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Front load vs top load washers

2 years ago

I notice in most of the laundry rooms shown that front load washers are used. I love the versatility of stacking the washer/ dryer to add floor space , or to have a counter over top if side by side;however, I only hear negative feedback from friends and family who have them. They leak, they smell musty no matter what you do, and they think the clothes don’t get as clean. What kind of feedback do you hear ?

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Comments (5)

Stephanie
2 years ago
My first experience with front loader was when we lived in europe and it was great, just had to do smaller loads and no dryers. Back here in the US and bought a home and the 20 year old top load washer died. i really debated what to get but ended up with a mid range whirlpool front loader (will probably get higher end miele next go round). I had a small leak out the back but they came and fixed it quickly and no problems since. also my clothes wash way better than top loading and dont get all twisted on each other. and i dont have a problem with mustiness - i leave the door open and it also tells me when to run a clean cycle (clean it with affresh or bleach). i would buy front loader and recommend it.
glaserberl
2 years ago
I'm from Germany and had never heard of, or seen a top loader until I moved to the US. I hated the first top loader I had and got a front loader at the first opportunity. That was in 1997. I never had any issues with musty smells ( I leave the door slightly open) and the clothes are so much cleaner.
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I am so very happy to have an old-school top loader again. My front loader finally bit the dust and we didn't even bother to try to have it fixed. It was here in the house when we moved in - we're kicking ourselves for paying extra to keep the set, we should have installed our old ones - and these were awful from day one. The first pain was the kamikaze clothing that leapt out from both washer and dryer when the door opened or you pulled something big out. It sucks that something you've just washed has to wait to get cleaned again. Plus, with a bad back, I didn't like bending down so far. It is infuriating that you need to spend extra money on those pedestals to raise them up, and laundry baskets won't fit under either door without them, so, again, when the door opens, things can hit the floor, which is horrible. The machines come out of the box with this huge flaw and you need to spend $150.00 minimum to make them work as they should. They should just be taller from the outset. Also, I like pulling things up out of the washer and then putting them straight into the dryer without having clean wet clothes go into a basket that has previously had dirty clothes in it. Then came the smell. Now it's possible that the previous owner pre-fouled the thing, but that gasket? Where water ALWAYS was? Yak. Mold city. No amount of bleach and cleaning would keep this thing clean. My clothing is now much cleaner after just a week of having a top loader again. I'm very sensitive to detergent left in fabrics, and mine are once again clean and my towels are far more absorbent. It's possible that a new machine, for way more money than I just paid for my new GE top loader, might be better, but we didn't want to spend that much and are happy to have the old style machine back.
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Speaking of how much I like the front loader - one of the things I really like about it is that I can wash rugs in it - not the flimsy ones but the ones with stiff backing. They say professional rug cleaning but some of the ones I have are so inexpensive it's not worth the price of professional cleaning. So I tried washing one in the FL once - figured if it fell apart I'd throw it away. It turned out great. So today I washed two rugs I've had in my kitchen for a long time. They're brown oriental type rugs so they hide dirt but they were grungy so I thought I'd wash them. A really weird thing happened. These rugs were (I thought) exactly the same. At least they looked exactly the same before I washed them. One came out beautifully - looks like new. The other one looks entirely different - the colors and pattern are kind of muddy and muted - kind of yucky looking. It almost seems like one was synthetic and one might have been wool - the one that doesn't look very good. So I put the good looking one back in the kitchen and the yucky looking one is in my laundry room. It doesn't look so bad by itself but looks terrible next to the good one. Anyway, FL works great for washing the rugs but you take your chances on whether the rugs are really washable or not. By the way, my normal cycle is 45 mins but there are cycles as short as 30 mins. Drying is fast since the washer spins things so dry.
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georgect
2 years ago
It comes down to proper use with a front loader.

Hot and warm water washes (rarely cold if ever), using bleach weekly with whites helps kill mold/mildew. Keeping door open at least for 24 hours after use, along with detergent drawer.

Wipe out door gasket after use.

Do not use excessive detergent and softener, tablespoons is all that's needed (no suds during wash, just bubbles).

Use extra rinses to be sure detergent is out of clothes and machine.

My washer has no bad smells at all after years of use.
Cadyren
2 years ago
I got my first front loader 16 years ago, the Bosch Nexxt & I've never looked back. I leave it open after use & have done nothing else special & have never had odd smells. It cleans & rinses great. I dread having to find another one that is as good with an actual working onboard heater.
opalspeed
Original Author
2 years ago
Thanks to all of you for your experiences with your front loaders.

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