Latest news with #AndreaBarnes
New York Times
19-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Your Next Appliances Might Use More Energy. Could They Work Better?
It's unfair and inaccurate to blame efficiency rules for all, or even most, of the changes to appliance designs. Detergent bans and the downward price pressures from increased global trade have also added to the challenges. However, efficiency standards can involve trade-offs. When an appliance uses less water or energy, the machine needs to offset that change somehow to ensure that it still does its job well. That might mean longer run times, a heating element that's more efficient but also more expensive, or better and pricier insulation. Appliance manufacturers have largely risen to the challenge of making efficient machines that can also produce great results. The high-efficiency washing machines we recommend are excellent at removing stains. Today's refrigerators use 75% less electricity than fridges did before the first federal efficiency rules took effect in the late 1970s, yet they're bigger, quieter, and often better at preserving food. But changes to the efficiency standards tend to be disruptive for at least a few years. Early low-flow toilets were famously bad. More recently, the latest Energy Star dishwashers have struggled to perform well in our testing, according to writer Andrea Barnes, Wirecutter's dishwasher expert. 'Several dishwashers from brands that cleaned very well in the past have failed to pass basic cleaning tests after the latest Energy Star update,' Andrea says. Our top-rated model, the Miele G5008, meets Energy Star standards and aced our tests, but it costs $1,300 and saves only about $6 worth of energy per year in comparison with our picks that don't meet the current Energy Star standard, which start at $930. (However, we like the Miele G5008 because it's quiet, easy to load, and possibly more durable than other models — all of which also matters when you're buying an appliance.) Even after years of reengineering, some problems don't have an obvious solution. Front-load washers, for example, still sometimes grow mildew in the damp, dark folds of their door gaskets. High-efficiency washers don't always use enough water to effectively rinse away lint, mud, and other solid soils, as traditional washers could. Cycle times are up significantly for most cleaning appliances in comparison with 30 years ago. So, yes, if efficiency rules are repealed, you may see at least some appliances that work a little better or faster. Even under the current efficiency standards, which are pretty tight, there's still room for plenty of washing machine types. Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter However, nobody I spoke to was convinced that rule changes would unleash a wave of dramatically cheaper or more durable appliances. Abt pointed out that while the typical lifespan of an appliance has dropped over the past few decades, so have prices (after you adjust for inflation). In addition, several super-durable appliances are still available from brands such as Speed Queen and Sub-Zero. But they're some of the most expensive models in their categories.
New York Times
22-04-2025
- Science
- New York Times
We Don't Like Laundry Detergent Sheets. But These Tiles Impressed Us.
Andrea Barnes/NYT Wirecutter We put Evo tiles through our typical laundry detergent tests. First, we test dissolvability in cold water. This test gives us an idea of how well a detergent will perform during cold-water washing, which is one of the most energy-efficient (and environmentally conscious) choices you can make when doing laundry. (Our top laundry detergent picks—powders, liquids, and pods—are all strong performers in cold water.) Tide Evo tiles passed the test, dissolving fully and quickly (within seconds) in 70 °F water. Tide Evo tiles dissolve within seconds of cold water hitting the washing-machine drum. Andrea Barnes/NYT Wirecutter To test stain removal, we use two industrial stain tests: a jersey-cotton stain monitor and a linen stain strip. These are soiled with an array of hard-to-clean substances, such as carbon black (a mixture of soot and mineral oil), wine, cocoa, pig blood, sebum (body oil), foundation, peat, grass, baby food, and turmeric. We added both the stain monitor and the stain strip to a 10-pound load of laundry. Then we tossed in a T-shirt stained with bacon grease and pepperoni pizza to evaluate odor removal. We washed this load with one Evo tile on a cold-water cycle. After the wash cycle ended, we removed the stain tests to air-dry, and we dried the rest of the load—including the shirt stained with bacon grease and pizza—in the dryer. After the tests dried, we compared them to the stain-test results of similar solid, single-dose detergents: Earth Breeze detergent sheets and Tide Pods Free & Gentle Laundry Detergent. We also folded the dried laundry load, paying close attention to the scent of the laundry itself and making notes of which odors lingered after laundering. Like pods or detergent tablets, Evo tiles can be thrown directly into the drum. Andrea Barnes/NYT Wirecutter Finally, we repeated our stain and odor protocol, but we used two Evo tiles to see whether doubling up would result in more-powerful cleaning. After an extra 30 minutes, the suds finally dissipated. Andrea Barnes/NYT Wirecutter Though stain removal was improved when we used two tiles, we don't recommend this method for very stained laundry. The suds from using two tiles filled the machine drum with a deluge of bubbles and lengthened the wash cycle. Instead, you're better off pretreating moderate to severe stains with a separate stain remover.
New York Times
26-02-2025
- Business
- New York Times
How I Came to Love the Dusty Powdered Dishwasher Detergent of My Childhood
Wirecutter's resident detergent expert, Andrea Barnes, snapped this look at Cascade detergents through the decades while reporting at Procter & Gamble. Andrea Barnes/NYT Wirecutter Cascade was developed in 1955 as a spin-off of Tide laundry detergent, which was then marketed as multiuse. I spoke with Morgan Eberhard, a senior scientist at Procter & Gamble, the company that makes Cascade, to confirm some details about Cascade's history. 'Prior to the launch of Cascade, Tide boxes said 'cleaner clothes, sparkling dishes' on them,' Eberhard told me in a video interview. 'We launched Cascade because we saw a need to differentiate formulations for different jobs, instead of having one that was pretty good at all of it. Tide powder didn't leave dishes shiny.' The Cascade powder I remember was a green box with an outline of a sparkling glass on the front. I also found a 1988 lemon version for sale on eBay for $32.99, complete with a ShopRite price tag of $2.49. The current version of Cascade powder was reformulated in 2019 to include Dawn, a detergent known for its excellent ability to cut grease. Dawn was added to specifically help clean the increasing amount of plastic, such as to-go containers and kids' dishes, that people were washing. Plastic tends to hold onto grease more effectively than glass or ceramic, said Eberhard, so the reformulation helped address that. (For the record, experts don't recommend that you reuse or machine-wash single-use plastic for food purposes, due to the potential for microplastic exposure.) The blue granules throughout the Cascade powder are 'protease, a protein-busting enzyme that proved especially effective on meat sauce, egg yolk, and burnt milk in our testing,' according to our guide. My house is full of pasta enthusiasts who eat carbonara monthly. The sticky, eggy, cheesy remnants were a challenge for our previous big-box-brand pods. Now Cascade powder slips it off our Fiestaware, no problem. Some people online have complained about the smell of the new Cascade formulation, but I am very scent-averse, and its light citrus notes don't overwhelm me or transfer to our silicone tools, as other detergent scents have in the past.
