I knew when I moved into this house that the 25 year old Kenmores wouldn't last long, so I started researching then. I've read articles, reviews, and I think I've been to every store that sells appliances in a 50 mile radius. I need a top-loader due to space constraints, and I wasn't pleased with any of them. When the washer and dryer died at the end of August, I knew I had to bite the bullet and choose something, and I was going to go with the Maytag Centennial. Until I saw the LG top-loader. I looked up the reviews and they were consistently good, and they had a good repair rating by a leading consumer periodical. My budget isn't unlimited, and they were much more than I wanted to spend, but I haven't regretted it for one minute. I love them. The capacity is amazing, and the clothes come out much cleaner than any other washer I've ever owned. But you are the only one who can decide if a top or front loading machine is best for your needs. There are pros and cons to each. I strongly suggest you measure your available space, and where the necessary connections are as this may limit your choices. And then go to an appliance dealer that carries a broad range of machines and actually touch them, and look at them. Keep in mind some of the suggestions you've received here. Then go and read the reviews. It's important to see them because I found that I would find one that received okay reviews, but then when I saw it, something about it would annoy me - like the 5 settings for cold - cold, tap cold, cool cold, etc.

Hello! I have not heard much on these GE FL models, but what I have heard seems to be mixed reviews. As for the Samsung VRT, I have heard wonderful things about them. Of course, I am not going by my own experience while critiquing these machines because I have no experience with them. I'm just going by what I've heard from this forum and elsewhere. Hopefully others that own these machines will chime in (sounds like some GE owners already did in the other thread). Anyhoo, as for the Maytag Bravos, my family and I bought one of these washers for my grandmother and she just LOVES it!! It holds a TON of clothes and washes and rinses them beautifully! However, I have heard mixed reviews of the Bravos MTW6600 model, which my grandmother has (but as I said she loves hers). The Bravos MTW6700 seems to get much more positive reviews since it is basically a tweaked version of the MTW6600 with a redesigned impeller. I've noticed based on reviews and experiences shared on this forum that with the MTW6600 model you have to load clothes into it carefully (drop each piece of clothing in one by one in a heap around the center of the impeller, not on top of the center of it) in order to not get the tangling some have reported, which seems to be a big contributor to the more negative reviews. Maybe the MTW6700 solved that problem and you do not have to load clothes in it so particularly. Not sure. Just my 2 cents. Hope this helps! Let us know what you decide to purchase! Good luck! :o) Here is a link that might be useful: Maytag Bravos MTW6700

So to reiterate, it's not my washer, it's in my parents' rental. The tenant was apparently kind of clueless when it came to appliances. Mold and mildew fortunately doesn't seem to a problem, it's a combo of a year's worth of limescale from the very hard water, massive buildup from overdosed liquid detergent and fabric softener, and I'm sure a lovely biofilm as well. I believe the bulk of the detergent residue is gone at this point, so it's mostly a matter of getting the scale off the drum, which may take a couple of washes. The scum on the boot and outer edge of the casket will also need to be cleaned off manually, but I think I'm going to let my parents deal with that parent ;) @Sparky, that's interesting about them recommending cold water with the vinegar wash, and it does make a certain amount of sense. I know citric acid has to be used hot, but that's because calcium citrate isn't very soluble at lower temperatures. In my own experience vinegar isn't the best at dealing with scale, but it's great at taking off hard water soap scum. We always just pour it straight into the tub or wherever, without any hot water, let it sit for a while and the soap scum usually comes off in flakes when you scrub it.

We have 11 SQs in our business and love them! They recently discontinued the top two models of SQ with timer controls and replaced them with electronic controls. Some other changes are that they now fully fill without having to adjust the water level. They meet water use standards by offering an Eco cycle that uses a spray rinse. There is also a conventional fill the tub rinse on other cycles. My SQ(timer controls)has a spray rinse followed by a tub rinse for the first rinse. I am not sure if the new ones do that for the regular rinse. There also seems to be a third rinse available for those with allergies. We have severe allergies so I do a wash with single rinse and a second light wash with a little water softener to remove detergent and single rinse. I get one warm rinse that way. There is still a basic model available with timer controls.