Washing Machine

[Jerry Ragan]

The washing machine is stopped and the wife wants a new front loader. Anyone have recommendations on make and model?

[Bruce Boone]

I've been looking at those too. The guys at Home Depot seemed to think that the LG steam cleaning one was the top of the line.

[Al Willits]

Be careful with the front loaders, we're seeing a lot of bearing problems with them, don't quite believe they'll wash whatever you can jam in them.
They might, but not for long.
We're seeing Frigidare units going out in less than two years, other are a bit longer, but for what you pay for one, they should last a lot longer.

Most warrt are one year labor and even with the bearing covered under warrt, its a spendy repair.
fwiw, three of the six service techs on the help desk I work on have bought Fisher Paykel top loaders.
imho

Al

[Bill Bezilla]

I have had 2 different font loaders over the past 10 years

Maytag Neptune - So so performance

Kenmore HE2 from Sears - Bought 6 months ago.
This has benn excellent so far. Uses very little water, spins clothes very dry thus reducing drying time. ( 1100RPM).
It also has a quick wash for smaller loads that I used all the time. Just 30 minutes - cant't tell any difference from the full cycle.

One important point with front loaders - USe HEdetergent and use it sparingly.

I think you will like them- Especially the energy savings. I will never go back.

[Al Willits]

""""
Maytag Neptune - So so performance
""""""
Consider there's a major lawsuit on the Neptunes because lack of quaility, I'd stay waaay away from them.
I believe the Kenmore unit is made by Whirlpool fwiw

Al

[Karl Laustrup]

We've had the Sears Kenmore He-3t washer/dryer combo since they first came out. I think that's been about 4-5 years now. They average 15-20 loads per week.

Yes, it is made by Whirlpool. It washes bigger loads better than any other washer we've ever owned. I would recommend purchasing both the washer and dryer as a combo as they are designed to operate together. They are very efficient machines, especially the washer. They do require the He soaps, but they use very little per cycle and they use minimal water per cycle. As little as 18-20 gallons for a cycle.

We purchased the maintenance agreement. We have it checked once a year under the agreement. We've had two repairs on the washer and one on the dryer over the time we've owned them. The agreement paid for itself just in those three repairs. Two of the repairs involved circuit boards which are very expensive.

Would I purchase another? Yes!!

I'm not a Sears salesman, just a satisfied consumer.

Karl

[Kyle Kraft]

I have the Whirlpool Duet washer and dryer and have been pleased with their performance.

The price was right, as my brother-in-law works at Whirlpool and can get a substantial discount .

[Mitchell Andrus]

My wife and I tried a front loader. One from Europe somewhere... Asco or Asko...

Supposedly very efficient... sips water, makes it's own hot water (220V), very little soap, etc., etc.

NUTS to that. A full load was 1/2 half that of our new Maytag. It ran for two hours!!!! to "gently tumble" while washing with almost no soap. The repair man came three times in two years (after warrantee) to fix different problems and finally stopped servicing these lemons altogether. Any benefits to owning this thing went out the window in run time, electric heating cost and trips to the laundromat while waiting for weeks for parts - no kidding here - a new pump took five weeks. That was nearly 45 loads at the laundromat that time. We owned it for four tourtured years.

Before buying anything, check for cycle run times (load turn-around) and make sure there are two companies in the area that will come and fix it, warrantee or not.

[Kyle Kraft]

So does that mean if you bought a Yugo and it was a piece of junk, you'd never own another car?

[Mitchell Andrus]

No, I wouldn't buy another car designed like a Yugo. BTW, my front loading "Yugo" cost more than our new top-of-the-line Maytag. I paid for a Cadillac, got a Ford Pinto. Live and learn, and teach.

My new top loader gets a very large of laundry done in 35 minutes. Loads half that size took 2 hours in the front loader. >>> 35 mins vs 4 hours.

This isn't a Yugo thing, it's about figuring out ALL of the variables and deciding that a front loader was a poor choice for me and my family of four.

[Max Lucciola]

I've always had good experience with Bosch tools, so when we needed a new washer ~ 5 years ago, we took advantage of a rebate deal and got a Bosch Axxis washer and dryer. It does a great job, and although it might not have the capacity to suit a family of 6, it holds quiet a lot. The only problem we had was that the brushes needed to be replaced last year (it's used a lot). Bosch actually replaced the whole motor under warranty I reckon because the labor to replace the brushes is > than the cost of the motor. Anyhow, now I have a spare motor.

Likes:
Clothes are very clean
You can load it up and set it to start at some future time
Fits in a small space
Spins at something like 1200 rpm so most of the water is removed
If you put a stuffed animal in you can keep kids entertained

Dislikes:
Sounds like a jet engine during spin windup
Twice a year you need to find the manual to figure out how to reset the clock.

Good luck.

[Ken Garlock]

Jerry, the only name your need to know is "Duet", Whirlpool Duet. We have had the washer dryer pair for 4 years and have had no problems.

[Chris Barton]

Consumer Reports (if you can believe them anymore) rated the LG, Bosch and Kenmore as their 1-3 best front loading machines.

[Al Willits]

Take consumer reports with a grain of salt, they were just nailed for the baby seat scam and I've seen them rave over a Kenmore product and dislike a whirlpool one, and both were the same stove.
Kenmore don't make nothing, they just put their name on it and change a few cosmetics.

Personally I have a tendency to believe the service techs where I work, we have over 375 techs out in the field and few will buy a front loader.
If they had to, most would go with the Duet line. fwiw
Just my thoughts fwiw
Al

[Ron Kerpsack]

Hi
owned a kemore for 3years bearing went out, inner tub broke and the repair bill $275 if I do the work and $600 if the repairman does it check out the Samurai Repair forum. They have alot of posts about the same thing. Until they come up with a better design I went back to the top loader half the price of a front loader and twice the life. Hope this helps