In Need of Wash Wisdom

[gromvik]

Hi everyone,

First time poster - glad to have found this community. Long story, short: my wife wants to replace our washer for our family of 6. And I need your collective wisdom on where to go next.

We have an LG front loader that we've owned for about 8 years. It was our first front-loader experience. While it's been ok, we've encountered many of the common issues, especially as the washer has aged: molding, insufficient water to clean clothes, various maintenance issues, etc.

My wife's desire is to go back to a top loader. Does such a washer exist that meets the basic requirements below:

*Uses sufficient water to clean closes.
*Does not easily mold.
*Is reliable and easier to fix if maintenance issues arise.
*Has decent capacity to wash closes for a family of 6 and possibly occasional full sized or queen bedspread.

What would you buy in our situation?

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[appnut]

The only thing that meets most of your reqirements is the Speed Queen TC5003, old school top loader. All washers have potential for mold. I've had front loaders since 2006 and absolutely no mold issues. I don't wash in cold water and do not use the "Normal" cycle, only a Whites, Heavy Duty, Perm Press/Wrinkle Free, and Delicate because they use more water and simply adjust wash water temperature and possibly spin speed. On wash temperatures I will use are warm, hot, and extra hot/sanitize/allergene. Mold issues are brought on by not leaving the door open between wash loads and poor laundry habits such as using too little or too much detergent, using a bargain-priced detergent washing onl9y in cold water. Normal cycle also has dumbed down temperatures and uses the least amount of water as it's the cycle used to receive the Energy Star rating.

 

[foraloysius]

Insuffiecient water to clean clothes

Unless your laundry didn't get wet, there was nothing wrong with the little amount of water during the wash. There is a lot of misconception about front loaders. A front loader is imitating a very old fashioned way of washing, namely the slapping of the laundry on a stone. The laundry has to fall onto the side of the drum for the best cleaning results. I added a picture to illustrate what I mean. The stone is above the water level, otherwise the wash action wouldn't have much effect. Less mechanical movement means less clean laundry.

 

[derrick352]

Comforters

Comforters placed into a top loader will never move within drum freely, causing wear on fabric because agitation will continue on same spot. Front loaders are best period for everything. Mold issues will never be a problem when properly maintained regardless of machines age. Running "clean washer" cycle and washing in hot water frequently will give you best results preventing mold. Also leave door open and dispenser drawer open after wash day is over. Drying dispenser chute with small towel when done is good to do also.

 

[rp2813]

I switched to a front loader in 2007 and never looked back.  I have a king size bed and used to have to send the comforter out to be cleaned.  I haven't had to do that since 2007.

 

Louis is correct about water use in front loaders.  The tumbling lifts the items out of the water and lets them drop back down against the drum surface.  Our Frigidaire Affinity (Electrolux) was awesome in this regard.  Cleaning this way is much more effective than swishing things around in a top loader.  You can't fit as much into a top loader either.

 

Living in California, a top loader is a non-starter due to chronic droughts and water rationing.  I do have a vintage Maytag top loader for funky jobs like throw rugs, but it only gets used a time or two each month.

 

Don't judge all front loaders based on your LG experience.  When properly maintained and hot or warm washes are selected, they can last a lot longer than eight years.

 

[appnut]

Douglas, I had a Whirlpool Duet from November 2011 until early November 2021. critical electronic component failed and knew I'd have difficulty in having component replaced. So I got an LG WM4200. I'm extremely pleased with it so far. In fact, my towels have never been softer with all the detergent rinsed out. I opt. for maximum number of extra rinses and I'm amazed. No top load or other front load washer I've owned in the last 43 years can compare. I'm learning which cycles give me an actual true warm water wash. LG limits their hot water temp to 117 degrees F which I consider paltry. I'm learning how to make cycle option selections on Normal and Heavy Duty to enable hotter washes on these two cycles using Extra Hot. LG's redesigned TurboWash 360 makes a huge difference. For me, warm SHOULD be 90-100F abd hot should be 130-140F. Like Europeans, wash temps of 150 and above is better for sanitizing. And those figure I just stated are not what dumbed down temperatures are these days. [this post was last edited: 12/23/2021-16:08]

 

[yogitunes]

mold/mildew is not the machines fault, it is operator error.....true hot/warm washes and a good detergent = clean clothes, clean machine, and machine longevity!...

do not mistake dry spots on clothing after a cycle has ended, most high speed spins will leave many articles of clothing almost dry...fooling you into thinking the never got wet in the first place....

 

[ea56]

I’m gonna go out on a limb on this and deviate from the pack. Front loading washing machines USED to be my favorite, but then I bought an LG and that changed my mind. I don’t recall the model number, but it was the BOL, without Turbo Wash. Perhaps I’d have been happier if I’d gone up a level and bought a model with Turbo Wash.

