just get a regular old fashioned agitator machine. I had a Bravos and hated it. I sold it for a fraction of what I paid for it. The lady I sold it to said they were taking their clothes to the neighbors to wash because it was so smelly and after only a few months the hot water intake valve was broken and she was only getting cold water. This on a machine two years old. It was working perfectly (for what it was) when they bought it from us so I was so embarrassed when she said it had already broken and I tried to give her the money back but she wouldn't take it.... It bunches clothes into a tight ball, you take them out and some are not even wet. It will eat your clothes by harming the fabric. It uses so little water that the clothes are just as dirty when finished as when you put them in. It does not rinse well and clothes have a feeling of having soap in them no matter how little you use. I absolutely hated this machine and I am not the only one. There is a person on here who raves about her's which makes me wonder wth? Nobody I have talked to can stand these machines no matter the brand. The other thing is that they are noisy and it takes forever. You may put a comforter in it but it will not even be wet all the way through when you take it out. I cannot advise against this awful machine more strongly. This is all IMHO but believe me I speak from experience and the experience of other people I have talked to.

The Queen comf will fit in the SQ fine. My sister washes a King comf in her SQ and it does fine but I will say it is not as fluffy(cheaper one)because she just bought it for the dog to sleep on.

I agree with gr8day, we got rid of our TL HE machine because it literally shredded our clothes. I personally prefer a FL because it works well for us with no mold issues. I know some people have mold issues that can't be resolved no matter what they try, maybe it's a water chemistry thing. You could go for the SQ but also look into used or overstock TL with a traditional agitator. Check your local appliance store to see what they have.

after I got rid of the awful HE TL I got a FL set and at first I was so relieved and so happy with them because they cleaned sooo much better. But now I am just worn out with it, too. It takes up to two and a half hours to do a load on stain wash and well over an hour on regular, nearly two hours with extra rinse. I am weary of wiping it out after each use and of taking the dispenser drawer out and cleaning it and worrying about cleaning the machine itself every few weeks with a separate wash that seems to negate the water savings. I don't like keeping the door cracked and open and worrying about mold, getting on the floor to empty washer since I don't have room for or want the pedestals. I am ready to go back to a very unglamorous old school agitator machine. I am sorry I sold my original set that was fine but was 18 years old and just getting a little tired but still worked better than either of these two replacements I have invested in to my own disappointment.

The only thing is, I am hearing that the new agitator machines do not put in enough water either so it might not even be possible to get a good washing machine anymore, at least one that some of a certain age remember as being good and who remember the Maytag man really was lonely! Recently I realized that I dread doing laundry!! I don't mean to offend anyone who loves their machine it's just that this is my own personal experience.

I read this thread with real interest. I have had front loaders now for going on 12 years (I am on my second FL-LG now). I have never been happy. The first FL was a Kenmore. My problem with it was the mold issues that I worked dilligently to resolve, and its small capacity. The LG I now have has the capacity to do a king size comforter, and I do all the crap you have to do to eliminate mold: emptying the detergent drawer, keeping the door open for a few hours after I do the final load, and occassionally running a washer cleaner through the clean cycle. It is frustrating trying to figure out which combination of settings will give me hot water. And I don't find the laundry that has gone through a cycle that has lasted an hour or more any cleaner than that of any TL machine I use at other homes. I have read all the threads here for the last 12 years and seen all the expert posters tell us why A FL cleans better than a TL. That is not my experience. And quite frankly, playing with a washing machine as a favorite past time is a thrill for some, but when I am trying to do laundry as part of my household chores, I find the average FL aggravating.

My recommendation? Buy the TL of your choice from the 1960's to 1970's: Maytag or Kenmore specifically. You have to search Craigslist, or go to an estate sale in your area or hunt through used appliance stores. Good used machines are out there. They will need to be serviced occassionally, but if you can afford it and are willing to get to know a good repairman, I think you will be happy. That is my goal in the next year. Partly for my own enjoyment of an old set from those years, but also to have more control over the machines. The current TL with agitators are also Energy Star machines so getting hot water is almost impossible unless you want to go through the ordeal of turning off the cold water faucet until the machine fills. Lordy. And the TL HE machines are as horrible as you folks have commented. There are YouTube videos on them. The people I know who have them all say the same thing: clothes go in dirty, come out half washed. I tried to warn them beforehand. Who would have thought trying to get clean laundry would become a time consuming project?

