Washer recommendation? Top loader, no frills
linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)
10 years ago
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feinmaster
10 years agoenduring
10 years agoRelated Discussions
stacking a front loader washer and front loader dryer
Comments (6)I have an LG Tromm. Using it is just fine but if you need to have a service call -- at least in NYC -- it is a pain. There is one company that comes to un-stack the units and there needs to be two of guys because it is heavy. Even when you call to remind the company to send two guys it doesn't always happen so there is sometimes another day of disruption while either my husband or me takes off of another day of work to wait for the guys who will arrive within a five hour window. Then the guy who fixes it will come another day within another five hour window -- we have not been able to get the two scheduled for the same day yet and we have had three service calls in three years. Then there may be a part that needs to be ordered so it's another visit from the fix-it guy. After the fix the re-stacking guys have to come back. We live in an apartment and for us stacking is the only way to go. If you have a choice, go with side-by-side. -j...See MoreLG Top Loader washers??
Comments (64)I had inadvertently posted this in "Appliance". Thought this would be better served for the "Laundry" folks: OK, top load v. front load. Here's my story. I had the infamous Maytag Neptune W/D front load (tip: if someone tries to sell you a "NEPTUNE" ... run). I had it for 11yrs, going through all the smelly troubleshooting. This past October, I couldn't stand it anymore and started doing my research. My research found: ALL front loaders will exhibit the mildew smell if 1) you don't clean the gasket 2) don't prop the door open 3) use a "sanitizer". I'm all about conserving water and energy and usually wouldn't look twice at a top loader. I was seriously drooling over the new Samsungs ... until I happened upon the new LG top loaders. I found that this new top loader uses about or less than the amount of water that the front loaders use. It also has a great Waveforce technology that doesn't use a "clothes damaging" agitator as the normal top loaders use. I was going to pay the same for a front loader, but didn't want the inconvenience of fighting the mildew. I went for the LG WT5101H (matching dryer) ... and GAVE away the (still working) Neptune set to a womens shelter (and full 'mildew-be-gone' written instructions). Now we've had this for little less than a month. There is no front loader that can handle the loads I can do, using the same amount of water. As previously posted, it also has the Sanitary hot water heater up to 158degrees (that the pricier front loaders have). I also followed many Appliance forums (washer repair specific) and the new GE Profiles, Maytag Bravo's and Kenmore's are on the top of the repair list. I saw nothing for LG top loaders. There is a HUGE 10yr direct drive motor warranty ... that's a big deal. So, yea, here's a vote for this top loader. I won't buy into the overhyped marketing of front loaders too much; although I will agree that they do clean well (not better) and save water. I do not agree that I need to do daily "mildew maintenance" instead of quarterly cleaning. ...and as of today, I just saw Best Buy selling these for 699.00 Here is a link that might be useful: LG WT5101HW Washer...See MoreWasher Recommendatrions - Top Loader vs Front Loader
Comments (12)Shawn1972ut: "Front loader complaints of smell, long cycle times, inefficient rinses, poor electronic components, and failure rates at less than 5 yrs concerns me. " It is necessary to separate issues of front loader vs. top loader from issues of generations -- both generations of people and generations of manufacturing. The numbers would be difficult to aggregate, but, with a fair degree of certainty, it can be said that a majority of the automatic washing machines ever made have been front loaders. Front loading automatics have been around since the 1930s, but top-loading machines did not lose their mangles (those wringer arms that you see atop older top-loading washing machines) -- that is, they did not become automatic, until after World War II. Like tail fins on automobiles, top loading automatic washing machines became all the fad in the United States in the 1950s, but never caught on elsewhere in the world. In the United States, though, some consumers mistakenly think of top-loaders as "traditional." There is a high correlation between those who refer to top loaders as "traditional" and those who simply do not know what they are talking about. A couple of generations of housewives (that is not sexist, just the way society was organized), brought up on the post-WWII top loading machines, were educated to think that you need at least 40 gallons of water to wash a load of laundry. And that much water required at least a cup of laundry detergent; and if one cup is good, aren't two cups even better? When those consumers encountered later generation water-conserving front-loading washers, they continued to use their two cups of detergent per load, and that detergent overload is the source of a lot of the negative comments you see about front loading machines. Now, getting to your question, there are two kinds of "features" in washing machines. One kind of feature is choice of materials and construction techniques. Speed Queen washing machines are rightly often praised for construction quality largely because of choice of metal bearings in place of nylon bearings, heavier gauge steel where it counts, etc. The other kind of features are multiple selectable cycles, programability, LED screens, etc. You pays your money and you takes your choice. Personal opinion: one of the better "features" is a dimpled stainless steel drum. When a washing machine's drum spins for water extraction, fibers of the laundry inside the drum are drawn through the water drainage holes in the drum, and that accelerates fabric wear. Miele pioneered the "honeycomb" drum, with the drainage holes positioned in small domes in the drum surface to minimize the fabric pull-through. Samsung rather blatantly copied that feature in its "diamond" drum. So far as I am aware, no other maker has followed Miele and Samsung down that road. Our family, starting with my mother, has owned only four washing machines in over 75 years; they all have been front-loading washing machines. The first three lasted, on average, over 20 years each in moderately hard use. We purchased the fourth machine a few years back, and the deciding factor in our purchase was the dimpled drum design; we selected a Samsung over a Miele for price considerations. HTH....See MoreI HATE my LG Top Loader Washer and Dryer
Comments (2)You might try slowing your Spin speed down to under 1000 for less wrinkles. The old Maytag you had probably has a 600RPM spin...See Morelaundryvet
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