Old school, go with Speed Queen.
Good old mechanical dials and knobs.

Front load, go with Electrolux/Frigidaire.
Second floor guarantee.

Stay away from "HE" (high efficiency) top loaders.
Watch them on Youtube...nothing much happens.

Good old top loaders wont hold as much laundry

New front loaders have HUGE capacity.

Good old top loaders have 30-45 minute cycles.

New front loaders take closer to 60 minutes to 2+ hours.

Good old top loaders don't need much babying.

New front loaders need to be used correctly (HE detergent, left open to air dry, wipe the rubber boot dry etc).

Good old top loaders don't heat up the water to 150 (Sanitize cycle).

New front loaders can do a Sanitize cycle without bleach, heating the water to around 150.

You have to weigh your pros and cons and what's important to you.

If I were to buy a new washer today I'd most likely go with the Electrolux.
They seem to have shorter wash times even though you can make them really long by changing/modifying options.

Good luck...lest us know what you decide to get.

This post was edited by georgect on Thu, Aug 21, 14 at 9:31

I agree with the suggestion of Electrolux for a front loader on the second floor. Frigidaire, though owned by Electrolux, doesn't have quite the same reputation as far as I know.

Most base cycles on my Electrolux 60 series washer run 25-42 minutes, ignoring the fast wash and heavy duty/sanitize extremes. Adding pre-wash or extra rinse cycles will add to that, but still mostly under 60 minutes. Those are the predicted times on the dial; I don't know whether incoming water temperature or other factors affect the actual time.

"-- Good old top loaders don't heat up the water to 150 (Sanitize cycle).

-- New front loaders can do a Sanitize cycle without bleach, heating the water to around 150. "

True, for some brands and models, but not all he machines. YMMV

Do your homework. Not all machines have an internal water heater nor will all machines allow water that hot. Look for a machine that has a Sanitize or Allergy cycle.

@GaryFx...
Thanks for the info. on cycle times.
That's better than I expected.
There really is no need for a 60-90 minute average wash time.

I can't wait to see the new models that should be coming out toward the end of this year. I hope they keep the cycles short.
And I hope they use a good amount of water especially for the rinses.

"Frigidaire, though owned by Electrolux, doesn't have quite the same reputation as far as I know."

Nonsense! Frigidaire was pretty much the first modern front loader in the US and was sold successfully for many years before the Electrolux brand even existed here. They are made in the same factory (in Mexico, BOOOOOO) and are mechanically similar. Frigidaire just has less features. The control panels look extremely similar to Elux IQ touch.

This post was edited by hvtech42 on Thu, Aug 21, 14 at 17:06

Interesting, thanks for the correction.

On the cycle times, I should add that it is possible to get up to 1hr 49min, by selecting Sanitize, and adding steam, Shrink Guard (which agitates after the final spin to relax fibers), and Fresh Rinse (extra rinse). I've no opinion on whether Shrink Guard is worthwhile, but I'll add the extra rinse if I felt the need to use Biz or bleach, since we dislike the odors. We'll save the Sanitize cycle for flu season. (Better yet, dry on hot, which I've heard kills germs just as well without taking extra time or water.)

I should also clarify I was not trying to dissuade from buying Elux by saying they were made in Mexico. I am obviously not a fan of how they closed their factory here but I still think they are an EXCELLENT machine. Quality doesn't seem to have decreased with the move and they get really good reviews here and elsewhere.

Since this is a second floor: although they are both good machines, get Electrolux, not Frigidaire. Reason being Electrolux has the 2nd floor guarantee Frigidaire does not. I bet they use EXACTLY the same vibration control technology and the difference is just in marketing, LOL. I would get at least the 55 series: that is the lowest model that has an internal water heater which is important on front loaders that dumb down the incoming water temperature like these.

Here's some more info on the timing: This afternoon, just before heading out to get the mail, I noted the remaining time on the washer. It said 7 minutes, and in the spin cycle, though it wasn't spinning yet. When I got back (we have a long driveway), it still said 7 minutes and wasn't spinning.

So I watched for a few minutes. I had a hunch that the load was unbalanced when it tried to spin, since it was the weekly load of sheets and towels, and I was correct. But it was interesting at how hard it tried to shake things up to re-balance it. It wasn't just stop, tumble a bit, and try again, but was a mixture of tumbling in both directions, some low speed spinning, tumbling, etc. Someone put some real effort into the computer program for this. When it tried high speed spinning again, I could see it shaking, then stop, and go through its paces again. I gave up watching and went back to work, but in a little while it was spinning happily, with no vibration.

So the good news is that the Perfect Balance works. The bad news is that it can add time to the cycle. I could, of course, tried manually re-balancing, but I'm not at all sure how to do that on a front loader. I don't remember noticing any trouble balancing on similar previous loads, so it could have just been a quirk in the way the towels got caught in the fitted sheet, or something similar.

I have the older model Lux Wave Touch and the normal cycle time is 1:02 and that is with 3rd rinse. You can wash most loads on the active cycle that uses more water during the rinse cycles within 45 minuets like most top loaders and if the delicate cycle is not to your likings, reduce the wash time on the active cycle (combination of fast/slow soak tumbles) and use the standard two rinse and reduce spin speed to low or better yet, use with casual or color cycle.which does not spin between final rinse. The wave touch can be manipulated in the way that suits al your laundry needs!

I would never wash towels and sheets together in a frontloader or HE toploader. There's too much disparity in fabric weight (particularly when thirsty towels are saturated with water) which leads to difficulty balancing for spin, as GaryFx notes above.

I would never wash towels and sheets together period.

I dont want that towel fuzz/lint getting on the sheets---next thing you know you have lint balls all over the sheets. Not worth it to me. JMO

I'll keep paying attention to load imbalance, to see if it's an issue. But in my previous house, it was mostly a problem with jeans loads.

Towel lint on sheets? That's a new one, I've never seen it. I wonder if it's because our fabrics are different, or the exhaust, or some other reason.

Jeans are tricky to balance because the legs get tangled and tumbling can't separate them to effectively distribute around the drum.

Heavy towels get wrapped in sheets to a similar effect. Or the heavy towels get bunched together, the lightweight sheets go opposite and it takes numerous distribution attempts to get it all balanced.

Gary--well as my Mama used to say "We all got our own "goofy ideas" about the best way to do things. LOL And I don't mean by that -that I think your way is goofy. Just made me think of her and laugh-I miss my Mama.

I like to hang out the clothes when I can so I guess that would cause lint of course but I have seen lint on other folks sheets that I know they dryer dried everything, but they did use a top load washer.(agitator)

Dadoes--Do you wash sheets/towels in the same load?
I have been going to ask you, I read a lot where folks with the HE top loads complain of balled up/twisted/knotted sheets and things. I know when we had a Frigidaire years ago the guy said if you would load sheets in a loose ball in the tub like one on one side the other on the other etc they wouldnt knot up. Not really sure my Mom ever tried it cause I have seen her work for several minutes getting things out of a knot when she got them out.(not always sheets though) I just wondered if that might work in the HE type TL machines?

islandmom, 2 sheets of Sturd-I-Floor screwed/glued together, under the washer & dryer and you will be good to go with a front loader on the second floor. Get the thick version of Sturd-I-Floor, the 1-1/8" thickness. Available at home improvement centers...