Laundry

Twin-tub, automatic or stacked tower:

the three machines differ in how much of the work they leave to you. A twin-tub washes in one tub and spins in the other, and you fill it, drain it and move the wet clothes across yourself. A fully automatic machine runs the whole cycle on its own, and the choice between top-loaders and front-loaders is laid out under washing machines. A stacked tower puts a front-loading washer under a dryer in one cabinet, so a home with no line to hang clothes on gets both in the floor space of one. The dryers sold on their own suit a household that already has a washer it trusts, and the shirts and blouses that come out of any of these creased are a job for irons and steamers.

Water by the hour and a rooftop tank:

decide more than the brand does. An automatic washer needs steady pressure at the tap to fill in reasonable time. Fed from a tank sitting only a little above it, or from the cistern when the street supply is off, a digital model can fill so slowly that it stops halfway with a water-supply error. A pressure pump on the line usually cures it. A twin-tub does not care: when the water is cut, a bucket of what you stored fills it. In a Zone 10 apartment the limit is the closet instead. Measure it with the door open, and check whether the dryer half needs a 220 V outlet or a gas line and has a way to vent outside.

A twin-tub against a tower, in quetzales:

a new twin-tub costs around Q2,500, while a stacked tower runs from about Q10,000 to past Q20,000. A secondhand twin-tub saves little against that new price, and a single repair to a worn spin brake or a leaking seal can wipe out the difference. The real saving is a used tower, as long as both halves work: in a one-piece tower the washer and dryer share a cabinet and controls, so a dead half cannot simply be swapped out.

The spin basket, the timer knobs and the dryer drum:

tell you most of what a used machine is worth. On a twin-tub, put a wet towel in the spinner, start it and lift the spin lid: the basket should brake to a stop within seconds. If it keeps coasting, the brake or the lid switch has gone, and that is the safety feature. Turn both timer knobs and listen for them ticking down. Look under the spin tub for rust or a trail of water, the sign of a leaking seal. On a tower, run the dryer on heat for ten minutes and put your hand inside: the drum should be properly hot and turning without a thump. A lint screen caked solid tells you how it was looked after. Then put the washer through a rinse and spin. A tower you have only seen drying has shown you half of what you are paying for.

Listing a twin-tub or a stacked tower:

put the type in the first line, semiautomatic or automatic, gas or electric, because those words decide who reads on. Give the brand and model from the rating plate, and photograph each tub or drum from above, the panel switched on and the hoses or vent duct that go with it. Buyers coming from Cobán or Jalapa ask whether it works before they ask the price, and a short video of the spin and the dryer drum turning answers that. For a tower, say which floor it is on and whether it comes down by lift or by stairs. A one-piece unit stands taller than most people expect, and the buyer needs to know whether to bring two helpers or four.