Update on my laundry closet: Asko

12 years ago

I posted awhile back asking for advice on a laundry closet that wasn't deep enough for anything but a euro size washer if I wanted to keep the doors closed and the units concealed when not in use -- I do. Someone suggested Miele and I strongly considered it even though it is pricey. I also considered Bosch Axxis which I had owned in the past and had been pretty pleased with. But when shopping, the dealer gave me a very competitive price on an Asko set floor sample -- much less than the Miele and less by a little than the Axxis.

The set is Asko washer w6424 and dryer t753, both in titanium. I ordered the pedestals. The dealer had been a long time Asko dealer here in the upper Midwest and he says service is not a problem. He also says he has had no more problems with Asko than with Bosch or Miele. This all helped me over my Asko resistance.

I have only had time to use them for a few loads and haven't decided for sure how I like them. They are definitely OK for now. I like the pedestal height even though I am short. I can basically transfer wash with no stooping. Capacity is very small, it seems smaller than I remember the Axxis being. But I haven't used it for sheets yet and I remember with the Axxis that I would wash a Q set but split it up for less wrinkling in the dryer.

I have washed loads of towels,some lingerie, and some mixed underwear with socks. I really like the gentleness of the washer and the heating ability. We have very hard water so I add a powdered softener with a powdered detergent. I add all the extra rinses and things seem really clean.

The dryer is very efficient but it is much noisier than I expected. And the quality of the noise is irritating -- a high pitched whine sound. I am going to talk to the dealer about this. The closet doors are louvered, I leave them closed when drying but the sound carries throughout the condo.

I am very familiar and comfortable with front loaders. I think the Asko is a quality but quirky machine. When I moved from the house with the Axxis, I was happy to move to a house with an LG FL set for the ability to wash comforters, etc. But mostly I wash clothes for two people, so perhaps size won't be an issue.

I would appreciate any thoughts or tips on Asko and will add further review as I have more experience with the set.

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Comments (5)

oregpsnow
12 years ago
I don't have Asko - I have a normal, non-quirky Whirlpool set - but from reading this forum it seems that Askos are like Saabs. You either like them or you don't. It seems the older ones were more reliable than new ones, but that may be an industry trend. I considered them for my small space but didn't like the small size and limited market share here in the US. Service and parts may be an issue, depending on where you live. I hope they don't end up the way Saab did.

Good luck with your new machines. I hope you enjoy them for a long time.
liriodendron
12 years ago
I am not familiar with current model numbers but if your dryer is a condensing one, you should not be running it with doors closed, even if they are louvered. If it's vented than it probably doesn't matter. The condenser sheds a noticeable amount of heat and moisture which I wouldn't want confined in a small space. (Our condenser dryer is in the bathroom that my husband uses in the morning. If my laundry plans work out, I sometimes set the delay-start timer on a load to begin tumbling just before he awakes which warms the room very nicely for him.)

I have nearly 20-y.o. Askos (washer and slightly younger cond. dryer) that I am happy with. There some things that I wash in the Asko in preference to the two Miele washers next to it. I think the delicate/wool cycles on the Asko are superior to Miele's.

I wash full (to the top) loads in the Asko regularly - weighing at least the 11-lbs dry weight that they are rated for. I don't dry sheets in the dryer, preferring to hang them out. For all sizes of sheets (on rare occasions when rain messes up my outdoor drying) there is the potential for balling up if you have more than one tumbling at the same time. Other things tumbling with the sheets are fine, but big flat things remain a problem, particularly in my dryer which does not reverse tumble. This applies ONLY to the dryer. I can wash a couple of pairs of sheets (plus cases, shirt, towels, etc.) in the washing machine in one load.

Parts can be ordered online, if necessary and repairs are easy to do.