Using the Normal cycle and watching it fill in sporadic spurts there were areas of a full load that did not get wet. It would go thru the filling for 24 mins then wash, rinse and spin, taking well over an hour to wash and average sized load. The other complaint was the maybe I will and maybe I won’t spin cycles. We have a heavy weight set of luxury bath towels from Restoration Hardware and that LG WOULD NOT spin those towels! We couldn’t use them while we owned the LG unless I wanted to go the the laundromat to wash them. Same thing for throw rugs.

I never had any complaints about mold or smells. I always dried the boot after washing and left the door ajar so it could dry and air out.

I have owned a White-Westinghouse, and two Frigidaire FL’s in the past and they were wonderful! If they still sold FL’s that used a visible level of water and would spin no matter what, then I’d still have an FL. But I don’t want to have to babysit an automatic washer. To me if I have to keep monkeying around with the machine to get it to spin there is nothing automatic about that machine!

I now have an inexpensive Roper TL and I love it! Using the Normal cycle with auto sense fill it uses just enough water to cover the compressed load and the spray rinses rinse out the detergent well, with no residual detergent when the cycle is done. If it had a higher RPM spin speed it would be perfect. But it ALWAYS spins and doesn’t go out of balance.

Different strokes for different folks. But I’m happy with my dark horse Roper that is like garlic to a vampire for most AW members. The laundry is always fresh and clean. I don’t need to use any scent boosters to make the laundry smell nice. And my whites come out dazzling white too, with 1/2 cup of LCB.

And I am very water conscious living in California. It uses about the same amount of water that the older generation of FL’s used and it gets the job done with zero drama. Plus it does have the option to fill right to the top for the occasional bulky load of a king size comforter or bedspread, and the turn over on deep fill is impressive. The king size comforters and bedspreads don’t just sit at the bottom of the tub and get thrashed by the agitator, they turn over and roll around freely in the wash water. Since we are in a historic drought I only us the deep fill about twice yearly.

Eddie

 

[eurekastar]

As noted earlier, if you do go with a top loader, the Speed Queen TC5003 is the only way to go.  However, it will not accommodate a comforter.  If you go with a top loader, you might just take the large bulky items to the laundromat.  

 

[maytag85]

I’d get a gently used Whirlpool/Kenmore direct drive washer since they are reliable and are fairly easy to work on and that’s the only machine I can think of that has decent capacity, reliable and is easy to repair.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

front load washers

I'd recommend the LG with turbowash. I have gotten good performance on the normal cycle with turbowash.

 

[egress]

another vote for a new LG with turbowash360. my family got the WM3900 about a year and a half ago - performance is miles better than our previous maytag/norge thing, and we can fit a queen size and a twin size comforter in it in the same load. washes well, rinses amazingly, no mold or mildew issues. we rarely use cold, almost always warm or hot.

 

[martin1b]

Check out Eugene's channel on youtube (lorainfurniture). He reviews MANY washing machines and is very knowledgeable.

For me, we have a family of 9 and have used our 2001 Maytag Dependable Care daily. We definitely put it through it's paces. That's not to say I haven't had it apart a few times. However, it's very user serviceable, parts are pretty available, the design is simple and is an all around good machine. You can find them on FB marketplace or used appliance stores for a fair price. Over the past 20 years, overall cost of ownership has been pretty good and I'd definitely recommend it.

 

[DADoES]

 
Kirk Rivas of Appliance Associates in Austin TX also has a YouTube channel with tests/reviews of new models mixed-in with old customer-haulaways.  He hasn't done any new reviews in a few months.

Lorain Furniture and Appliance

 

[gelaundry4ever]

wash wisdom

Don't listen to the so-called laundry "experts". Use the normal cycle for everyday loads like these sweaty dirty smelly typical loads of sturdy cottons, linens, denims, or any of these blends. Permanent press for wrinkle-free clothes, and delicates for lingerie and any silks that are lightly soiled or having no stains. Heavy duty is identical to normal except the wash cycle is even longer and can be also used for the fabrics listed for the normal cycle. If heavy duty isn't available, use normal. Normal can use anywhere from cold to hot water depending on color content. For darks, use cold. for lights, use warm. for whites, use hot with chlorine bleach for best results all on the normal cycle. This cycle can clean even the dirtiest loads. That's why the normal wash cycle is typically the most intense out of all the cycles and washes the daylights out of your clothes and is idealy for even heavily soiled everyday laundry. If you have to get a Speed Queen Laundry pair, always use the heavy duty cycle for even heavily soiled everyday laundry. This cycle is what normal used to be. The heavy duty cycle on Speed Queen is the real normal cycle now.