Great washer for Manhattanites (and apt dwellers in general)
Written: Jul 09 '03 (Updated Jul 14 '03)
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Pros: Small, lightweight, and works very well
Cons: Awful documentation, and plays Jingle Bells when finished washing (not a joke!)
The Bottom Line: If you live in an apartment without a washer hook-up, buy this!
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| zhany2's Full Review: Haier XQBM22-C Top Load Washer |
Why a portable washer?
Since I've been spending lots of time in Manhattan (I live in Boston), I acquired an apartment on Madison. The apt has easy access to The Park, has parking close by, and has 1100 sq ft of space. It's all pretty good, except that there isn’t a washing facility in the building. So I am limited to 1) going to a laundry mat, or 2) using a laundry service. 1 is simply not an option for me—I hate dragging my clothes to the laundry mat. 2 is also out, I simply do not trust my clothes to others—most cleaners can’t even press a double (French) cuff properly, and I’ve had too many cleaners either ruin my shirt completely, or lose a button or two. The latter is highly vexing—all my buttons are mother of pearl, and if you lose one, you better have a spare of the same set, otherwise the buttons do not match. But I digress...
What can one do? I knew that ultra-compact washing machines are very popular in Asian countries, so I googled for portable washers, and saw an ad for the Haier portable washing machine.
Who the heck is Haier?
Most people probably have never heard of Haier (which is pronounced higher and means Children of the Sea in Chinese), and are skeptical of the reliability and effectiveness of a washer by what seems to be a new manufacture. However, Haier is anything but new. They have been manufacturing washing machines for decades. Haier started out as a worker's collective that made washing machine in Qingdao (also known as Tsingtao-–yes, the same place that Tsingtao beer came from). They eventually came to dominate the washing machine market in China, and moved into, among other things, refrigerators and air conditioners (I acquired a Haier 5000 btu A/C from Best Buy last week for $85). Haier washing machines have an incredible reputation in China; Haier are known to design their washers to be virtually indestructible. The story of Haier washers are legendary, paralleling that of Mikhail Kalashnikov and his designs of his namesake rifles. Whereas Kalashnikov wasn’t satisfied until the AK-47 can be caked in mud and still fire, Haier engineers didn’t stop until their washers could handle mud filled shoes straight off a rice pattie farm-hand without clogging or breaking down.
How does it perform?
I hardly need my washer to handle such soiled clothing, but I do need a washer for my bespoke shirts. So I plucked down for a Haier XQBM22-C, with a 4.9 lbs washing capacity. I ordered it from Applicances.com on Monday, and it arrived on Wednesday via UPS Ground—I did have to chase the UPS truck down Fifth Ave (which wasn't that hard, given the traffic on Fifth), but that's another story...
The entire package weighs only 49 lbs and is about the size of two large microwaves stacked together, and I was able to move it around easily. After unpacking, and reading the manual, I assembled the pieces—basically, screw on the hose, the base board, and install the lint filter. However, the manual is absolutely horrible, with bad illustrations, and a bastardized version of English that is at best obtuse. There are no instructions for installing the base panel; I was aided by the fact that there was "front" stamped on it—but in Chinese. I shudder to think how a non-Chinese-speaking person would deal with this.
The washer also comes with all the hose and faucet adaptors one would need. In short order, I had the washer attached to my kitchen faucet, and the drain hose going into the kitchen sink. Haier does include a hanger of sorts to keep the drain hose in the sink. I find it to be fairly useless—it’s easier to tie the drain hose to the faucet adaptor; after all, chances are, the water source (i.e., the faucet) will have a sink right underneath.
After that, I throw in some shirts, with soiled double cuffs and collars, dump in a bit of detergent, and turn on the machine. An hour later, my shirts are white, and the double cuffs no longer have stains on the crease. For those who are not cuff link connoisseurs, rest assured that double cuff stains are far harder to remove (for reasons unknown to me) than either the ring around the collar, or stains around your typical barrel cuff. It could be that double cuffs simply show stains far more readily, given that you have a chance to lay the fabric flat, and take note of all the dirt that builds up near the crease. In anycase, I’m delighted by the results.
I may even buy one for my Boston apt.
The boring details...
The washer only has two controls—one for water level, and a rotory dial with a built-in timer to control wash length (and hence, level of cleaning required). Note there is no water temperature selector—you set the water temperature by controlling the temperature at the source, in my case, turning the kitchen faucet to hot or cold.
One huge difference between this washer and your typical top loader that is there is no center agitator. The bottom and the sides of the tub are grooved, and acts as a huge agitator. The tube also spins one direction for two seconds, and reverses itself. Also, the wash tub rocks significantly more than your average washer's. All in all, it seems to do a good job of cleaning clothes.
The washer has only a 4.9 lbs washing capacity (and holds up to 7.9 lbs of water), so you have to be careful not to overload it. As a reference, a typical cotton bed sheet is about a pound. Knickers (I mean yours, not your girlfriend’s La Perla), socks (cotton, not dress) are all about 1/10th of a lb. A Levis 501 red label weighs in about 1 lb. Terry cloth bath towel – 3/4 lb. Not a bad capacity for a single guy.
Do note that this machine has a much smaller capacity than the average washer, so don’t over-fill it with detergent, or you will have quite a bit of foam around. The machine does handle this situation well, as the excess foam does get drained off. However, it still caused consternation on my part.
The washing time can vary anywhere from 23 to 62 minutes depending on whether you've selected light, normal, or heavy soil. Basically, you can program it for a 19 minutes soak, plus a 5-15 minutes wash time, with a rinse cycle, and a 5 minute spin time.
One oddity of this washer is the configuration of the lint filter. It's a made of porous nylon woven onto a plastic piece that snaps into the wash tub where the clothes go. I didn't think it would work very well, but it apparently caught the collar stays that I had accidentally left in the shirts. My guess is that it sucked up the collar stays into the water pump, and deposited them into the lint filter. I was impressed—the collar stays weren't even damaged.
Quirks...
When the machine stops, it does not simply buzz—it plays Jingle Bells. Why is that? Did the Haier worker's collective get a batch of parts for musical Christmas cards that Walmart had rejected, thus prompting the Haier engineers to retrofit these Xmas music chips for their washers?
All in all, a great product that is convenient and works as advertised. Haier does need to do a better job of adapting it to the American market.
To Haier:
Get a Wellesley or Bryn Mahr girl (you know, someone who didn't land her dream job at WWD) to edit your English—or at least use the receptionist from your new sales center at Broadway and W 36th. You just spent $15 mil on that building, polishing up your image—now spend some money polishing up your English!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 158.95
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Epinions.com ID:
zhany2
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Location: Boston, MA
Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 8 members
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