HTH,

L.
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First off -- thanks to everyone for responding. aquarius2101 -- Unfortunately, these machines are less than a year old, and I don't have the disposable cash to just toss a $2200 purchase in the dumpster, and make another 2k-ish purchase. unixisgoodforyou -- Well, if I can get another servicer to come out, I'll give it a shot. Not that I haven't thought of doing this, but half the time, the guy's a no-show and reschedules, or he's way late -- so it's hard to time ;0 sshrivastava -- I'm about to call Asko again, after a running a couple more of their ridiculous 'open closet door' tests. As I predicted (and they were unwilling to listen to), there was no change in performance. spewey -- Vent run is within spec... I hopped up in the attic and tape-measured everything out a while back. I have 2 90 degree turns of hard pipe (considered 4 feet each) and around an 8 foot or so run across the ceiling area. I did tape up that break in the line a long time ago also. dross - I haven't really noticed any problems with the Kirkland stuff once I adjusted quantity. Sometimes there are a few little suds on the bottom of the door, but it doesn't appear to be anything major (at least as far as I can tell). Anyhow, on to my new results with door open. Test 1 -- full load of colored cotton clothes (almost entirely 100% cotton -- some 95% and 97% cotton stuff) ran from 9:20 until 10:00 (including 5 minutes of cool down) - clothes still very wet ran from 10:00 until 10:20 (with 10 minutes cool) -- clothes still wet ran from 10:20 until 10:45 (with 5 minutes cool) -- still wet ran from 10:45 until 11:05 - still wet ran from 11:05 until 11:39 -- fairly damp ran from 11:39 to 12:27 ran from 12:30 to 1:25 total run time -- around 4 hours for one load! granted, some of this was 'cool down' time that I didn't catch right away, but c'mon, give me a break. As you can see, this is pretty annoying. I had the dryer set to extra dry, and it kept stopping on me for whatever reason (bad moisture sensor?). Each time it stopped, I opened the door, cleaned the lint filter if necessary, and if there were any items that were dry, I pulled them out, cleared the current dryer setting, and fired it up again. Test 2 -- 6 cotton towels (100% cotton) I have the exact breakdown written at home, but I believe I had to restart the load twice, and it took a total of 1 hour and 40 minutes to dry 6 towels. Pretty unacceptable. I've noticed that with the first load, some items seemed to just collect in the back portion of the dryer, and remained wetter than the other items. I also have pictures of the load sizes -- maybe someone could tell me if they'd consider the first load overloaded? I find it hard to believe 6 towels is overloading a dryer, but... it's worth having a basis for comparison. 6 towels colored cotton load Thanks again to everyone for responding -- as soon as I contact Asko, I'll update everyone...
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sandy1616
12 years ago
Ukigumo - I have been shopping for second w/d set. I had been looking at a Miele 4842, 4' capacity. I mentioned that I was thinking of a smaller set and was immediately ushered to the Asko section. The salesguy I have been working with prefers the Asko set, same as you purchased, over the smaller Miele set. The store does not carry the larger Asko models as he feels they are "junk" but he had nothing but giddy praise for the 220v Asko. Please post once you have a feel for your machines. I'm anxious to know! The Asko set is 1300 less, has a 3 year manufacturer warranty versus the 1 year for the Miele. Tough call.
janiceme
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for all the replies. The dryer is vented, not condensing. I have wondered if some of the objectionable noise could be muffled by wrapping the vent duct.

Sandy, I read you other comments in the Miele thread. About 3 years ago, I owned the big AskoXXL very briefly. I returned it -- fortunately the store had a 30 day return policy. It was very junky compared to the small set. The store I recently dealt with will not sell the big ones either.

I do think the small ones are a quality product and a good value. I like the water levels in the washer and the ability to set the temperature. I will report further, I hope to have more time this weekend. The set is in a condo we are moving to, so I am not there all the time.

The discuss-o-mat deluxe board of automaticwasher.org has some very positive Asko reviews right now.
beaniebakes
12 years ago
ukigumo -- I've had the same units in white for about six months and am very pleased with them. My units are stacked in a closet next to an exterior wall. The dryer isn't noisy and doesn't make a whining sound; the washer does make a whining sound on the 1200 rpm spin cycle, but I think that's to be expected. I find myself staring at the washer in awe. Even though the washer has a small capacity, I've never found it to be too small. However, I'm 68 and live alone and tend to do only two or three small loads each week. Sheets do tend to ball up in the washer. Sometimes I'll remove the sheets from the dryer mid-cycle to shake them out and then put them back to complete the cycle. (I'm not sure this helps reduce wrinkles.) My house has hard water (private well)but I put a scant tablespoon of borax in the soap dispenser along with detergent and it's made all the difference as I no longer have to use fabric softener. It's nice to hear about someone else's experience since not too many people have these machines.

Update on my laundry closet: Asko

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Update on my laundry closet: Asko

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