There is a westerner who visits his Thai wife/family about 3 times per year in our Moo, he is too young to retire and works back in Europe. Some time ago he informed us that he had a launderette business in Pattaya and he used a special Thai washing powder that can heat the water up.

Every time he now comes into our 'local' and sits down for a beer I cannot keep a straight face.

If you're smiling because you're sceptical about washing powder heating the water....it actually does, and I daresay that some powders produce more heat than others.

Try washing your hands with washing powder....put a spoonfull of powder in your hand, and a spoonfull of water...you'll feel the heat.

I forget the name of the chemical reaction...methanol added to water produces heat also.

I recently moved into a condo with a similar LG front loader. Yeah it takes three hours, but what a great washing machine! Coming from a cheap Samsung top loader in my last condo, I now realize that my clothes really weren't clean after the Samsung wash. Hard to describe but I really appreciate the LG!

It's the first time I've had a truly modern washer and its been added to my list of great advances in technology a few spaces below the Gillette Mach 3 shaver but listed above my Electrolux Ergorapido cordless vacuum.