Washing Machine in Kitchen

[Chelli]

I watch a lot of British TV on Acorn and Britbox. I have noticed multiple home on these shows have a washing machine in their kitchens, even the newer homes.

Is this really a common thing in British homes? And even more importantly, why the kitchen? 

[regentrude]

1 minute ago, Chelli said:

I watch a lot of British TV on Acorn and Britbox. I have noticed multiple home on these shows have a washing machine in their kitchens, even the newer homes.
Is this really a common thing in British homes? And even more importantly, why the kitchen? 

Our home in England had the washing machine in the mudroom off the kitchen. I assume kitchen is convenient because there's already hookups for plumbing?

[sweet2ndchance]

My British ex-mil had her washing machine in the kitchen in her house. Many of her family and friends that we visited had it in the kitchen too.

As for why, I never asked. We lived in base housing that had the laundry area in or near the kitchen but behind folding doors.

[Jean in Newcastle]

It was common in Japan. Don’t know if that’s still the case. I don’t find it that odd because of my experience. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

As to why- just because of the plumbing. 

[Jaybee]

Not British, but we were living short-term in a house that had washer/dryer behind folding doors in the kitchen. The kitchen was large, with a kitchen table. It was convenient to dump the clean clothes on the table for folding. It was also convenient to hear when a load was done, because much of my work was in the kitchen.

[Chelli]

1 minute ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

As to why- just because of the plumbing. 

But why not the bathroom plumbing? It makes more sense in my mind to wash clothes where you are removing clothes and/or closer to the bedrooms. 

I'm not trying to be argumentative. I just find it really interesting. 

Also, is the dryer in the kitchen as well or somewhere else in the home since it doesn't require plumbing? 

[fairfarmhand]

When We first got married the first 2 houses we rented both had the washer and dryer in the kitchen . I remember putting my dd in her car seat on top of the running dryer to help her go to sleep. It seemed to simulate riding in a car for her.

[Chelli]

Just now, Jaybee said:

Not British, but we were living short-term in a house that had washer/dryer behind folding doors in the kitchen. The kitchen was large, with a kitchen table. It was convenient to dump the clean clothes on the table for folding. It was also convenient to hear when a load was done, because much of my work was in the kitchen.

We had a washer / dryer off of our kitchen in our first two homes, which I didn't like because it was on the opposite end of the house from all of the bedrooms. 

But in the British shows the washing machine is actually part of the kitchen. Like here's my stove, my refrigerator, and my washing machine under the countertop. 

[Hannah]

It's the norm here too. Larger homes have a laundry room and scullery that is off the kichen. I guess it's easier to access the kitchen at all times than the bathroom?

[Amira]

We've had washing machines in the kitchen and in the bathroom in various countries.  Right now we have a portable washer that I couldn't get to attach to the kitchen sink, so I have to use it in our only bathroom which can be inconvenient.  

I personally think that Americans place an unusually high value on laundry convenience that isn't the norm in most of the world.

[sweet2ndchance]

No, most houses either didn't have a dryer and line dried clothes or had the dryer in the mudroom, like my ex-mil, or in a garage if they were lucky enough to have one. The bathrooms were normally upstairs, usually directly above the kitchen and didn't have much room at all. The kitchen was almost always the largest or second largest room in the house. Bedrooms were tiny in comparison to American bedrooms.

[Chelli]

2 minutes ago, Amira said:

I personally think that Americans place an unusually high value on laundry convenience that isn't the norm in most of the world.

I wonder if that has to do with the amount of clothing most Americans own. I know when my girls do their laundry they have so many clothes!

I'm trying to imagine them toting those piles to the kitchen to wash clothes. It would be a constant mess. It's bad enough in the little laundry nook we have in the bathroom. 