I'm in the same boat! I have read too many bad things about those gorgeous front load machines. And if I had to leave them open to air out, my cats might think it was a giant cat litter box! or worse get stuck in the wash as did happen to a friend's kitten. Terrible! Anyway, what I am finding is in this day and age, things just aren't made well. I've even asked 2 different appliance repairmen if they could have ANY set in the world for free what would they get. They both said the most basic Whirlpool topload available. They said of course they will have problems, just like all the rest, but at least they are easy to work on! Really? Is this the best you can do? If anyone has a good experience with a newer top load, PLEASE report on it. My 6 yr old Fisher&Paykel (which has had it's problems over the years)is starting to look wonderful in comparison to all that I have read. And I am so sick of Consumer Reports rating a brand as wonderful only to dig further and find tons of complaints or in the case of LG gas dryers a law suit! Come on CR! WTH???

I use our FL and have never had problems with our previous FL'ers. The TL HE was another matter though. A lot of mold/buildup issues are due to constant cold water washing combined with not using enough detergent. I can't tell you how many times I hear 2tsp/large load is more than enough, and cold is the new hot. Here are the facts, to remove soils you need water, heat, detergent, and agitation. Using to little detergent in cold water is gonna coat the outer plastic drum of the machine with crud consisting of dead skin cells, sebum(skin oils), and misc soils. The mold then grows on this gunk. Follow the detergent makers dosing guidelines, if your machine suds up more than it should then change brands, some detergents work well with certain machines and not others, find one that works well for you. Use warm water, you can wash anything in warm water including stuff that says cold only, warm in todays machines is 80-90F at best, similar to human skin temp, warm is not gonna damage fabrics. Use hot for whites and colorfast fabrics. Try this, rub some fatty raw chicken skin on your hands, now try and wash this fat off with cold water and a few drops of dishsoap, doesn't come off does it? Now try the same thing with warm water and double the amount of detergent, hmmmm much cleaner. As far as saving energy by using cold water only, save energy in other ways, ie low flow shower heads etc. Cold water just doesn't clean as well. As for saving money on detergen, buy a cheaper brand. Detergent does more than just clean the clothes, it also prevents soils from redepositing on the clothes and on internal machine parts. There is no conspiracy to get you to use more than needed. 3X concentrated detergent is dosed at one ounce per load, average front loader has 5 gallons of wash water in the main wash, that ends up being 1 ounce of detergent in 640 ounces of water. Hardly overdosed, in fact if water is hard you should use more that what is recommended. With all this said I don't want to start a war here and I know there are some that have done everything right and still have issues, for them I don't have a solution. And no I am not saying FL'ers are any better than TL'ers, but in order to get clean laundry you need warm to hot water and detergent, this is true of either machine type.

Uh oh. I just bought the TL Fisher and Paykel echo smart washer and gas dryer (fl not top load for the dryer). I was ***REALLY*** tempted to just get the speed queen but figured we were going to end up with HE eventually so we just took the plunge but still didn't give up the agitator. I did wash all day yesterday, jeans, colors, whites, blankets....so far so good (day 1 I know). I was surprised how little water it used and I left it on the auto water fill for the first trial runs. Everything came out soft (no softener) and looks and smells clean. I did use the warm wash as that is the machines automatic choice for the cycle's I chose, water felt warm to me and I could see some steam. I haven't tried a HOT wash yet. Cycle times were great - if you want I can give them to you - they lay them out in the manual and what I think is really nice is if you have something that is not really dirty but needs a quick wash you can do a short wash cycle - I think it's like 15 minutes (don't quote me). That will be handy at times I'm sure.

What is really ridiculous is that since the last set we bought in 1998 - choosing a washer and dryer really feels like it IS nearly rocket science. Give me something that will wash my clothes reliably and not have a gagillion rules or gadgets I don't need and I'm happy. $250 for a pedestal is absurd.

