Washer and dryer logic

One of the many "unusual" consumer product trends over the last few years has been the upscaling of household washers and dryers. What can be learned about contemporary consumerism by families that now routinely pay almost two thousand dollars for appliances to clean their clothes?

You can get a new washer/dryer pair for about a third of this price if you look around a little bit - even less depending upon the brand or if you buy "open-box" items.

How do people convince themselves that paying $2,000 for a washer and dryer is the right amount of money to spend?

Is this one of those give-and-take expenditures where the husband's backyard barbeque fortress is paired up against the wife's idealized version of what contemporary suburban life is all about and both think they're coming out winners?


The thing about washers and dryers that doesn't seem to make sense is that nobody else is going to see them.

It's easy to understand how the man of the house can show off his greatly enhanced grilling techniques on his new jumbo-size grill, but how do you impress your friends and neighbors with appliances that wash and dry your clothes?


Is this some sort of a "private" consumer obsession that only women can understand?