New Whirlpool washer at the in-laws house.

[partscounterman]

No sooner did I get myself re-signed up around here, we got the call from Dennis' family that his older brother had a heart attack and would require an operation. We made a fast roadtrip to southern Minnesota.

We stay at the younger brothers house. My brother-in-law Bradley ruined the old plastic tub BOL GE washer that came with their house. (He overloaded it of course). Sister-in-law banned him from doing laundry until I pointed out that this was not really much of a punishment. The washer they bought was a Whirlpool WTW5000something-something.

Now I am somewhat curious about these new high efficiency machines. My old school Kenmore works just fine, but I do think about water use; we live in the dry west. Not sure what I would replace with if I did need a new washer. I am not wild about front loaders and they are getting such a big footprint I don't have space for most of them. Did not just love the HE3t we had on Maui...

So I did get to wash a few different loads in the machine. I wish I had brought a torx driver so I could do lid lock mayhem, but that would be pretty nervy at the in-laws house. It did sound like clothes got swished around good in there and they seemed clean to me when they came out-what really happened I dunno. I did notice my cotton t-shirts were pretty wrinkled.

I quickly realized that the HOT water selection gave me what I would call warm water and warm was barely that. I'll bet most people are confused by the selections of COOL, COLD and TAP COLD. The lower temps may also be because of the setting my in-laws have the hot water set at.

I was surprised that there is a knob that lets you choose between one and two rinses and whether those were fabric softner rinses or not. I did not play with the machine enough to determine the exact difference between softner/nonsoftner rinses-I suppose a dab more water in the softner rinses. There is no automatic dispenser.

I had a chuckle when Brad showed me the machine the first time. He piled the load of clothes dead center on the washplate and put the detergent on top-pretty much contrary to the instruction which I'm pretty sure no one read (except me)

I really did like the knob that lets you add a presoak to your cycle. The machine would fill up and wash for a bit, then soak for about 15 minutes before proceeding as normal.

I rather expected a drier spin-I did not think this machine spun the clothes that much better than my Kenmore DD-not that I did any scientific study-just my own perception. Everything did seem to be well rinsed; the in-laws have soft water. I would have liked to have heard a spin rinse-they're not big on washer drama these days, are they?

I could probably live with one of these washers although I would have to hack it so I could get some really hot water in there-I'd prolly figure out a warm rinse situation and of course I would overcome the lid lock.

Oh and this new washer wasn't the most stable either. I did a lrg load of towels and when I came back, the washer was sitting there all kapakahi ( at least it wasn't huli!). I have a feeling this machine would shake my mobile home just as much as my ol' washer-Dennis and I always joke about putting quarters in the vibrating bed. (We are olds)

I did not hear any negative comments about the machine from the family.

 

[DADoES]

 
<blockquote>PartsCounterMan:  I quickly realized that the HOT water selection gave me what I would call warm water and warm was barely that. I'll bet most people are confused by the selections of COOL, COLD and TAP COLD.</blockquote> Hot is the new Warm.  Warm is the new Cold.  Cool, Cold, and Tap Cold are redundant, useless, and unnecessary, LOL.

 

[johnb300m]

Many machines today on the Normal/Eco setting have Hot dumbed down.
On my Maxima FL, I did a test with a marine thermometer.
Normal wash on Hot, was temp controlled to about 82 degrees.
Warm really.

However, if I want really hot washes, I am lucky to have a Sanitize cycle that uses true hot, and also heats to aprox. 130F.
Interestingly, Delicate also uses mostly full Hot.
All other cycles really, will use tap hot.
But Normal, the DOE cycle, controls them down.

 

[partscounterman]

Some like it hot...

I did do one smallish load on the NORMAL cycle, otherwise used HEAVY DUTY or DEEP WATER WASH (which wasn't all that deep). Besides the in-laws not keeping the water heater set very high, they have a long run to the washer from the heater. Towards the end of our visit I would remember to run hot water to the laundry sink before starting the washer. Would like to see this machine hooked up to some piping hot water. At home I wash most of my laundry in what would be called very warm water, towels and sheets in hot. I use cool water to wash the aloha shirts and those awful green wool & polyester pants for our NPS uniform. I would only use cold water to wash the lint out of some new towels or if there was some sort of federal disaster.
Again, I am somewhat interested in this type of machine. Yes, I have also heard the horror stories, but there are some folks around here that are happy with the HE toploaders. I like my old washer, but I think I might like something that is a little easier on the water supply. I just don't want to sacrifice cleaning.

 

[johnb300m]

You could look at an HE TL washer from Maytag with the HE wash plate, also with a spiral agitator pole.
See my link -

I picked this machine out for my parents a few months ago, and mum's been the word on it. They seem to like it so much, they don't even talk about it. And that's a very nice thing for my retiree parents
They put their laundry in, and it comes out clean.

I like this model particularly because it's a bit more traditional.
It does HE washing, yet the agitator pole gives larger loads a bit extra scrubbing action.
In addition to allowing you a Deep tub fill option for extra large, grimy loads, or odd items like comforters or sleeping bags.

It's full of great features for the price when it goes on sale. Parents' got theirs for $600 on Black Friday.

http://https//www.maytag.com/washers-and-dryers/washers/top-load-washers/p.top-load-washer-with-the-deep-fill-option-and-powerwash-cycle-4.7-cu.-ft.mvwb765fw.html

 

[yogitunes]

for a few machines, I was able to remove the restrictor on the HOT side....just to allow more of a hotter mix...

but also factor in, my water heater is set high....150 to 180....so I do get a hot wash....the most it dubs down is 10 degrees

purging the line is always a benefactor...

as for a Cabrio, I found the directdrive XL a better performing machine than the smaller capacity belt drive.....the newer ones are a combination of the two....a lot of kinks have been worked out......and have found out, if you let the machine go on its own, it works and cleans as it should...

 

[appnut]

You can also select an  HE top loader that has integral heater/steam to assure hottest water when needed. 

 

[partscounterman]

Always shopping for a new washer

Oh, yes I have looked at all those lovely Maytags and of course the machines with the internal heaters. I am always shopping for a new washer and yet am grateful that my house has the matching vintage Kenmores in it. They currently achieve the prime objective of keeping two people in clothes that are both clean and dry. With my past appliance experience, I could rebuild either machine. blindfolded. (I have a spanner wrench and know how to use it...). So I really don't NEED a new washer and can probably keep the dryer going for the rest of my natural life. I am sure some on this forum would gleefully tell me to my face that I am craZynutZ for even thinking about getting rid of my woodgrain clad Kenmores, with it's direct drive system most holy and the dual action agitator to be praised.

Yet it is fun to go to someone elses house and "try on" a different washer. I also recently got to try a Samsung toploader when I visited my friend Martha on Maui. Her husband Mark sang ribald lyrics to the end of cycle tune, which made us all laugh. The samsung had a picture window to view, which should also be mandated by the government.

So I am shopping for a new washer the way everyone here is, except for the guy who just got something new last week. If I did find that I had to go get new, I rather liked this machine the in-laws got. I see that they do not cost a fortune. I really liked the knob for adding soak time to the cycles-I've been doing that now to give the enzymes more time to eat away at the stains like a million tiny piranha. The other thing I like is that the matching dryer has a hamper door and isn't so darn deep- a problem with the sets higher up in the lines.(Oh, and I would have to have the matching dryer. Am old and spoilt now!) This is also a very simple machine so if anything ever happens and Dennis has to do laundry (i.e. me in a bodycast or dead) he could figure this one out...