Suggestions on buying a new front load washer and dryer

[thatwasherguy]

Great vintage washers...

There were a lot that fit the bill of cleaning well and being reliable. Although, some of them are getting harder to find parts for, so that may be a factor to consider as well. The two main platforms that still have decent parts availability are the Whirlpool direct drive, and the Maytag helical drive. The Whirlpool was produced from 1982 to 2017 in some form or another, and is the most mass produced washer of all time, with over 100 million machines produced. This is arguably the best washer for the average user, as it is easy to service, has good parts availability, and has good overall performance. If you want something more unique, the helical drive Maytag (also known as a “Newton Maytag” or a “two-belt Maytag”) is also a great choice. It was produced from 1956 to 2006, and many critical parts from the 2006 models are interchangeable with models as far back as the original 1956 machines. That said, certain parts available today will only work with machines newer than the early 60’s. I personally have a set of Maytags from 1978 that I absolutely adore. I should warn you, however, that while both platforms still have parts available currently, this will not stay forever. That said, if you wish to use a vintage machine as a daily driver, refurbishment is almost a requirement for it to be guaranteed to be reliable, unless you find one with extremely low miles, but this is very rare. That’s not to discourage you from getting a vintage machine. If it’s not your only washer, you can get away without rebuilding it, and they are a lot of fun. Also, you can generally get a mechanically controlled washer from the 90’s or newer and get good service out of it as a daily driver with some simple preventative maintenance. Keep us posted on what you get! I’m excited to see what you end up with, vintage or modern!
Thatwasherguy.

 

[combo52]

Very best new front load washer overall

While nothing is perfect the Speed Queen front loaders are by far the most rugged, reliable easy to repair choice available only downside is they’re a little bit expensive.

MostWhile nothing is perfect the Speed Queen front loaders are by far the most rugged, reliable easy to repair choice available only downside is there a little bit expensive.

Most people that buy them could leave them in there will as they can last nearly 50 years with some maintenance.

The only two washing machines I ever bought new in my life were Speed Queen front loaders I bought 118 years ago, which is never missed a beat and three years ago. I bought the new stainless s50 years with some maintenance.

The only two washing machines I ever bought new in my life were Speed Queen front loaders I bought 118 years ago which is never missed a beat and three years ago. I bought the new stainless steel model which is not disappointed me in any respect.

The new Speed Queen is fast has lots of programming, Options, rinses and cleans beautifully.

If you want to match pair, the dryer is also a workhorse that’s easy to repair and can easily last as long as the washer.

John

 

[mrsproper1]

@thatwasherguy I did recently see a post on here from a user named Mark who’s whirlpool just had its 18th birthday! Pretty impressive and he seems to love the machine. So I will have to check those out too now, I look into the Maytag sounds pretty interesting.

Gosh there are so many options I feel overwhelmed a bit lol today I am going to go to some used appliance stores to see what they have and I want to have a list with names and model numbers to check out. Does anyone know the model no. of any Maytag’s whirlpools and older SPeed queens I do have a few speed queen no.’s but that’s it?

@john Do you have the model no. of your fav Speed Queen?

Thanks guys I’m enjoy reading about all of these it’s so much fun!

Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a museum for old washers and dryers and vacuums and such that let you try them out…I would have a field day!

 

[gelaundry4ever]

dishwashers

I can say the same for dishwashers.

 

[logixx]

There's a YouTuber who has a review of an Electrolux washer on there. Pretty good machine, (as long as you hit the Extra Rinse button.)

Full cycle videos with chapters and descriptions
https://youtube.com/@washertester4296

 

[henene4]

Rinsing on current US FLs

It appears most offerings nowadays cut rinsing in some way.

LG does only one deep rinse on default Normal with TurboWash plus the 2 spray rinses.

ELux does rinse-spin-rinse, so no spin after the wash.
If I ain't mistaken, Whirlpool does pretty much the same.

So selecting an extra rinse in most cases appears to be a standard requirement.

LG has the big advantage (if they did not change that) of being abled to select up to 3 extra rinses.

 

[panasonicvac]

There are a few museums like that here in the country I've been to the one in Idaho not too long ago and it was a blast!

 

[appnut]

I always select an extra rinse on my LG when TurboWash. IF I"m not mistaken, the towels cycle has a default of 2 if not 3 rinses.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

GE

What about GE? How often do they rinse and/or do they incorporate intermediate spins on the normal cycle?

 

[thatwasherguy]

Model numbers…

There are many different model numbers for the Whirlpool direct drive. They were sold under many brands other than whirlpool, including (among others) Estate, Kenmore, Inglis, Roper, Maytag, and KitchenAid. Some models I can think of off the top of my head are the Whirlpool LSR7233EQ1, the Kenmore 110.92281100, and the Estate TAWS700RQ1 and TAWS700RQ3. These are by no means all of the model numbers of direct drive washers, but they are some of the ones I have seen. The easiest way to tell you are looking at a direct drive washer is to tip it over, and see if the transmission and pump are directly “plugged in” to the drive motor. I’ve included a link to a video that explains some more of the signs of a direct drive washer. For the Maytag, it’s a similar story. Tip the machine over, and look for two belts underneath. I’ve included a picture of what this looks like. Like the Whirlpool, it came in a bunch of different models. Normally, they start with the letter A for 1980’s and older models, or some other letter and then A if they are a color other than white. In the 90’s, they started having the first three letters as LAT. All of that said, there really is no pattern to the model number to tell what washer is of these designs. The best way to tell is to either tip it over and look, or type the model into a website like appliancepartspros.com and look at the diagrams.
Hope this helps,
Thatwasherguy.

 

[thatwasherguy]

Logixx…

That Electrolux is almost EXACTLY like the one my friend has that she loves! The only difference is that hers is stainless. I looked up some videos of them in action, and it looks like a promising design from a performance standpoint.
Thatwasherguy.

 

[powerfin64]

Bob

Default number of rinses on Towels is 3, with the option to add 2 more rinses,= 5.

 

[appnut]

Rich, thanks. I've only used that cycle a couple of times.

 

[combo52]

Best new front load washer for home use in the US

Hi Angela, Speed Queen only has three models available. Currently one is a stack design. The others are identical, except one has a right hand hinge door and one has a left-hand hinge door.

Speed Queen automatically gives you two rinses but you can add up to three more rinses I pretty much have always added one rinse seems more than sufficient on both my Speed Queen frontload machines.

John

 

[mark_wpduet]

It is overwhelming! One thing you could do is watch youtube vides of different models to see the wash/rinse action for different cycles...

Seeing a lot of the modern front load washers (if my duet died today) I'm pretty sure I would not get another Whirlpool (not that they're bad).. I just personally think my current favorite front load would be an LG with turbo wash (it MUST have turbo wash)...

I like the looks of the Maytag FL's better than the current Whirlpool Duets..

 

[mrsproper1]

You are all so awesome, I look forward to reading all these suggestions each day!

@pansonicvac That "Museum of Clean" is AWESOME!That will be on my bucket list for sure and I'm going to look up to see if there are any near me now too!

@logixx Thank you for the video,gosh I wish the machines would just let you choose how many rises you wanted that would be pretty great.

@combo52 Well a five rinse option is pretty good!

@markwpduet Yeah I am hearing a good amount of responses in favor to the LG Turbo! That is a contender.

Funny thing is that I really was thinking that I would love to have both a top loader and a front loader so if I had extra dirty things I could just use the top loader, well I just remembered that in my garage when we first moved in here the washer and dryer were out there sooo we have two washer dryer hookups one in the garage and one in the laundry room I think my dream of owning a top loader and a front loader is going to transpire LOL YAY!

[this post was last edited: 4/9/2023-13:51]

 

[appnut]

dream of owning a top loader and a front loader

Wash-in at Angela's house!!!

 

[mrsproper1]

Ha ha right that would be fun! Has there been any wash ins here in the Bay Area that you all know of?

 

[panasonicvac]

I like that you took my idea I too would love to have both a top and a front loader in my next house. Plus both you and your spouse would have a happy ending where he can use a front loader and you can use a top loader. Especially when you have lots of laundry but don't want to spend the entire day doing, having two washers and dryers can really cut the time in half! But if you have a hard time deciding which to get between a LG or a SQ, why not get both? A SQ classic top loader and a LG turbo wash front loader Or you can get a SQ front loader and get a used Whirlpool direct drive washer which can definitely out clean a SQ classic top loader. I'd avoid a LG top loader.

Regarding other museums around. For vacuums, I know there's not only the one that I went to in Pocatello Idaho but there's also one in Portland Oregon and one in Rolla Missouri. I think you'd like the one out in MO the best, not only the collection is the coolest ever but also the owner is awesome as well. He's on the sister website called vacuumland.org if you're ever interested in joining with us there And the only other washer museum I'm aware of is out in Eaton Colorado.

https://www.vacuumland.org/

 

[ryner1988]

Other suggestions are spot on, especially if you indeed do have two hookups available. Seems like your quandry is solved. I'd go LG with turbo wash for your front loader (it's what I would likely get if I were to go new as I can't afford Speed Queen very easily), and try to find a clean, good-condition used Whirlpool-built direct drive for your top loader. As mentioned above, parts for the direct drive machines are still pretty easy to find and a lot of people who don't normally even work on washers find they can handle the repairs themselves. A direct drive Whirlpool is what I have, bought it used last summer. It was in rough-ish shape -- so a few internal components didn't work quite right which would have presented some issues down the road. I ran it as it was for a few months as it still cleaned well, and got the offending components replaced when I had the money to get it done. Runs like new now.