Need new washer...what to look for/avoid

[AKislandgirl]

I think our washer is on its last legs (an old top loader) so we are going to buy a new washer. Any suggestions for what you love in a washer (features I should look for) or hate (things to avoid). I hear lots of trouble shooting for HE washers but I think for the energy savings that is what we'll get. I just don't want to end up with a new washer that won't clean my diapers. Tell me brands you love and hate!

TIA!

[chely7425]

We just got a new washer and got a GE... I really like it. We avoided front loaders, as they seem to cause issues with diapers. For me it was important to be able to control how much water went in and what temperature the wash and rinse were.

[alfabetsoup]

It is so much easier to get diapers clean if you can control the amount of water that goes in. My machine does it automatically but I can override it for diapers. It's a Kenmore Oasis, not a front loader though.

[ChetMC]

Washing Machines

We had a Miele washer and dryer originally (Miele is German). They were amazing! Even though the washer was a front loader and very efficient, I'd never had any trouble with build up or even stains in four years of cloth diapering. I'd often take stained clothes from friends and family home to wash for them and the stains would come out after having been washed and dried in other machines. However, the washer dryer pair cost something like $4200. Mieles are built to last 25 years though. Most washers today are built to last about ten years.

In the house we last rented we had a fairly high end LG front loader. With that machine, I did have to do extra rinses and fiddle a bit to get the diapers clean. It wasn't the end of the world though.

Features I would look for in any washer I planned to use for diapers :

- internal heater to get high water temperatures without having to mess with my hot water heater.
- extremely high rpm for the spin cycle, the more water you spin out the faster your stuff dries.
- the ability to do stuff like just a rinse, just a spin, add extra water, add a prewash, add extra rinses, etc... the LG we had couldn't do just a spin, and you sort of had to trick it to do some other stuff.

There was also a thread in Family Safety awhile ago about a kid that climbed into a front loader and her brother turned it on. I've only used front loaders that were hard to open and to close. Our kids could not do it. Since most people find that they need to leave the door of their front loader open between washes I would also make sure that the door of the machine was hard for a child to close... for safety, and also so that it wouldn't get closed accidentally when it needs to stay open for air circulation.

[momma-molly]

We just bought a front loader for our new house and I HATE it. I'm three months in and I STILL can't find a washing routine I'm happy with. Also, the drum is a lot smaller than our old top loader so it really limits the size of the regular loads I do as well.

I wish I'd gone with a cheaper top loader!

[AKislandgirl]

This is great advise. thank you for all of your input. I think now that I'm leaning towards a top loader. I think that just the fact that it is new will mean energy savings anyway. And since this is our first (4 months old) and we plan to have more babies we'll be washing cloth diapers for some time. Might as well get a washer we won't be struggling with the whole time.

Thanks!

[Ifluffedthree]

I have a http://www.fisherpaykel.com/laundry/

I will not own a front loader. Fisher & Paykel have been around for a very long time World Wide. My machines are energy star rated, full computerized motherboard that I can override how I want to cycles to go. They spin off at 1000 rpm's which means much less drying time too and less energy output from the matching dryer.

My whole set up $1033.00 brand new - delivered. Full TWO year warranty. They sell 70 Billion in appliances a year. It is a very stable company to purchase from. While they are based out of New Zealand I believe. My machines were assembled in the plant in Ohio so I know my labor was on home turf.

I am very happy with them.

[ledzepplon]

I have a front loader and I've been very happy with it. I like the extra rinse cycle options and the internal heater--we've had occasion to use the sanitary cycle more than once. We cloth diaper, and I just use a prewash with a heavy soil cycle and an extra rinse. No stink/buildup problems over here.

The only drawback of the "fancier" machines is that they are computerized, and if a motherboard goes out its a very pricey repair. So I guess my recommendation would be to buy the extended warranty if it's not too much $$.

ETA: Mine is a Kenmore--not sure I'd recommend the Sears brand, though, because it takes them so long to come fix it with the extended warranty (it's usually 7+ days!!!).

[heidirk]

I second the fisher/paykel. It is the nicest washing machine I have ever used, and when my mom got one, and loved it, I got myself one too.
top loader.

I have a high capacity/heavy duty one. I. love. it.


and because it spins out so dry, you don't have to be very picky about your dryer, either. I got a . . . whirlpool? ( I don't even know what kind ofdryer I have!) not the fisher/paykel dryer.

[goin' green]

I have an LG - it has all the fancy bells and whistles but not the LCD screen. So, we can do just rinses, add extra water to various cycles (which to me is the most impt thing to get in a front loader with diapering), very hot temps including a sanitary cycle. I love it. I'd never go back to a top loader!

[CanBoo]

I like my front-load. We live in a small house and front load machines are so much quieter. You can't hear it.
The only issue I have is I'd prefer one with a super hot cycle/sanitary cycle for occasional stripping...

I second the high RPM. Very nice to have.

[Everrgreen]

I would recommend a top load washer. We had to use a front load at the laundromat before we moved into our house which came with a brand new top load. The front load was such a pain to get the diapers into, with the top load I can just dump them in without having to touch them.

The other thing I love about our washer is the 'extra rinse' feature. I can easily do a cold rinse before I wash the diapers in hot, and then also do an extra rinse at the very end.