Best/Worst Ever Concensus

[historyman]

Ok. Let's get some concensus here. I apologize if this has been discussed previously but...........here we go:

What, in your opinion, was the best automatic washer ever made?

What, in your opinion, was the worst automatic washer ever made?

What, in your opinion, is the best automatic washer currently made?

I'll stand back now......... ;o)

 

[frigilux]

Oh, you're opening a big, bad can o' worms, here.

But since you asked....

BEST VINTAGE MACHINE: Unimatic Frigidaire

WORST: The European/UK contingent will have a field day with some of their brands, but I vote for WCI-made late 1980's era Frigidaires and whatever other brands they ruined---Westinghouse, I suppose. I had one of the Frigidaires and it was not a good machine by anyone's standard.

BEST CURRENT MACHINE: Non-US: Miele; US-Whirlpool, both TL and FL.

Next!

 

[mrcleanjeans]

Best,as in most reliable ever made,the old Maytag Dependable Care Helical Drive machines.Best,as in overall ,
from back "then",the Unimatic Frigidaires.Best combos were,of course ,the Bendix Duomatics.Best old dryers,the Hamiltons.
Today's Best washers are the Speed Queens,followed by the Kenmore version of Whirlpool,since Kenmore has more features for the money.Today's best dryers are the Kenmore-Whirlpools.
As for the worst,the WCI family of washers and dryers from 1980
thru the mid 1990s.After Electrolux bought them out,the quality has improved.Today's worst washers are the TL GEs

 

[thirtyater]

WORST - that we have owned would be Frigidaire Rollermatic

BEST - We have never owned one but I would say Maytag

 

[pturo]

Best/Worst

Best Ever Made: Maytag Dependable Care. Worst ever made: Fridgidare White Westinghouse merger machines. Best automatic washer currently made is the Whirlpool front load Duet.

 

[sudsman]

best and worst

I far I am concerned the best the Frigidaire 1-18
The worst ANY thing by WCI

Best Dryer Hamilton Now Really not sure ,,, Sudsman

 

[christfr]

HUM

well the best we or i have ever had in a vintage machines was and still is either a pool or a tag and i can for sure say the worst is a rollermatic..

 

[christfr]

ha ha

but then again if were talkin about pure fun and best cleaning it would be either the unimatic or 1-18 frigidaire

 

[robm]

I can only speak as a Brit but in my experience the following seems to be true -

The best automatic ever made to be sold in the UK in my opinion is and still is the Miele range. Strong, sturdy, smooth operation/noise and no nonsense programmes.

The worst, well where do I start. I've seen some rubbish in my time. The early Indesit's only drained when the machine spun, hence little distribution and spinning while full of water led to very violent spinning.

Hotpoint in the early 90s seemed very cheap and noisy with weak suspension. Hoover too do not seem to have the build quality anymore. I think the worst I've seen is a make called Jackson but that I think was just a Hotpoint under another name and dated from the mid 90s.

Please feel free to contradict me though, this is just my view.

Rob

 

[jasonl]

We've always had the best

For washers...
1970 Kenmore 800
1983 WP
1991 Maytag

But in the Direct-drive era, my mom's Shredmore Elite just shreds on my nerves, but it's not the worst. THAT honor goes to my mom's WCI Frigdaire lint machine that was back in Chalmette. I do NOT miss that machine being ruined by Katrina.

As for me and Helen, we the BEST of the BEST... Kenmore OasisHE.

 

[Unimatic1140]

In my humble opinion it’s really hard to say, no washer is really that superior over another because for every advantage you can usually cancel out with a disadvantage. You really can only do this by breaking it down into subcategories. Personally I will only rate machines that I have hooked up and have used for quite some time in the recent past. I don’t like making ratings based on memories, because I have found time and time again that what I remembered from 20 years ago was so different than my actual experience once I found and began using a specific machine again as a collector.

Washing Ability:
Best: Whirlpool with Surgilator
Worst: Early Bendix Bolt Down

Rinsing Ability:
Best: Frigidare Unimatic
Worst: Belt Drive Whirlpool/Kenmore (which can quickly cancel out best cleaning)

Gentleness on Fabrics:
Best: Bendix Front Loader
Worst: Whirlpool with Surgilator style agitator

Water Extration
Best: AW6 Style General Electric with ribbed wash tub and 9 minute spin
Worst: Tie: Early Bendix Bolt Down/Whirlpool Combo

Best Pet Hair Removal:
Best: GE Filter-Flo Washer
Worse: Tie: Maytag AMP/Bendix Power Surge

Least Tangling of Clothes:
Best: Any General Electric Washer
Worst: Westinghouse Slant-Front

Capacity and Turnover in a 8lb style wash tub:
Best: Philco Automagic and Frigidaire Unimatic
Worst: Tie: Speed Queen and Norge

Sand Disposal:
Best: Westinghouse Slant Front
Worst: Tie: Early Frigidaire Unimatic with perforated white tub and Maytag AMP

Unbalanced Load Handling:
Best: Philco Automagic
Worst: Tie: Whirlpool and Early AW6 GE

Water Usage:
Best: Frigidaire Unimatic
Worst: Hotpoint

Least Waste of Time:
Best: Frigidaire Unimatic
Worst: GE Harmony

Most Fun Washer to Have:
#1: Frigdaire Unimatic
#2: ABC-O-Matic/Kelvinator
#3: AW6 GE

Least amount of Repair Trouble once fully restored (properly):
Best: Tie: Frigidaire Unimatic and ABC/Kelvinator
Worst: Tie: Whirlpool Combo and Norge.

