I have a Frigidaire Affinity myself. I absolutely love it. Cleans really well and I got it on sale for $700, without including tax and service warranty, at best buy. There should be no rusting problems as the metal is stainless steel. One thing is you can under no circumstances use reg detergent in an Affinity. At least not in the model I got. It is so effiecent that reg detergent suds way too much. Heck, I only have to use half of line one in the cap of Cheer HE I'm currently using for most loads. I have also been able to wash my king size comforters in it with no problems. One at a time of course, but the point is I still can wash them. Some of those big 4.0 cubic foot ones can't. Your best bet is to go to different appliance websites such as Sears, Best Buy, etc. and check out specs and reviews. You can also do a web search on each machine you like by typing in the name of the machine and reviews and see what comes up. You will be able to see what other people who already have that machine think of it.

We have the LG washer/dryer Some of the models hold 4.0 cu/ft or 4.3 cu/ft Service people may be few and far between depending on your location. Go to the big stores and compare the looks/sizes/ect... LG service manuals http://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/index.action http://www.repairclinic.com/

2 years old Tromm here and no problems, no mildew and I don't do the tub clean either. I personally was against the steam option. Seems to me it is something that might be pain to deal w/ it. I use sanitary cycle on reg. basis due to my BF dermatitis and it works well. I would definatelly recomend to buy something that will heat water up, had water plus option and extra rinse option. Prewash is nice too. For bigger family, I don't think you care about ton of extras.Maybe child lock would be o.k. if you have small children, my daughter loved to do laundry w/ me when she was little and the lock saved me. She use to try open the door b/c she wanted to put her toys in. My friend has LG's too little older model than mine and never had any problems either.

Here is my suggestion and I will explain why based upon your husband's socks. Get this Maytag at Lowes Maytag Maxima 5500 You are "negative" about Allergen and Sanitary because you don't have health concerns. Hot water is what cleans clothes. The Allergen cycle is P351 NSF and it is required to reach a temperature around 130 degrees. HE top loaders still have dumbed down temperatures (even with steam) because of the volume of water., My Duet has a prewash cycle and I've never used it, even for my heavily soiled kitchen towels. If I were doing your husband's socks with the suggested machine, I would use Tide HE with bleach powder; Power Wash cycle with extra hot temperature selected and steam for stains. If you feel you must do a prewash, just select rinse & spin and let the "rinse" be a prewash with detergent. Other selection might be Allergen with steam for stains and in both instances heavy soil level. Dumbed down temperatures don't get things adequately clean (Hello MamaP), especially heavy soil. Dirty heavy soils, select extra hot and steam for stains. My duet has cycles machines don't have now days because it's a 2011 model. I don't use a cycle based upon what it's intended garment description says. I select the cycle because it give me the tumble speed I want, ste4am for stains and hotter temeratures. I don't use the "Normal" cycle because that the energy star certified cycle--translates to even lower water temps than in the other cycles as well as reduced water amounts per fill.