folded ones with pins (or a snappi). My second had skin allergies and lots of reactions so I used some disposables in bad days and overnight. He toilet trained so much faster - not sure why but my anecdata definitely doesn't match everyone else's. I had a top loader back then but now I have a euro front loader. It has a quick wash cycle which takes 30 minutes and it does a great job. The longer cycles are even better! Love it. 

[Timetraveler]

Ugh Derick's blouse in that wedding video. You really go to a wedding looking like that? Jill has very recently given birth, but he has no excuse. He could have bought something that fits. Or just have ironed it at least.

[Guest]

There is also a big water difference between the UK and US which means washing does take a little longer (my usual load takes about 1hr 20 on an average cycle) but our detergents are great at getting clothes super clean, again this is to do with the water types which vary up and down the country. The detergent my Mum uses is rubbish in our area because our water is harder. 

[bal maiden]

Disclaimer: I am not a washing machine expert, just a user of machines on both sides of the pond for clothes and nappies/diapers.

The differences are that British washing machines heat the water for the wash themselves, rather than drawing from the hot water system of the house. That means that you can set me machine to wash at a specific temperature (30/40/60/95 degrees Celsius, which are 86/104/140/200 degrees f), which are much higher and more controllable than the cold/warm/hot settings. Poopy diapers? No problem, you can wash them in almost boiling water to get them super clean, without the head for bleaches and heavy duty detergents.

All uk machines are front loaders, and wash via tumbling, which is gentler on your clothes than a top loader machine. Spin speeds on .UK machines are faster, meaning the clothes come out of the machine much less soggy, and so dry faster. 

[prayawaythefundie]

3 hours ago, bal maiden said:

That means that you can set me machine to wash at a specific temperature (30/40/60/95 degrees Celsius, which are 86/104/140/200 degrees f), which are much higher and more controllable than the cold/warm/hot settings.

I had no idea that you can't pick a temperature on US washers. With a newer German (European, I guess) frontloader you can pick not only temperature but also spinning speed (You use less rotations per minute on sensitive textiles but more rotations if you want it to come out less soggy, so it will dry faster.) and several programms varying in duration. My washer has extra short cycles to choose if you're in a hurry.

 

[SapphireSlytherin]

50 minutes ago, prayawaythefundie said:

I had no idea that you can't pick a temperature on US washers.

My new washer has "intelligent" temperature settings. Meaning:  I can choose hot/warm/cold, but the machine "adjusts" the temp of the water - so my "hot" wash isn't as hot as the water that comes straight out of my water heater. It's an "energy-saving feature" and I hate it.

But that's what we have to settle for. And I'm not paying $2,000 for a washer that will only (likely) last 5 years. Not even sure those super-expensive washers have heaters in them - I don't believe they do, but will stand corrected if someone knows this is an option in the USA.

[backyard sylph]

26 minutes ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

My new washer has "intelligent" temperature settings. Meaning:  I can choose hot/warm/cold, but the machine "adjusts" the temp of the water - so my "hot" wash isn't as hot as the water that comes straight out of my water heater. It's an "energy-saving feature" and I hate it.

But that's what we have to settle for. And I'm not paying $2,000 for a washer that will only (likely) last 5 years. Not even sure those super-expensive washers have heaters in them - I don't believe they do, but will stand corrected if someone knows this is an option in the USA.

It is common for front-loading machines to have an internal water heater. More of a standard feature than an option. Here are some.

Mine (not one of those) has five temperature settings. I don't remember which numbers they correspond to, but the booklet has them listed. It also tumbles the clothes without an agitator, although it is top-loading. I am able to do hand wash items with it safely by setting it to one of the two lowest settings of nine. And it's only a middle- of-the-road model, which adjusts the water level for the amount of clothes as its best feature. The more expensive ones are thrilling to behold.

I have no doubt that the details people are referring to are very good, but I also think it's important to remember that what we use can't all be lumped into "those American washers." There are too many variances among brands and models and detergents and general progress each year.