Speed Queen (or other) decision

[launderess]

Infants and Children Generate Laundry

No doubt about it, so enjoy your peace while you can. *LOL*

While many American families with children as obviously those in Europe make due quite well with the eleven or so pound capacity of a Miele/European front loader, there is a trade off; you will be doing laundry far more often. Cycles run about an hour or a bit longer for "normal" so you can easily see how some changes may need to be made in your laundry routine. Waiting until one set day to do several loads of laundry could mean starting at morning and ending sometime in late afternoon.

Next consider front loaders are happiest washing "normal" loads (cottons, etc..) at near full capacity as it is easier for them to balance the load. Putting say three pounds of baby's laundry into a 11 or even 15 pound capacity front loader *may* cause problems. Depending upon several factors the machine may not be able to balance the load to spin quietly and without vibrations.

One great thing about top loading washers is the ability to do a true soak with laundry immersed in water. This may prove a godsend when coping with some badly stained infant/child laundry.

When it comes to electronic versus mechanical controlled front loaders, the former gets my vote every time.

Went from a mechanical timer FL to electronic controlled and the difference is night and day. Far less banging, claning and unbalanced wash loads. The machine revs up to spin quietly, and if it senses the load isn't properly balanced will take corrective action on its own.

 

[mr_b]

Get the Speed Queen Front Load Washer, Period.

I bought a Speed Queen front load washer because it is the same washer used in Laundromats and hotels but for home use meaning no coin box and more cycle selection. It comes with a 5 year warranty vs. 1 year for most other brands which includes LG. The ten year motor only warranty that a lot of other brands offer is a marketing ploy since most failures are bearings, electronics, drum spider arms and seals. The Speed Queen is rated for 10,250 loads where as most other brands are only rated for under 2500 loads. It does not hold more laundry and in fact is smaller than the latest crop of font load washers available but it more than large enough for my needs at 3.42 cubic feet and/or 22 lbs. of laundry. Having used it for about 10 months now I am very pleased with the results. I like that the Speed Queen is basic and simple and cleans very well with straight forward selections of water temperature and load types. It also includes the ability to add an extra rinse cycles and longer wash time to the wash cycle if desired. I like that it has a pre wash and soak cycle. I also like the heavy duty build quality of the bearing assembly and the no nonsense approach to doing laundry. The machine runs quiet with little to no vibration during the spin cycle and the cloths come out well rung reducing the dry time from my previous washer. A typical heavy duty wash cycle can be done in 45 minutes. In addition this machine weighs substantially more than all the washers I looked at from other manufactures. It is an excellent machine. I high recommend this washer.

 

[bourbonbarrel]

Combo,

I don't follow your comments in your post. The front load speed queen is almost twice the cost of the top load where I live.

 

[combo52]

SQ Washer Prices Etc.

We currently sell the AWN432-3 for $819 including delivery and installation.

 

The AFN50R is $1556 currently but will drop to $1397 in the next month or so.

 

So yes the FL washer is almost twice as much initially, but with savings of over $100 a year in operating costs and a life span that is twice as long as their TL washers the higher initial cost may be the best investment you will make in an appliance.

 

[bourbonbarrel]

Combo,

I follow you. I was comparing the electronic front load washer & dryer vs the electronic top load washer & dryer.

 

[fordiesel69]

A little caution I thought would be worth mentioning. I like my hot water as hot as the tank will go. When you have a baby, this has to end, if you like hot water as I do, you will want to install anti scald valves in the bathroom fixtures. Accidents happen and too hot of water can kill!

On the flipside, unless washing cloth diapers, I see no reason to have a washer that get up to a super high wash temp. Hot water is probably fine.

 

[brucelucenta]

The last washer and dryer set I had was Maytag. It was an excellent set that was actually one of the last made with the Maytag design that lasted for so many years. I gave those to a friend who needed them and bought a new LG made set of front loading Kenmore's. The reason I bought them was because I had been taking king size comforters to the local laundromat and with these machines I would be able to do them at home. I did that coming up on 2 years ago. I have had EXCELLENT results from them so far. They hold a HUGE load of clothes, use a minimum of water, heat the water to sanitize the load and wash everything at least as well or better than ANY machine I have EVER used. In addition, I have absolutely no wear to my clothing and towels, virtually no linting at all and they spin the clothing out almost dry when I put them in the dryer. So it cuts way down on drying time too. I have NEVER had a front load washer in my home before and up to that point did not like the idea at all. This has completely changed my mind on front load machines. The machines I have now are the best I have EVER used before. The washer does take longer to do a load of clothes on "steam treat", but I feel it is worth the extra time knowing they are as clean as they can possibly be. The washer will also rinse up to 3 extra rinses, if you worry about not getting all the soap residue out. I really could not be happier with these machines. Most of the new front load machines are pretty good and if you find something
on sale, that is what I would get if cost is an issue. It is true that IF you insist on having an old school top load washing machine, speed queen is one of, if not the only one, that makes one. As far as how long one will last, I think it depends on how it is used and cared for, like anything. But compared to all the things a new front load machine will do, it is like buying something that is antiquated and old by comparison. Back in the 50's, 60's and 70's, top load machines did a better job of washing clothes. Those days are over now with the new innovations that are incorporated into front load machines. Top load machines just cannot compare and use a great deal more water to do the same job, just not as well. In addition, the new HE top load machines try to use the same amount of water as a front load machine, which is virtually impossible because they were not designed to do that. You end up with very twisted and tangled clothes that are not cleaned or rinsed well and a LOT of wear and tear, along with linting of your clothing. There are also quite a few reports of malfunctions of these machines that go out of balance and literally break themselves and things around them apart. Look it up on youtube under "exploding washing machine". Those are all the reasons I did not replace my Maytag set with another top load set. [this post was last edited: 2/6/2016-08:37]

 

[washman]

Ask the man who owns one

And you'll get it straight from the horse's mouth.........instead of the other end.

