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Miele Little Giant

I would agree that the MLG is probably the best compact FL washer and I was going to mention the full sized Miele as a very built machine but you can only find used ones now, also the 27" Bosch FL washers were pretty good, but the 27" Bosch dryers left a lot to be desired.

 

John L.
 
Don't know much about the Miele little giant. Can anyone fill me in?

 

And Yes, I know that people here know that the Neptunes were discontinued. Simply saying that while plentiful now, my longing for them being made new will only increase as time goes on. My apologies for the way I worded it.   
 
SQ Built Amana FL Washers

Some SQ FL washers were sold with the Amana name on them 15-18 years ago, These machines had NOTHING to do with Amana, they were completely designed and built in SQs factory in Wisconsin and passed completely on the commercial FLers that SQ was building and selling.

 

When Raytheon sold SQ the commercial end became Alliance laundry Systems and ALSs was not allowed to compete in the residential market for 10 years.  

 

Meanwhile ALSs continued their core job of building and improving their products and after the 10 year moratorium on selling directly to consumers expired Speed Queen became a household laundry line again and it was better in quality than it ever was in the past.

 

During this 10 year moratorium Amana wanted a FL washer to try marketing and ALS sold a non-commercial version to Amana, but Amana had almost no hand in designing or building these washers.

 

John L.
 
Interesting about the Amana frontloader was that it had a heater. So it shouldn't be too much of a problem for Speed Queen to add one too. The European models have one anyway. Even if some people think it's not necessary, for others it would be a great selling point. It's just plain silly from a marketing point of view not to have one.
 
I've said it before & I'll say it again

SQ not having a model with a heater is the big main reason why I cannot/won't consider them. I personally know the performance differences between not having a heater and one that does (my old Fridgemore vs. my Duet). The heater allows me to not need LCB for removing stains and things just get cleaner. If I have anything to say about it, will never have a front loader again without a heater. Europeans have it all together correct. As I've said before, it's the civilized way to do laundry.
 
SQ FL Washers

SQ has built models for sale in the US with a heater, My brother Jeff, Greg in Omaha, Jon in Massachusetts, Bob in Cleveland and mine all have heaters, My partner Jason even added one to his SQ, problem is they did not sell well in the US so it was dropped.

 

Of all our customers with higher end FL washers with heaters when I ask them about it only about1 in 10 say they ever use it.

 

I only use mine when I wash blankets from the play room as they get covered in lube, otherwise for towels and sheets etc I just use LCB as it is much faster disinfects  and whitens better than 150F washing does.

 

John L.
 
Thanks for the info regarding those Little Giants. I will read up on them.

 

 

I never knew that regarding Amana. Thank you again John! My all time favorite is when Amana was building for GE, for once a GE washer that looked like what a GE washer ought to look like IMO.

 

Regarding those blankets in your latest post- awesome!
smiley-cool.gif
 
We have three sets of white sheets, two cotton percale and one cotton flannel.  I love white sheets.  Back when I was a kid thats all most people had, colored and patterned sheets were for rich people according to Mom. We also didn’t have fitted bottom sheets until the mid 60’s. Making a bed with flat bottom sheets is an art, and even if you do it well they always seemed to come untucked, so daily bed making used to take longer too.

 

Eddie
 
I use white sheets only. Vintage, of course, because new sheets rarely hold up more than a year to 160F washes without completely deteriorating. I've become a violent sleeper in my older age so flat sheets are used on the bottom and carefully tucked.

After 26 years, my comforter has finally worn out and bit the dust. I now use white fleece blankets which also get the 160F washing treatment.

Being able to wash everything in hot water is a godsend, especially when one has animals. Another plus, no more trips to the laundromat (comforter).
 
Neptunes

Are they the best FL washer ever made? Likely no.
However, the MAH 7500 despite having the LCD touch display was the machine to have. The slightly lower wash water levels actually improved cleaning and kept the suds down a bit more. My only complaint is the lack of good interim spins. The redistributions at ~100 rpm can only do so much. The interim spin before the 3rd rinse was only around 400 rpm if I recall correctly. If the machine was programed to have an interim spin of around 600 rpm after the 1st and 2nd rinse, the performance and rinsing would have been considerably better. These machines rarely had issues with balancing as others have stated, and generally had little to no vibration if they were in good working order. If I recall correctly, these first generation machines only had one strut in the back. Newer machines rely on 4 and cant perform like the Neptunes! The Stain cycle is unparalleled in my opinion. Warm wash/warm rinse is a luxury nowadays. The presoak option is also becoming rare too. Don't get me started on the TRUE warm and hot washes. The thought of those makes me drool!
 
