I can’t pretend that I’ve ever been remotely interested in washing machines or tumble dryers. Obviously I like to have them in the house so I don’t have to walk to a launderette but other than that I’m not really bothered. I know ex-USA expats have a hard time coming to terms with the smaller front loaders we have in Europe and, indeed China but I’m fine with them (although I have to say I do like the idea of being able to do a gargantuan amount of washing at once but ho hum).
So once installed in the apartment in Shanghai I happily washed and dried clothes in the two relevant appliances. Until the dryer stopped working and sprouted a new flashing orange light that is. Now I know that orange flashing lights are not good generally. That made me actually look at the thing.
After some poking around it turned out that the top drawer – usually absent in a dryer I think – is actually where the water that’s extracted from the clothes goes. The drawer actually runs the length of the dryer. When it fills up, the orange light comes on and you have to take the container out and empty it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one that isn’t plumbed to the outside somehow.
OK not Earth shattering – but I thought mildly strange all the same. Here it is.
