A washer-dryer in every apartment?

Our apartment-dwelling hearts beat a little faster upon reading Sunday's NY Times story about a reverse-spin on washer-dryer bans:  "Older buildings--even prewars--are relaxing longtime bans to keep residents happy and to avoid scaring off buyers," writes Times' contributor C.J. Hughes.  Hughes explains that condo developers (many of whom have long offered personal laundry facilities) have raised the expectations of the city's real estate consumers, even as the machines themselves have become more small-space friendly and buildings are wising up on how to control problems like pipe-clogging suds. 

Of course, one of the best ways to avoid "sudsing" is to buy a high-efficiency washing machine (they use far less water than traditional machines) in conjunction with high efficiency laundry detergent, a low-sudsing soap made especially for high-efficiency machines.   Still to be solved: Why some high-efficiency washers smell like cat pee.

(NY Times; previously)

Other posts on laundry: