Lifespan of a Washer? - Page 2

[ParisApril]

My front loader died just before Christmas. It was my second front loader in 10 years. My MIL has had her top loading Maytag washer for 25 years, my SIL has had her top loading Maytag for 12 years. I went to buy the same kind as them because they have had nothing wrong with theirs. I was told Maytag was bought by Whirlpool and Whirlpool owns and makes pretty much all new washers now.

So we bought a top loading Maytag washer with the 5 year extended replacement warranty for less than $500 dollars CDN total. If this washer does not last 5 years I get a new one and if it lasts me 5 years and 1 day I am seriously considering just going to the laundromat to wash my clothes. It can't be more expensive than buying a new machine if I'm line drying right?

My water bill only went up $2-3 a month switching from the front loader to the top loader as well. So the savings there were minimal. New front loaders are way more expensive though.

[Poddi]

Originally Posted by ParisApril

My front loader died just before Christmas. It was my second front loader in 10 years. My MIL has had her top loading Maytag washer for 25 years, my SIL has had her top loading Maytag for 12 years. I went to buy the same kind as them because they have had nothing wrong with theirs. I was told Maytag was bought by Whirlpool and Whirlpool owns and makes pretty much all new washers now.

So we bought a top loading Maytag washer with the 5 year extended replacement warranty for less than $500 dollars CDN total. If this washer does not last 5 years I get a new one and if it lasts me 5 years and 1 day I am seriously considering just going to the laundromat to wash my clothes. It can't be more expensive than buying a new machine if I'm line drying right?

My water bill only went up $2-3 a month switching from the front loader to the top loader as well. So the savings there were minimal. New front loaders are way more expensive though.

Did you notice any difference with wear and tear on the clothes with the top loader? Our water is flat rate so it wouldn't be affected at all. I was just worried top loaders are harder on the clothes. We mostly wear t-shirts and sweaters.

[nd_deadhead]

Our top-loader is almost 16 years old, and it has seen hard use! We cloth diapered our twins, so did one load of diapers per day, plus regular clothes. Now my sons are almost 6 feet tall (DH is 6'4"), so it doesn't take a lot of their clothes to make a full load. I think we've had it repaired once, for less than $100.

A few weeks ago we had our dryer repaired - again, less than $100. The bearings had gone bad, and it was squeaking horribly. Now it works like new again.

A good, trustworthy repairman is worth his weight in gold!

When this set croaks, I'll probably buy another top-loader, for 1/4 the price of a front-loader. Not only do I have a really hard time justifying that huge expense, our laundry room is plumbed so the dryer is on the left and the washer on the right - and EVERY front-load set that I've seen has the doors hinged so that they open "correctly" (i.e. you can transfer clothes from one to the other without the doors getting in the way) with the dryer on the left.

[ParisApril]

Originally Posted by Poddi

Did you notice any difference with wear and tear on the clothes with the top loader? Our water is flat rate so it wouldn't be affected at all. I was just worried top loaders are harder on the clothes. We mostly wear t-shirts and sweaters.

The only thing I have noticed is that if I overload the washer (I am bad for that) we end up with lots of lint on the clothes. We wear wool sweaters and I try not to wash them too much or else they shrink, front loader or top loader.

Honestly the biggest difference is that when my top loader is done the clothes are wet. The front loader spins them so they are practically dry when they come out. I have heard that uses a lot of electricity to do that though and we line dry so having the laundry a little wetter isn't a big deal.

Hope that helps