Be aware.........millions of families have washed diapers in Maytags, Kelvinators, Whirlpools, GE, etc back in the day and NONE of them heated the water for a "sanitary" wash. And so far as I know, no one was hauling junior to the emergency room for e coli infection or anything else for that matter.
Sanitizing your "laundry" is merely marketing hyperbole at it's finest. This is what happens when companies employee too many loons with MBA in marketing instead of a degree in common sense. And sad to say, a lot of dummies have fallen for that gimmick.

I happen to own a Speed Queen TL. Crude as it may be, it does what I need it to do. I cleans the darn laundry. Without all the hoopla, bells, whistles, beeps, tones, and other nonsense. It never needs rebooted, power cycled, or anything. I plug it in and it works. Period. I don't need to "clean" it with washing machine cleaner because a hot wash is as hot as my union made Bradford-White WH puts out.
Being all mechanical, I can replace the components myself, thus saving money in part cost and labor. I can get a belt for it down at the auto parts store.

And it uses water. I happen to be one of the dumbasses that still believes, in spite of propaganda to the contrary, that you do need water to clean your laundry. I've never gone bankrupt or shorted myself paying my H2O bill month by month. And I have clean laundry.

FWIW, my dad has over the last few months become a laundry center with HIS Speed Queen. Seems some friends have had issues with their Tier3 or 4 DOE certified machines and they have taken to coming over to use HIS crude, water guzzling Speed Queen. All remark how much cleaner their laundry is AND how much more quickly his machine does the job.

So there you have it. It is only my opinion, no more no less. Take it for what it is worth.

 

[glomain]

reply # 24

what the hell does a sq washer have to do w/ a baby ? & hot water. ya want true hot water get a SPEED QUEEN

 

[brucelucenta]

To each his own I guess. I have entered the 21st century with a new front load washer that works better than anything I have ever had before. Yes, I have had and used many speed queen washers as well as worked on them in the past. Don't think that much of the speed queen machines of today. They are too much like the machines made in the 80's, which weren't much. As I have already stated, my LG made washer holds more, washes it better and does it all with less water and virtually no wear and tear of beating agitator blades and no linting at all. Soon the government regulations are going to make it impossible for speed queen to keep making a machine that has to use a full tub of water to do the same thing one that uses much less does. Then I bet it will be difficult to get parts for those speed queen machines.

 

[glomain]

by the way

bill in # 26 hit the nail on the head ! also American made and DAMN proud I bought a set

 

[uncledave]

What are the actual temps of speed queen FL machines?

I can't find this info on their site or here.

One poster says if you want hot water buy a SQ, but what is "hot" water?

Wife is a full time groomer, that comes back every day with contaminated towels.
To clean my daily load of animal soiled towels without beach I need to get to and hold 140F or more for at least 10-15 minutes.

My 220V Miele 1215 does that with ease on " hot" - with two setting above that left over.
The Miele PW6065 also does that, but Id rather spend 2K than 4K on a secondary set of machines

10250 loads seems light in terms of lifespan.
If that really all its expected to go then, Im having a hard time buying the commercial hype surrounding this unit, and cheaper "disposable" asian units may be the way to go.

For comparison I hit 10,246 in 12 years with my Miele 1215 including a few repairs along the way, but I'm expecting at least another 5K cycles out of it if not more.

Help me out guys, and thanks!

Uncle Dave

 

[yogitunes]

Speed Queen doesn't use a temp control dubbed down temps yet that we know of....

but the usual, select hot, and you get hot....as in what comes out of your tap....

but your not going to get 140 degree hot water if your water heater is set at anything lower...I lucked out as mine it set at 180, even dubbed down, its still a hot wash.....

what you may find an issue with is the warm setting, not exactly a 50/50 mix, more like 70/30.....but to fix that, I drilled out the hot side of the valve to equal the cold side....

where did you find the load span number from?.....SQ are usually good for around 25000 loads or more

 

[uncledave]

Got it thanks.

Bummer.

That isn't going to work in my situation.

Even if I had my water heater at 180 and paid to keep it there 24x7x365, the water is going to lose temp through the hose on its way and lose a bunch more as soon as it hits the cool stainless then keep dropping as time goes on.

That approach also would prematurely degrade my microfiber towels used especially for this application
180 is too high for microfibers and will damage them a bit each wash whereas as 60C/ 140 raised slowly from 70 or so sees them quite clean and so far long lasting in that the first batch is 5 years old and still going strong.

I have to have 100% confidence in my machines sustained heat performance because I'm running back to back household loads, with towels that contain animal dander, bits of caked on animal fecal matter, urine, oozing eyes, and open sores in the same machines.

Its like working a load of diapers in every day.

I need to insure it stays at 140 or better for the 15 minutes plus it takes to really zap the nasties without resorting to bleach which the door seals and material doesn't like and I'd have to use it every day creating a whole other set of deliverables to the laundry room vs. simply pressing the "hot" button.

In my personal situation which absolutely does not fit all the Miele still reigns supreme machine

Uncle Dave

 

[mrsalvo]

As an owner of a year-old TL Speed Queen, I can highly recommend it. Excellent washer, and cycles are quick. I can get a several loads washed and dried and put up and have time left over for other things I want to do. No regrets. All American made too.

 

[mrsalvo]

Also you cannot beat the warranties.

 

[easyspindry]

All I can say . . .

. . . is that I brought home a SQ FL from the Beltsville Wash-In in August, and I am very pleased with it. Clean clothes and quiet operation.

Jerry Gay