[WendyLady]

We have lived in several older military homes that were built before or just after WW2, that have a washer/dryer hook up near or in the kitchen - often kind squeezed into the kitchen as an afterthought/add on, but not in a separate room. I imagine when the homes were built, indoor laundry was not common, and then it was easier to add onto or make room in the kitchen then squeeze it into the only/tiny bathroom. My current house that was built in the 1920s/30s has the "laundry room" in a hallway directly off of the kitchen. I can toss a dirty hand towel from the kitchen sink directly into the washer 🙂 It's a tight fit, but it works okay. 

I don't hate the laundry in the kitchen. It is convenient - it's easy to remember to move along the laundry when you are tidying up after lunch.  eta - and because it is right in the open I don't let things pile up...

Edited May 12, 2023 by WendyLady

[Jean in Newcastle]

15 minutes ago, Chelli said:

But why not the bathroom plumbing? It makes more sense in my mind to wash clothes where you are removing clothes and/or closer to the bedrooms. 

I'm not trying to be argumentative. I just find it really interesting. 

Also, is the dryer in the kitchen as well or somewhere else in the home since it doesn't require plumbing? 

The bathrooms I have seen in British remodeling shows are often much smaller than American bathrooms. (This can be different for newer builds ). 
 

In Japan, the toilet is separate from bathing and is often tiny. The bathing area is designed for washing the body outside of the ofuro tub. Not a place where I would want to plug anything in. 

[Dmmetler]

Our first house had it in the kitchen along with the dryer. In my current house, both are in a closet off the kitchen. In both cases, everything that needs the hot water lines are pretty close together (spread over both floors in the current house.

Edited May 12, 2023 by Dmmetler

[prairiewindmomma]

Keep in mind also that clothes dryers are not the norm worldwide. In the places I have lived you need a space large enough for the airer or drying racks on days when you can’t hang your laundry outside. The kitchen is more private (to guests) than your living room.

[Amira]

Now that I'm thinking about it, the house where the washing machine was in the bathroom wouldn't have been able to have the washing machine in the kitchen because the kitchen was in a completely separate building and had zero plumbing.  The bathroom was in a repurposed room that had a toilet, the washing machine, the furnace, and a shower head in the corner of the room.  It had recently been remodeled and plumbing installed for the first time.

[Hannah]

12 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Keep in mind also that clothes dryers are not the norm worldwide. In the places I have lived you need a space large enough for the airer or drying racks on days when you can’t hang your laundry outside. The kitchen is more private (to guests) than your living room.

We don't own a drier. I could afford one, but where we live the winters are dry and it warms up in the day, so we line dry. I've very very occasionally taken wet laundry to the laundromat to dry, but that's the exception linked to cold, wet weather of more than a week when nothing dries indoors.

In wetter winter-rainfall parts of the country, people do use driers.  My parents do. Their washer and dryer is in a mudroom.  They still line dry when the weather allows though.

Edited May 12, 2023 by Hannah

[prairiewindmomma]

2 minutes ago, Hannah said:

We don't own a drier. I could afford one, but where we live the winters are dry and it warms up in the day, so we line dry. I've very very occasionally taken wet laundry to the laundromat to dry, but that's the exception linked to cold, wet weather of more than a week when nothing dries indoors.

In wetter winter-rainfall parts of the country, people do use driers.  My parents do. Their washer and dryer is in a mudroom.  They still line dry when the weather allows though.

When I have lived abroad we haven’t had a drier. 🤷‍♀️ Sometimes there was simply no space and coin driers were cost prohibitive, other times it just wasn’t the norm at all. (It is considered lazy to have one.)

[Arcadia]

31 minutes ago, Chelli said:

I wonder if that has to do with the amount of clothing most Americans own. I know when my girls do their laundry they have so many clothes!

My one bedroom condo here is almost as large as my three bedroom condo in Asia. Our washer here has a capacity of 3.5 cubic feet and it can handle a week’s worth of laundry for four of us. Here we use a dryer while in Asia we line dry because there is no space for a dryer unless you go for a washer dryer combo. 

