Washing Machines in the Kitchen?
Hot or Not?

Maybe it's because our apartment unit lacks both the space/hookups for a washer, nor offers the appliances around the building, but we often daydream of having a kitchen large enough to even consider adding a washer unit in or around the kitchen. In Europe and Asia, kitchens with washers and dryers are common, but here in the US square footage is more abundant, so there's a separation of work spaces. Would you be averse to integrating cleaning functions into a single area? Or is the notion an attractive space saving idea?

Of course, you could have the best of both worlds, with a Smeg Small Space Washer With Sink or just move the whole unit to your bathroom.

Comments (21)

That just looks as if it is inviting an abundance of stains and odors to creep into your clothes. No thanks. As efficient as it may look and might be, I still think that you need to keep these things separate

Not.

I'd rather see it in the master bath.

I'd rather have my washer and/or dryer in the kitchen than in the basement! I HAVE had my washer and dryer in the kitchen, and found no disadvantage to that other than the extra noise.

How would odors creep through a waterproof container?

I can understand the hesitation to store dirty clothes in the kitchen, but that is a separate issue. Even if you cooked and ran the washer at the same time, the "cross contamination" would not be significant if the clothes were folded elsewhere.

I like it, one less unitask room.

i saw a combination washer/dryer in a kitchen in the UK and have been obsessed ever since. i would love to find something like that but could never fit it in my apt :(

Maybe for neat people, but to be brutally honest my kitchen will never be devoid enough of anything on the floor or counters that might get on clothing while I'm trying to take it out to make this possible.

Some weird arguments here. I assure you, there is nothing to it, it is just another machine in the kitchen. Of course you don't do your folding on the counter. And what noise?! A modern washing machine is not noisy.

Agreed about the weird arguments. It's very common here in the UK, where a lot of people live in small apartments, it just makes sense. I'd rather that than break my back walking to the laundromat with a household's laundry for a week or so.

It's very common here in paris. I don't see any problems to be honest. Although it may not be the best idea to actually integrate it within the kitchen appliances.
In my kitchen, I have one wall with the sink, kitchen counters, and applicances. The other wall has various cabinets and the washing machine.
I follow a strict in and out policy though, as soon as the laundry is finished, I move the clothes away in a plastic basket to hang them elsewhere than the kitchen (I don't use a dryer) and I fold them in the living room before storage. I almost never manipulate washed clothes in the kitchen.

I don't see why it couldn't work, even folding it in the kitchen, just keep your kitchen clean, maybe put down a towel or table cloth on the counter before you work, and do your laundry when you're not doing dinner, say mid-day on the weekend for example. As for dirty clothes, i store mine in a hamper in the bedroom, where else would you store them (admittedly i live in a '643' sq ft apartment(i've long suspected that the square feet is calculated from perimeter to perimeter so that includes walls, patio and closets)).

I would put a washing machine into my kitchen only if out of other options. In a small apartment, OK- you have to live with what you got, and a kitchen is a tolerable place for a washin` machin`. Tolerable, but not best, good or even OK. To be honest, I`d say the same about placing it in a bathroom, but still it`s better place than a kitchen. I don`t say my argument is very rational, though - it just feels wrong for me :)

I would love to have this in my apartment, frees up a closet! I have a stackable unit now, even if I kept it in the same place, I would have the entire upper portion for storage, or a drying rack or who knows what else...

I think most people commenting live in a house with plenty of room for separate work areas. If that's the case, yea it's pretty obvious that keeping them separate makes sense.

my undercounter washer/dryer unit is in the kitchen. works out well, but i also live in a studio.

I live in an apartment so small we don't have a washer and I have to haul my laundry into the next building! So I'm not really speaking from a spoiled perspective, here. I'm just an unfortunately messy ADHD type person and know it would be a chance of disaster for me.

I asked my landlord if we could swap the dishwasher that was standard in his apartments for a washing machine. He agreed we took the dishwasher out bought a washer and have never been happier. I love my all in one washing machine/dryer. It's small compact and sits under my counter next to my sink. My clothes don't get dirty in the kitchen (unless I am wearing them and cooking)-- perhaps because it never even occurred to me to fold them there.
It never ocurred to me that this was odd. Perhaps this is because I grew up in apartments and houses that usually had a laundry room right off of the kitchen.

In my parents' house, you have to walk -through- the kitchen with your clothes to get to the W/D. I always hated this. I'd much rather see a dedicated space for the W/D. With how much laundry an American family does, it makes sense. You need the space to store separate people's dirty laundry, an area for towels, rags, a place to fold, etc. I haven't had to live in a small square footage, but I still want to -clean- my clothes, and my kitchen isn't always clean.

Agree with previous comments on very weird arguments.

A washing machine in the kitchen is not a common sight in Finland, but frequent in Denmark (at least Copenhagen). Who wouldn't want as much space as possible with unique functions in each room? Space is luxury for many though and I'd rather have a washing machine in the kitchen than none at all.

@azie: I doubt that Americans wash more than other people from Western countries. Few people at least here in Europe live like pigs, thereby making it impossible to do your laundry in the kitchen. Oh and by the way, not one family store their dirty laundry, towels, rags etc. the same way and I bet that they don't fold clean laundry the same way either. You can also improvise like some previous comment suggested by putting a very clean towel on a not as clean kitchen table if you're in huge haste. *rolls her eyes*

This is the situation in my 900 sq ft house--white cabinets and appliances, including the laundry stack. It has not bothered me. I keep my dirty laundry in a hamper in the bedroom, so that's no issue. I fold on the guest bed, so that is no problem either.

i have an LG washer/dryer combo unit in my kitchen... and i love it! i had one in the master bath when i rented in DTLA (came standard), and now that i own, i went and found something similar. i swapped out the stack system that came with my condo and installed shelves above it now that i have all that extra vertical space.

I've had a washing machine and sometimes the dryer in my kitchen for the last 25 years in 4 apartments. I prefer the kitchen location as it's convenient to cook and clean in the same space. Also I prefer to isolate any noise the machines might make in the kitchen.

I have tons of room in my apartment garage that I would gladly give up to house a washer and dryer, but instead I am severely lacking in space in the kitchen because that's were the washer a dryer are. I wish I had a pantry instead! Plus I think it's weird to have a washer and dryer in the kitchen.