Tale of Two Whirlpools

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sudsmaster

sudsmaster

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I was on a semi-regular visit to the local Costco tonight, and looked at the top loaders. Both Whirlpools. One was the "Super Capacity Plus" model, for over $400. The other was a plainer "Super Capacity" model, for $299. The Plus model appeard to have two speeds... although I couldn't be sure, but it had selections for various fabric combinations, like "Cotton/High/High" which I took to mean High wash speed and high spin speed, and "Perm Press/High/Low" which I took to mean high wash speed low spin speed. Is this correct?

The regular Super washer had no such selections, just the more usual water temp and water level options. I'm not actually interested in buying either washer, just wondering if Whirlpool has resovled its reputation for making clothes shredders with its direct drive top loaders (the belt drive modesl are repputed to be much more gentle). Does the addition of a lower speed in the higher end model resolve the shredding problem, or is the short fast stroke still an issue?
 
Lower agitation speeds are not a new thing on DD Whirlpools. Bob's ShredMore has a low agitation speed. All of them except low-end 1-speed models have always had at least two. Some have three agitation speeds. Machines with three-speed motors (such as my KitchenAid 760) may use the medium motor speed as high agitation speed, and high motor only for drain and spin. Many of them also shift from high agitation to low agitation toward the end of the wash period.

Lower agitation speeds are less "shredding" but also make for lesser turnover.
 
I don't know why so many complaints of DD shredding. I have had mine for 3 years and my mother used to have a Kenmore DD, both of which have had no problems. What are people putting in them anyway? I don't see the BD Whirlpool coming back. GE and Maytag have followed suit with short fast strokes.
 
Well Knitwits, Glenn has seen first-hand the evidence of damaged laundry when he & RJ have visited here. I have a 1986 LK DD and a neighbor around the corner has a 1988 or 1989 Kenmore Series 80 washer. We both had the same issues of tears, rips, and little pin holes in our laundry. Glenn saw two different sweaters I'd washed all by themselves each on medium water level on gentle and he saw the ruined weave. I also have several pairs of slacks. The Gardenweb's Laundry form has from time to time people mentioning frayed shirt sleeves, pants legs, and collars. Two of my co-workers have complained their towels are wearing out very fast, something they've never seen b4. I've been doing laundry for 45+ years now and I have never seen anything like it. Your Kenmore undoubtedly has speed selections independent opf the cycle timer. Lemme ask you, what setting to you typically do wash on--Normal (slow/fast) or Sturdy (fast/fast).
 
I think the roughness problem of what we affectionately call Shredmores stems from the fact that the Dual-Action agitator encourages overloading. From what I've seen, it can handle a lot more than you SHOULD put in the machine. I currently have the one-piece DD Surgilator in my 1998 Kenmore, and almost ALWAYS use the "Heavy Duty" cycle with the Fast/Fast speed combination (today was the first day I used the "Normal" cycle, which shifts to low speed agitation at the 6-minute mark, in a long time). Even with that, I haven't noticed any undue wear or tearing on anything I've washed because I tend to load loosely to provide good clothes turnover and "freedom of movement" so to speak. I wash a lot of medium-sized loads in that machine as well and rarely fill it enough to require a high water level.

But even then, when the machine had the Cruel-Action in it and was being used up in the laundry room, I never noticed anything "shredded" or become strangely worn out after a short period of time. Personally I think the shredding problem is a user problem and has to do, to a degree, with overloading the machine...just my $0.02.

--Austin
 
I have both: a BD & a DD. The BD is gentler, the stroke smoother and longer. You all know that Whirlpool makes Kitchen Aid. The huge turquoise KA agitator is much bigger: the fins are longer and wider than the WP. The agitator pan is much lower in the tub, yielding more power. So here's the thing. If you install the KA agitator into a WP and use the HIGH speed, the currents are so intense, I run it with no clothes-haha-just to see the insanity. Now there's a shredder for ya. Take it to Washington.

I just saw Bob's loads, and I agree with him. My Aunt Dolores would cream him.
 
I have to agree with Bob - I have had my Whirlpool for 2 years and I have noticed much more wear on my clothes and towels and I make it a point NOT to overload. EVER. Towels that are less than one year old have frayed edges, I am constantly fishing buttons out of the machine to re sew on to my shirts and within the past two months, the collars of two shirts were ripped clean off at the end of the wash. OK, they weren't new, but really. Also, I notice much more dryer lint than I ever did with the GE filter flo, the Amana or the Maytag LAT.