Easiest to Service:
Best: Speed Queen
Worst: Whirlpool Combo

Best Overall Washer:
#1 Early GE AW6 Washer
#2 1958 Frigidaire Unimatic

Worst Overall Washer:
Early Bendix Front Load

 

[Unimatic1140]

After thinking about it for another moment I want to make one change, that is:

Best Pet Hair Removal:
Best: Tie: GE Filter-Flo Washer & Whirlpool Combo
Worse: Tie: Maytag AMP/Bendix Power Surge

 

[bajaespuma]

I'm going to enjoy this Thread for a long time...

Gee, Robert, I would have thought you would have picked a Borg/Warner-era Norge for Best Washing Ability over a Whirlpool. Those things were brutes.

 

[Unimatic1140]

Borg/Warner-era Norge for Best Washing Ability over a Whirlpool

I'm refrerring only to the 8lb and 10lb Norge solid-tub Norge washers. I do have that 20lb Wards in the basement at the moment, but I haven't done enough wash in it to form any sort of opinion. The 8lb and 10lb Norge machines are not as rough with the clothes as the Whirlpool. I think the Lady Kenmore with the pregant roto-swirl is a bit gentler with the clothes, but still slightly above in cleaning ability than the Norge. The Norge rinses much better than the WP/KN machines which as I said can cancel out the washing ability at times, depending on the type of load, so the final results will vary.

 

[Manoravenue]

Best / Worst

My votes are:

Best: Westinghouse Laundromats, of the slanted-front variety. We had probably about the 1953 model when I was a kid, and then I think the 1964 model.

Worst: White-Westinghouse tumble action machines. The last one my late mother had was the biggest piece of junk, and we'd go through periods of waiting up to two months for parts and for someone who know what he was doing from the service establishment to work on it. My trusty 1957 Lady Kenmore kept us from having to use the coin laundries during those periods.

Best now: Mom "threw in the towel" on White-Westinghouse and went to a Sears Kenmore front-loader, and for the rest of the time we had it (until she passed away about three years after purchase), it did a great job, was trouble-free and seemed to me to use less water than the older front-loaders... not that water costs us anything extra here as the only thing this town has going for it is the fact there have never been any water meters; people just pay a flat rate.

 

[bajaespuma]

First Draft of Picks:

My Vintage Bests:

GE WA-950W(1962); Maytag A806(1968); Miele W 423; GM Frigidaire Custom Imperial (1964); The 1964 Philco Top Loader that looks like a jukebox; Norge "Dispensomat"; Hotpoint "Duo-Load" (1969);The early Whirlpool Direct Drive Super Capacity with the ratcheting agitator

My Vintage Worsts: Any WCI Top Loading product: Any TL Westinghouse from 1972-WCI; any GE Post-Filter-Flo conventional TL.

My Current Best: LG WM2432H

 

[gansky1]

My all-time worst vintage machine at washing, rinsing and extraction - Westinghouse Wasy & Dry combo. Hands down. (actually, the washing is OK because of the big, ribbed drum, but spinning and rinsing are so bad - you would never know how clean things are.) It sucks as a dryer too...

Best vintage washer: Frigidaire 1958 Custom Imperial - one of the most flexible machines. I'll also cast a vote for any of the standard capacity Maytag helical-drive washers, when loaded properly they always give good results.

 

[appnut]

Best Machines
Frigidaire WCI58
Maytag 806
Frigidaire WCI65
Any Norge Borg-Warner 20 lb. with burpulator filtering
1956-19858 Bendix Duomatic
Kenmore He4T
Filter-Flos with ramp activators
Frigidaire 1-18s
Kelvinators with concentric washing
F&P IWL12, IWL15, & IWL16

Worst
Direct Drive Kenmores & whirlpools
Any GE Filter-Flo with str8-vane activator (ramp activvator is much better)
Any WCI top oader
1994 Maytag Dependable Cares with the Power-Fin 12 agitators.
Plastic GEs

I guess that will do

 

[spiralactivator]

In my personal experience...

Best:
BD Whirlpool with Surgilator (for stain removal)
GE FilterFlo (best lint removal)
GENUINE Maytag (can't argue with dependability)

Worst:
Plastic GE
Maytag Neptune

Best--Current:
Whirlpool/Kenmore (action's a little rough, but effective)
Speed Queen ("...makes washday a holiday")