Laundry room

9 years ago

I have been digging through the forums but am still struggling a bit on washer and dryer choices. We just decided as part of our laundry room remodel to replace our 9-year old Kitchen Aid FL washer and dryer (which I selected with the help of this forum a decade ago). They aren't dead, I will be moving them to another house.

Thing I like about my FL:

Capacity

Seems gentler on my clothes

Water usage

They sure are pretty!

Cleans pretty effectively, overall no major complaints

Things I have not loved

I have often found it does not drain. It presents an impossible situation because you cannot open the door to see if something is covering drain holes (baby sock!! why would they design a washer that cannot handle a baby sock!!) without a flood but cannot drain it without opening the door to clear out clog (occasionally though, another wash cycle works, although ruins my afternoon.)

Vibration- but we are ripping this 2nd floor room off and rebuilding so I *hope* that won't be an issue ongoing.

Clothes seem more wrinkled. Admittedly, this is probably due to "user error" i.e. overloading. That said, I need to do big loads. I have kids, pets and limited hours in the day to attend to laundry, so I need to be able to load it up. I also have parents who stay with me sometimes, a babysitter, and a house cleaner who also do laundry. I can't have a machine that requires super complex care and feeding if its not always the same person using it.

I had a lot of problems with mold in the trays, around the detergent dispenser (not only do I have to leave door to the washer open, I have to leave detergent tray out, and even still, mold in there that I am constantly cleaning it out. I do live in a humid climate. )

We also have hard water, and switching to Charlie's Soap WITH adding the hard water booster seems to be helping.

I am not opposed to another FL, just want it to be easier to get along with than this one. Space in my laundry room is not a huge concern, we are remodeling and this is the only purpose for the laundry room, so I can make it work. Budget isn't my primary concern, but it is a concern as we are also doing our entire kitchen at the same time and I don't want to overshoot on the laundry room. I need something that could last 10-15 years, but I will survive if it doesn't last 30. Matching W/D is not a concern, nor is beauty, this room is only used for laundry, anyone who doesn't want to see a washer shouldn't be in there. What should I absolutely be considering?

Right now I have (washers): Miele (also looking at this for our dishwashers), Speed Queen. What else? Anything in a more reasonable price range that should be on my short list? Dryers?

Have ruled out: Bosch- have had many personal negative experiences with service in our area with current appliances (frankly worry about this for Miele as well.)

Thanks!

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Laundry room

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