Coloured bed or table linen are fine for most part. But one prefers things that can be laundered in hot (or very) water with routine use of oxygen bleaches. Bed linen in particular unless you run your household like Mrs. Jackie Kennedy did the WH (beds changed twice per day, and things laundered promptly), needs good washing.

Since many homes now routinely only change bed linens every two weeks (or longer), coupled with low temperature washing, and in cases of coloured bed linens (no bleach oxygen or chlorine), it's know wonder things get a nasty yellow cast. That or have a whiff about them even after being laundered and dried.

https://www.studyfinds.org/survey-changing-sheets-linens/
 
For years I thought the Neptune was the stupidest washer ever made. Note that I've used one only twice, at my father in law's house (MAH7500) it struggled twice to wash a duvet and never spun it. I had to pull my Magic Chef that was in storage there to spin it.

Then, one night I was eating dinner, past 9pm I think and I saw an ad on Facebook. Neptune superstack for only $35 with minor defect (fill valve).
I woke Kevin up and dragged him there, it was one of the best things I've ever made.

Indeed it was looking like new, super clean, I got it because of the dryer, didn't really care about the washer at first. But then... well... I replaced the defective fill valve (somewhat inexpensive) and started using it... It did a WONDERFUL job with the clothes, specially because I tend to overdose detergent a bit.

The only thing I don't really like is the extra rinse. If you select extra rinse, it will release fabric softener on 3rd rinse and then do a 4th rinse (kinda nonsense to me, because I LOVE super strong fabric softener scent and I want people in Calabasas to notice when I'm doing laundry in South Central LA.

But I managed to solve this issue, I run a cycle with extra rinse and then i repeat the 3rd rinse only.

The Neptune is definitely one of my favorite washers, the only thing to do now is replacing the bearings because it's horribly noisy, that's a project for VERY soon because now, more than ever, I really need my "fleet" to be 100% perfect due to the huge demand of laundry.

A few days ago I ended up using all the 18 washers at the same time with full loads, that was historical. I actually had 24 full loads.

I want to have a neptune washer, preferably that one with a LCD display and, I would kill for a Neptune top load also with the LCD display. (I know it's not that good, but it's, let's say, exotic)

IDK if there's any difference on the cycles as I never had the chance to really watch Darryl's washer running, however, my neptune spins if i'm not mistaken between the wash and first rinse and between 2nd and 3rd rinse (and between 3rd and 4th rinse if extra rinse is selected) It also does that strange spin full ow water before the final spin for sure, and I'm in doubt if it doesn't do that after the first rinse as well because i can hear it filling and the water sloshing.

Someday in the Future I'll start using my charm to convince Martin to make a windowed door for me. I'd also kill for a windowed door for the dryer.

The only HORRIBLE mistake Maytag made in the superstack is the lack of detergent dispensers.
 
IMHO comparing commercial or even OPL front loaders to those specifically designed and built for domestic use isn't fair.

Yes, some domestic front loaders are sturdy enough and or otherwise designed to handle quasi-commercial use (OPL), but washers by likes of Dexter, Wascomat and other run circles around domestic machines.

SQ's offerings attempt to bridge that gap, but something has to go by the boards; hence you don't see heating capacity for instance.

SQ front loaders sold for commercial/industrial use are rated for and can be hooked up to steam for heating. Just look inside the door of any washer at laundromat at rating plate and you'll find steam requirements.

Few OPL or laundromats bother with steam heating in USA for washers. SQ obviously is aware of market and feels they can sell enough machines without offering heating to US consumers.

What you get with a SQ front loader is a washer that will do many loads day in and out for years (long life duty cycle), and not miss a beat. No, the washers don't coo at you in various foreign languages, offer a vast and bewildering array of cycles (that most homes will never use anyway), or the rest of what LG, Samsung and others seem to believe is necessary to sell washers.
 
I have three guests that moved from Orlando and are going to stay here for a few weeks.

Before they brought their clothes in, just in case, as I freak out with the idea of a bed bug come together, I asked then to let everything (absolutely everything) to be washed before it comes in the house (laundry room is downstairs, separate from the apartment upstairs)

So imagine, ALL the clothes from 3 people, blankets, duvets, pillows.... all at once.
 
Reply # 24

Wow! Well said.

Unfortunately, it's been said many times, before. One know-it-all who ruins the experience for everyone else, then insists on signing his name.

There's nothing anyone can do about it; so, we'll just have to suffer quietly; but, it's the reason we don't support AutomaticWasher, anymore.

The site must be independently wealthy.
 

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