[skimomma]

It is getting less and less common as people remodel or houses get torn down, but washers (and driers) are often in the kitchens in my area.  In fact, ours is in the kitchen but is walled off.  The housing stock is very old (my house is 130+ years) and they did not have plumbing (or electricity) when built.  In most houses, when water became available, the kitchen was sure to be plumbed first which meant when adding a bathroom and (later) laundry facilities, the easiest choice was to place them near the kitchen.  The only other practical solution was to put them in the basement.  I believe laundry was first installed in the basement of my house but cannot fathom how terrible it would be to do laundry down there.  It is a wet basement with low ceilings with a terribly narrow staircase.  I have to crouch over to walk....which would be no fun while doing laundry.  Since it is pretty common to have in the kitchen, it never really occurred to me that it would be weird.  I actually appreciate having mine there since it is easy to keep the process flowing being right in the middle of the action.  And it forces us to deal with laundry efficiently so it is not in the way.  Basically, when I do laundry, I do it and put it away immediately so that my kitchen area is not compromised.  And as someone mentioned, our big table is perfect for folding laundry.

We have done a lot of European travel and usually stay in Airbnbs.  If laundry is available, it is nearly always in the kitchen and it is a single machine that washes and (sort of) dries the clothing, with most opting to air dry anyway.

I had a friend that had it inside the primary bedroom closet.  I thought that was pretty smart but my house does not have closets so.......

 

[PronghornD]

My washer and dryer are in the kitchen. And in our previous house they were too. And in the apartment before that.  Those are all condos. In the house before the condos, we had the washer and dryer in the entryway right off the kitchen. Prior to that we had washers and dryers in the basement.

[Drama Llama]

I've had my laundry in four places as an adult.  From least to most favorite. 

Least favorite: In the laundry room in the basement of my apartment building.  This was my least favorite, especially with a baby who had to be carried up and down with the laundry!  Plus strangers had access.  

Tied for 2nd place. In a laundry room in the basement of my house.  We had this twice.  When I had infants/toddlers it was a lot of up and down, carrying them.  On the other hand, when my kids were older, and coming in from soccer covered with mud, or DH wanted to wash work clothes that had something gross on them,  or I needed to towel off a soaking wet dog, it worked well because I could have them go through the outside door to the basement and none o that filth came in my house!   But the up and down was annoying, and I'd get busy and forget to change things.

Tied for 2nd place: In a closet in the hallway by our bedrooms/bathroom. This is what I have now.  I don't like that the dirty things come through the house, and that there's really no place to sort it, or to leave a basket waiting.  But it is convenient to wash sheets and clothes! 

Most favorite:  In a mudroom/bathroom with a door to the outside, that was right off my kitchen.  This was great.  Outside access, plus right where I was much of the time meant that it was easy to switch loads while doing something else.  Between cooking, eating, and doing HW at the kitchen table we are in the kitchen a lot!

So, I would love laundry in the kitchen area again, assuming outside access. 

[Laura Corin]

1 hour ago, Chelli said:

I watch a lot of British TV on Acorn and Britbox. I have noticed multiple home on these shows have a washing machine in their kitchens, even the newer homes.

Is this really a common thing in British homes? And even more importantly, why the kitchen? 

Yes. Extremely common.  Houses are smaller and rarely have a dedicated utility room.

[Laura Corin]

1 hour ago, Chelli said:

But why not the bathroom plumbing? It makes more sense in my mind to wash clothes where you are removing clothes and/or closer to the bedrooms. 

I'm not trying to be argumentative. I just find it really interesting. 

Also, is the dryer in the kitchen as well or somewhere else in the home since it doesn't require plumbing? 

Many homes don't have tumble dryers or have integrated washer-dryers. If there us a dryer it's often an afterthought  - in a hallway, garage, etc. Not in a bathroom  - no sockets except for shavers allowed.