My sil has had her F&P set for about 6 years now with no complaints so we used that as a first hand review even though of course by now the models are different. I haven't found anyone that I know in real life that *loves* their front load - not that they hate it but more of a well, when the time comes we may or may not buy another FL.

This has turned out to be one of the most difficult decisions we've made in a while in the way of we bought a pair but we weren't really set on any one brand or type due to all of the differences (fl, tl, he, no he, agitator, no agitator, I give up) and reviews. In fact at the store when we finally made a decision it was quite lackluster. I figured it was as good as any, didn't feel great about it didn't feel bad about it. It's hard to get excited about a washer and dryer anyhow. It was $1,300 for the pair.

jdenyer-very informative and I didn't feel it was one sided toward either. I am hoping the basic warm wash will be enough to keep mold away and we don't have an on board heater. I rarely use hot but will - machine recommends a perm press cycle every 5th load whether you put clothes in it or not, with detergent of course.

Good luck irisjjs! I feel like it's a crap shoot myself and only time will tell how we did!

F&P has been doing TL HE machines for years, and as far as I know most owners like them. The TL HE machine I had was the LG waveforce, cleaned great, but shredded clothes. I know some people have them and love them but it just didn't work out for me. Good luck with you new washer and dryer. Dadoes is the resident F&P guru on this site should you have any questions, then he is the one to ask.

Just bought the cheap Whirlpool TL & Dryer from Costco. Water fill is like old times, but so is the noise. If you don't mind the noise then you'll get nice clean clothes in about 45 min.

Ratflinger, congrats on getting an old fashioned toploader, they are becoming harder to find as manufacturers are stopping production on them, the only exeption is speed queen. Even the old fashioned high fill top loaders need warm and hot water to clean good. Fabric softner also creates issues as it coats everything in gunk. My mother in law uses fabric softner in every load, towels are so coated the water actually beads up on them! She also washes everything in cold, she says she needs the fabric softner to get that nice clean smell. Use of warm or hot water would leave her laundry smelling nice and clean without all the gunk and perfume from the FS. She has an old fashioned top loader and the outer drum is well, nasty to say the least. I wouldn't wash my clothes in there.

OP, I have a Maytag Bravo (not XL) and absolutely love it. It does a great job on all my laundry, I can wash HUGE loads in it, can wash a king-size comforter with no problem, and I have never ever had any problem with any clothes wrinkling, or any other problem either.

I wouldn't buy a washer these days unless it had an internal water heater so I could have true HOT water if need be.

My Maytag Bravos has the heater, which I can use on almost every cycle if I choose -- not only for true hot water, but also true warm water.

The longest wash cycle, using the heater, is about an hour and a half. Any wash cycle without the heater is shorter. The shortest wash cycle is 18 minutes.

I was waiting for this poster to show up with the love postings for the Maytag Bravos. I am happy for you Mara but I have to tell you, I don't know what you are talking about. The machine is a POC and does not clean clothes at all. It is noisy and a total waste of time and energy. I am glad that you like it so much but for me and others it is a serious waste of time doing laundry in this machine. Congrats to you for having such a great experience with it and I am truly sorry that reading good reviews about the Bravos from people like this caused me to spend a good deal of money on them only to resell them at a fraction of the price I paid for them just to get the nasty things out of my sight. Good luck if you choose this machine to purchase and my wish is that you have the same wonderful experience that Mara has had because it certainly was not my experience. I did everything right so no lectures on how I don't know how to operate a washing machine.

Gr8day, it's sort of nice to know that you were waiting for me to show up. I sort of feel like a celebrity, lol.

I hope I don't sound argumentative, but everything I've said about my Maytag Bravos washer is absolutely 100% accurate. My experience has obviously been the opposite of yours, and before I ever bought my washer, I read many reviews just as positive at several different websites.

You won't get any lectures from me, and I would appreciate the same mutual respect. :)

My front loader is dying and I need to replace so I'm refreshing this thread. Would love to hear more comments about top load no agitator washing machines (my first choice at the moment).

Seems like every time I read something positive about a particular model, I then read something negative. No Samsung for me as I've been told by numerous people that getting them serviced in my area is nearly impossible.

My apologies -- just saw another very current thread on this topic. No need for two. I'll go check it out.