put a wash on or put on a wash - meaning

[JACEK1]

Hello!

In the old days we would put a wash on when it is windy outside so clothes dry, but in the future we could be washing when it is windy because electricity bills are lower.

Based on the aforementioned sentence, I would like to ask you if "put on a wash" means "put the (dirty) laundry into the washing machine and get the washing machine ready for operation"?

In that case, if I am not mistaken, the sentence would read "In the old days we would put the (dirty) laundry into the washing machine and get the washing machine ready for operation when it was windy outside so clothes dry, but in the future we could be washing when it is windy because electricity bills are lower.

Do you agree with me?

Does "put a wash on" sound somewhat similar to "put the kettle on" in terms of getting whatever device ready for operation?

What do you think?

Thank you.

 

[Raymott]

The whole concept isn't explained well. I can understand why you'd do a wash in windy weather, so that once they were washed, they could dry on a clothes line in the wind. But you haven't explained why, in the future, doing this would lower electricity bills. There seems to be something missing.

 

[JACEK1]

Now I know where I stand. You have already explained that "put on a wash" means "do a wash and fasten it on the line with clothes pegs". The reason I used this sentence is that it contains the phrase "put on a wash".

 

[emsr2d2]

For me "put the washing on/in" would be the laundry equivalent of "put the kettle on". However, there is of course more work involved in doing the laundry. "Putting the kettle on" refers only to boiling the water. What you do with that hot water after that is left open-ended. "Putting the washing on/in" involves taking the dirty clothes from the washing basket, putting them in the machine, adding the powder/liquid, closing the door, choosing the right setting and pressing "Start".

I use "put the washing on" and "put the washing in" equally. "On" suggests the use of the machine. "In" suggests the action of putting the clothes in the machine. However, they both mean the same thing in the long run.

 

[J&K Tutoring]

A tea kettle goes on (top of) a heat source.

In the UK, very few people still have the kind of kettle that goes on the hob. Most of us have electric kettles, in which we boil the water for tea, coffee etc. In that respect, "put the kettle on" means "switch the kettle on".


This is not my post!
.

 

[SoothingDave]

We would "do a load of laundry." "Put the wash on" sounds strange to me.