[KungFuPanda]

I wonder if it’s more than just plumbing. The electrical systems are different so maybe they’re clustering the items that use a lot of power? Dryers use so much power I can see why some people prefer not to own one. Energy prices probably vary a great deal globally. Without a dryer you need much less space for laundry equipment. 
 

In my daughter’s apartment right next to the dc beltway she had one of those machines that was both a washer and a dryer under her kitchen counter. 

[regentrude]

2 hours ago, Chelli said:

Also, is the dryer in the kitchen as well or somewhere else in the home since it doesn't require plumbing? 

Our house in England didn't have a dryer. ( for that matter, neither do most apartments and houses in Germany)

[YaelAldrich]

3 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

It was common in Japan. Don’t know if that’s still the case. I don’t find it that odd because of my experience. 

My homes in Tokyo have always been in the bathroom (not toilet room.  They are separate in Japan -sanitary!). They use the water from the bath (gray water)  to wash the clothes in the washing machine. The water is pretty clean since in Japan, one thoroughly washes in the shower area before you get in the bathtub. 

Although I have seen washing machines in kitchens in some pictures. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

In the integrated washer/dryer I’ve used, the “dryer “ was a basket that spun things as dry as it could with centrifugal force. 

[Drama Llama]

I know people hang their laundry in the backyard, but how do people in small apartments with no yards dry their clothing?  I don’t know how I would pull that off in my current space.

[Jean in Newcastle]

1 minute ago, YaelAldrich said:

My homes in Tokyo have always been in the bathroom (not toilet room.  They are separate in Japan -sanitary!). They use the water from the bath (gray water)  to wash the clothes in the washing machine. The water is pretty clean since in Japan, one thoroughly washes in the shower area before you get in the bathtub. 

Although I have seen washing machines in kitchens in some pictures. 

You’ve lived there more recently than I plus I was up north in the “hicks”. I was hoping that you would chime in. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

1 minute ago, BandH said:

I know people hang their laundry in the backyard, but how do people in small apartments with no yards dry their clothing?  I don’t know how I would pull that off in my current space.

Balconies 

[Drama Llama]

1 minute ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

Balconies 

Do most apartments in Germany and England have balconies?  That isn’t true where I live.  

[Murphy101]

Even here in Oklahoma - our first 2 places have the washer/dryer directly in the kitchen.  The next place, a rental house, they were in the garage, but the wall they were on was literally the opposite wall of the kitchen. Current house - you walk in via my garage door and directly on your left is dryer, washer, 6ish inches of wall with a pocket door in it, then fridge and rest of kitchen.

There’s a very few houses I’ve seen that have the washer and dryer off a main bathroom upstairs. But otherwise, it’s always kitchen adjacent inside or garage. 

[Amira]

2 minutes ago, BandH said:

I know people hang their laundry in the backyard, but how do people in small apartments with no yards dry their clothing?  I don’t know how I would pull that off in my current space.

I haven’t used a dryer in 18 years and I rarely have been able to dry outside in a lot of different housing types and climates. I have drying racks inside. Even during Seattle winters, the clothes dry, although I use a fan if the weather isn’t helping much.  In my current apartment, the condo association bans clothes drying on the balcony so I set up the racks in the bedroom.

The best place to dry laundry is a rooftop in the summer in Saudi Arabia, as long as there isn’t a dust storm. It’s quicker than a dryer.

[Melissa Louise]

Many homes here don't have a laundry - it's a maximizing space thing.

Washing machine/dryer are in a cupboard in the kitchen.

Clothes are mostly dried on a line outside, on a clotheshorse outside or inside, or a dryer used for big items if it's raining for a week.

It's sort of weird in a way to have a whole room set aside for the running of a machine. I prefer having a laundry room, but I think it's just what you are used to.

 

 

[Arcadia]

14 minutes ago, BandH said:

I know people hang their laundry in the backyard, but how do people in small apartments with no yards dry their clothing?  I don’t know how I would pull that off in my current space.

