Consumer Reports Washing Machine Ratings and Reliability ($10/month digital)

Samsung top loader -xtra large and love it!

Thank you @Michelle. I have the Samsung Bespoke fridge, dishwasher, and oven. I love those as well. Do you have the model you are recommending?

Speed Queen, top loader. 5 stars.

I second the Speed Queen. My microfiber floor mop thingys come out looking new. Before I had to scrub them clean and then they still looked a tad dingy.

In my previous home i had a top load Speed Queen w/agitator and i loved it. Laundry always smelled like…well like fresh laundry! Moved last year and the house I’m in now has an LG front load and nothing smells clean. It’s on the long list of things i’m going to change in this house.

@Anna Devane: "Moved last year and the house I’m in now has an LG front load and nothing smells clean."

What detergent are you using? CR's tests show that many detergents are completely ineffective, some "cleaned" little better than plain water. Tide Ultra Stain Release, among others, was rated top notch. In its tests, the LG WM4000HWA front loader, among others, was recommended and is reasonably priced.

We have the Mega Capacity 5.5 cu ft LG top loader and I LOVE it. It's quiet, has fairly quick cycles and can fit a King comforter and sheets easily. We have 2 large dogs (a GSD and a Lab) so we do a LOT of laundry.

The SQ top loader to get is the TC5. Classic. Speed Queen | TC5 The others don't clean as well.

Or look for a used earlier model. Same as the TC5.

Miele for a front loader.

In CR's tests, neither the Speed Queen TC5003WN nor the TR7003WN performed well enough to earn a recommended rating, have small capacity (3.5 cf) and both are expensive at $1329 and $1429, respectively. Positive attribute? Reliability.

I don't have access to CR's so I can't argue against it. I do have the TC5. Before this house I had a top loader that worked fine but wasn't anything fancy. While building we had a rental and it had a front loader and I liked it. Never a problem with smells but I did clean the big rubber pad and always left the door open. I wanna say it was an LG, it's been 6 years so it's fuzzy. I know for sure it wasn't a Samsung. I knew a handful of people who had Samsung's at the time and had lots of problems.

For the new house I wanted a top loader. We bought a Maytag with an agitator since I was told that's what you want for farmer cloths, we're in a farming community. Short version of that story is it kept tripping the GFI because it electrified the water lines. My husband called BS until he checked it.

My husband said he knew guys at work that wanted to get SQ but their wives wanted the bells and whistles so they bought something else. 2 years down the line they were kicking themselves.

I've had it for 3-4 years now and am very happy with it. I've used Kirkland free & clear with no problems but just switched to their powered stuff and still happy with the results.

Edit to add: I hadn't even looked at it when I bought it. My kids were being h*llions that day and it was all I could do to lock myself in the closet to get it ordered and paid for so they could get it on the delivery schedule :)

@aziline: "I've used Kirkland free & clear with no problems"

In CR's tests, Persil ProClean Sensitive Skin performed better, and earned a recommended rating, among so-called sensitive-skin detergents.

@wdccruise I used Kirkland F&C since I don't like strong smelling detergents. I switched to powered since they should be environmently friendlier. Their powder has a light citrus smell which I really like. It isn't strong at all.

I bought all samsung appliances when we bought our house and will NEVER buy another samsung appliance. in 13 years i have had 2 samsung refigerators and the most recent one all the interior plasic is broken becuase it is such poor quality. the samsung dryer died and we replaced with a whirlpool. when our 1st samsung fridge died we asked appliance people and repairmen all over and they all said they are all the same. they are built for max 8 years. So bad for the environment! we are now building a house and will most likely buy spees queen washer /dryer based on research.

Re: Speed Queen prices... when we bought our W&D 7 years ago, I went to an indie store that sold SQ, and the out-the-door price was heavily discounted from the MSRP, And the MSRP was all I could find on the store's website. Go in and ask.

I purchased a Speed Queen for our last house based on rave reviews on Houzz, as well as elsewhere. Nope. It didn't get my clothes clean. It was absolutely nothing special. I missed my 20 year old Kenmore, which did a much, much better job. I love that Speed Queen had buttons and dials and no electronic control panels, but that was the only thing I liked about it.

In our new place we got an LG washtower front loader. I had a GE front loader in the past and it had a whole funk mold issue with the gasket. This LG does not have that problem. I do leave the door cracked open between washing to that might help. But I also think the LG gasket drains water better and there is no excess moisture to funkify. (Total technical term.) My brother got an LG stand alone front loader washer this year and loves his too.