To top it off, I notice a persistent mildew odor in the tub when I unload the clothes. And no, I don't leave the lid closed, I use hot water and bleach and the machine is not in the basement.

All in all, I have had enough of this machine. Speed Queen top loader, here I come!!
 
Angus-- I feel your pain. My last TL'er was a 1989 MOL KitchenAid. Even though it didn't agitate as fast as a KM/WP, I still lost buttons from shirts regularly. That was what made me decide to give FL'ers a try. I've never looked back. I honestly don't recall losing a button from a shirt since! (While I can cook, I can not sew. No, not even a button.)
 
Anthony, thanks buddy for the affirmation. I hoped you'd chime in here because you've posted and I think we've even emaled about the washer a time or two. And my machine is getting a slight funky odor to it too. I used 150 degree hot water for whites and I've even run bleach through it a time ro two to see if it would help, no not much avail.
 
I usually use the regular cycle, high agitation and spin. The agitation kicks in to low speed about halfway into the regular cycle (about 9 minutes). I usually don't wash longer than that unless I'm washing heavily soiled items (cycles can be set up to 18 minutes). I certainly have to agree with Austin that most of our woes come from overloading (not necessarily Bob). The DA agitator auger pushes the clothes below the water level, giving us the illusion that the machine isn't fully loaded. People add more laundry until....oops! I put too much in, and it's too late because the laundry is already saturated. This shortens the life of the clothes and the washing machines. But if what you really want is slow agitation, I think Amana would be your best bet (at least I don't think they've changed them).
 
So... getting back to my original question... does the BOL Whirlpool I saw at Costco have two speeds? There are no speed buttons on the control panel, so I'm assuming if there are two speed, the machine chooses them automatically in reation to the wash cycle selected. As in, low speed agitation for delicates and maybe perm press, high speed agitation for regular or heavy? Would this be a safe assumption?

If so, the higher end model might still be preferable, since it would enable one to select a longer wash cycle with normal or heavy, but have a more gentle agitation.

Of course, the best solution may be to find a belt drive model in good condition... lol... or a front loader...
 
my 2 cents too!

After living with a Fridgidaire TL in Mexico for a year, i found that I had to use high level water and small loads to get my clothes clean and rinsed well. Towels always needed to be processed again using cold wash and rinse to get all the detergent out (2 extra rinses in total).
Saying that, being in the uk, when we move to our own place, there will be a place for either a Whirlpool TL or andautomatic Hotpoint TL (UK style) so I can once again enjoy the not so efficient but great fun top loader washing machines!
 
For all the bad reports these WP/KM machines get, they are very reliable machines across the board.

Let's face facts, even FL machines can make clothes pill and fray according to some of the reports on some other forums.

It also seems that you must have an internal heater to deal with "complex" stains (eyes rolling). To think we had so very limited choices in FL washers for over 30 some odd years.

How on earth did we live with such wasteful, inefficient clothes shredders.

Oh yeah a TL can't clean as well as a FL either (yeah ok)

Done ranting now. I really do like FL machines as well. Just ain't ready to see the end of tried and true workhorses that most of North America grew up with.
 
Well, Everone seems to forget that the front loaders where the one of the first automatics. What do laundries use? Front loaders of course, not top loaders. We have used both for years, and I think they are both good, but I still like my front loader the best! Best for cleaning, and rinsing.
 
They might have been the first ones Ray, but most laundromats i have been in in my life had more TL washers than FL machines.

The ratio is changing today though as i see more and more laundromats switching exclusively to fl washers. Oh well, i will always have a soft spot for TL agitator washers as i know many of us do.
 
Even though front-loaders were the first automatics, they were radically different than today's FLs. Induction motors with speed changers vs. inverter drive. They actually filled the tub up to a decent level and rinsed well, instead of the 1" of water (or perhaps even less) you find on a modern FL. I have to admit that if the front-loader evolved less, used more components similar to a TL (i.e. induction motor, lots of belts, no separate pump) and were more like their laundromat counterparts, I would appreciate them MUCH more...for now, the only FL for me would be a commercial double-loader.

Austin, who will always prefer TLs and water hogs!
 

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