Drying racks in the kitchen that are suspended from the ceiling. Something like this https://www.amazon.com/foxydry-Ceiling-Mounted-Clothesline-Vertical/dp/B07NF1NK48/

Since yours is a rental, do you have a patio where you can put your racks or is your kitchen large enough to put racks. My friend put racks in her living room for clothing and towels that are not dripping wet. The wet ones goes to the racks in her kitchen. 

[KungFuPanda]

26 minutes ago, BandH said:

I know people hang their laundry in the backyard, but how do people in small apartments with no yards dry their clothing?  I don’t know how I would pull that off in my current space.

Ceiling racks on pulleys

[KungFuPanda]

21 minutes ago, Amira said:

I haven’t used a dryer in 18 years and I rarely have been able to dry outside in a lot of different housing types and climates. I have drying racks inside. Even during Seattle winters, the clothes dry, although I use a fan if the weather isn’t helping much.  In my current apartment, the condo association bans clothes drying on the balcony so I set up the racks in the bedroom.

The best place to dry laundry is a rooftop in the summer in Saudi Arabia, as long as there isn’t a dust storm. It’s quicker than a dryer.

When we were first married we had a washer but no dryer. We lived in Georgia and if you did more than one load it was faster to fry outside. 
 

My laundry is in the unfinished basement. I get why people don’t like that, but I kind of like banishing the dirty clothes to the uncivilized part of the house. They can come back upstairs when they’re respectable. I’m not even mad at the stairs. I need more exercise and every little bit helps. It’s also less worrisome if you ever have a leak. The hot water heater is down there and it did leak when it died we had to get a new one, but we didn’t have to pay for any water damage. We just cleaned the concrete floors and let the sump pump pull the water out. 

[regentrude]

49 minutes ago, BandH said:

I know people hang their laundry in the backyard, but how do people in small apartments with no yards dry their clothing?  I don’t know how I would pull that off in my current space.

Drying rack in the bedroom. Or on a patio/balcony. Or on a line in a communal outdoor space of an apartment complex. Or in an attic space. I don't know anyone in Germany who has a dryer. (I know there are people who have them, but don't know any personally)

My foldable dring rack holds a full load.

Edited May 12, 2023 by regentrude

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Chelli said:

We had a washer / dryer off of our kitchen in our first two homes, which I didn't like because it was on the opposite end of the house from all of the bedrooms. 

But in the British shows the washing machine is actually part of the kitchen. Like here's my stove, my refrigerator, and my washing machine under the countertop. 

In my experience through travel, kitchen washing machines are common in all places in Europe I have been. Dryers are not common; drying racks and/or lines are typical. Or sometimes the dryer is in the same machine as the washer, which works about as well as you would expect. One AirBnB we stayed at in Scotland had this kind of machine; it was more expedient to just rack-dry our clothes. 
 

As far as why, I cannot say for sure, but I think the attitude about clothing is different in Europe . They don’t wear as many clothes and don’t seem to expect to wash them as often as US does. European housing is also typically smaller and dedicating a whole room to laundry would not make sense. 

[MEmama]

1 hour ago, BandH said:

I know people hang their laundry in the backyard, but how do people in small apartments with no yards dry their clothing?  I don’t know how I would pull that off in my current space.

Drying rack. We keep ours in our bedroom.

[YaelAldrich]

In Tokyo,  only in one "mansion " (apartment home)  did I have a washer-dryer combo. The landlord really wanted us to take the place!  It was expensive (Panasonic) and honestly it didn't dry that well and not at all fast.  The wash cycle was an hour and the dryer cycle was often 2.5 hours and they still weren't 100% dry, more like 85-90%

The washer is in the part of the bathroom with the sink,  not the bath and shower but you could pull a tube from the bath water to the washing machine.  We didn't because we are heathens and didn't bathe at home so much.  We liked to use the communal neighborhood baths (sento). Otherwise,  we showered.

In Adelaide we only have a washing machine.  We dry out on a rack attached to the side of the house.  We have an extra portable one of we do more than one load. Everything dries in about 3 hours (towels in 4), even though it was moving into autumn. 

In Japan, we had drying racks we bought.  Things would take longer to dry because it's humid in Japan!  

Edited May 12, 2023 by YaelAldrich
Oopsie

[Drama Llama]

1 hour ago, Arcadia said:

Drying racks in the kitchen that are suspended from the ceiling. Something like this https://www.amazon.com/foxydry-Ceiling-Mounted-Clothesline-Vertical/dp/B07NF1NK48/

Since yours is a rental, do you have a patio where you can put your racks or is your kitchen large enough to put racks. My friend put racks in her living room for clothing and towels that are not dripping wet. The wet ones goes to the racks in her kitchen. 

I am not asking for me.  I have both outdoor deck and a dryer.  But it took me a long time and a higher rent to get that outdoor space.

We work hard to keep the humidity down due to dust mite allergies.  Do racks bring it up?  
 

I could fit ceiling racks but a floor rack would be hard to fit.

[Arcadia]

7 minutes ago, BandH said:

I am not asking for me.  I have both outdoor deck and a dryer.  But it took me a long time and a higher rent to get that outdoor space.

We work hard to keep the humidity down due to dust mite allergies.  Do racks bring it up?  
 

I could fit ceiling racks but a floor rack would be hard to fit.

I have a hygrometer in the living room and the humidity doesn’t change much (ETA: regardless of drying racks). My living room humidity hovers around 40%. 
 

Where I am from, humidity is close to 80% but temperatures tend to be above 86degF. So clothes take a day to dry totally on ceiling racks in the kitchen.

Edited May 13, 2023 by Arcadia

[prairiewindmomma]

1 minute ago, BandH said:

I am not asking for me.  I have both outdoor deck and a dryer.  But it took me a long time and a higher rent to get that outdoor space.

We work hard to keep the humidity down due to dust mite allergies.  Do racks bring it up?  
 

I could fit ceiling racks but a floor rack would be hard to fit.

Our dryer went out and we couldn’t get parts in for a bit. We put up drying racks in the living room here because that is where we had space. We ran a dehumidifier because it was during the cold and rainy season. We can’t ever dry outside due to allergies. 
 

Our washer does an excellent job spinning. If I wash in the evening, by morning most stuff is dry. Jeans are the hardest to dry. Once they get to mostly dry, if I need to fold up the racks, I just transfer to hangers and let them finish by hanging them in a doorway (or closet, until company leaves).

I could live dryer free pretty easily. I just like the convenience.

[Harriet Vane]

One of my best friends lives in Scotland. Every house she has lived in there (a rental, then the house the own, and two apartments they rent out to others) all have a washer in the kitchen. When my friend got a dryer in the house she lives in currently, her friends and neighbors thought she was crazy. Her adult sons all have washers in the kitchen and no dryer. My impression is that the kitchen is perceived as the work room, so all the machines go there. 

Along the same lines, we have friends who live in France. They have a washing machine in the bathroom and no dryer. When we visited and traveled through France, every AirBnb we stayed in included a washer, though in France they happened to all be in the bathroom, and they were TINY. Every unit included clothes lines somewhere, and two of the apartments had a heater with bars in the bathroom to hang wet clothes or wet towels. 

[SHP]

Beyond the plumbing making it easy to install, when I have lived in houses that has the laundry either in or right next to the kitchen, I found it easier to keep up with. I miss it. 

[Bootsie]

In many Europen homes I have been in, especially older homes, the bathroom is a room with a bath (shower or tub) and the toilet is in a separate room..  Often there is a foldable drying rack on the wall above the bathtub.  I have seen washers in both kitchens and bathrooms--wherever there was space and plumbing; sometimes the washer is in the basement.

I lived in a rental house in Texas for about 6 months that had a washer and dryer in a closet in the kitchen; I really liked the setup.