Not sure where to post this - thought I'd start here. We are in the market for a new washer and dryer <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/wash.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="wash"> and I just started researching front-loaders. It seems they are more efficient and I am very interested. Can ayone tell me how they like their front-loader - what brand you recommend? Thanks so much!
Front-Load washers
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I have a frigidaire bottom of the line front loader and <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/love.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="love"> it. I've had no problems with cds or clothes.<br>
Here in Québec, we have a magazine called "protégez-vous" (consummer protection mag.) and in there, the frigidaire washer was ranked first for quality/price ratio.<br>
Of course, if I had a little more money to spend, I'd have bought a top of the line kenmore <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/shy.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="innocent">
Here in Québec, we have a magazine called "protégez-vous" (consummer protection mag.) and in there, the frigidaire washer was ranked first for quality/price ratio.<br>
Of course, if I had a little more money to spend, I'd have bought a top of the line kenmore <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/shy.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="innocent">
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646 Posts
I have a Whirlpool? HE3 front loading washer & front loading dryer set...and I LOVE THEM!!!! I don't know if it's the brand, but my wash takes 1/2-3/4 of the time that my top-loader took and about the same for the dryer (this heating element works much better...the old one was, well, old). You use 1/3-1/2 of the regular amount of detergent or soap, and it even gets my DH's work clothes clean (and he's a welder!). It was well worth it to buy these!
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I have the Kenmore front loading washer and we have a love/hate relationship with it.<br><br>
JoyfulMomma
JoyfulMomma
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I have a Kenmore front-loader and like it. My old washing machine was REALLY old (hand-me-down from MIL), so we're saving a ton of electricity as well as water. EVEN IF it takes longer, you'll probably save money, because these machines are made to be so much more efficient.<br><br>
It will absolutely amaze you how much water you save. Our water bill went down about $5 a month, which is not a lot of money, but that's $60 a year. And that $5 translates into a lot of gallons saved!<br><br>
I also LOVE that it's so much gentler with my clothes--no agitator to twist and rip the clothes. I can wash sweaters in it and not worry!!<br><br>
Most of the time it gets the clothes as clean as our top-loader used to.
It will absolutely amaze you how much water you save. Our water bill went down about $5 a month, which is not a lot of money, but that's $60 a year. And that $5 translates into a lot of gallons saved!<br><br>
I also LOVE that it's so much gentler with my clothes--no agitator to twist and rip the clothes. I can wash sweaters in it and not worry!!<br><br>
Most of the time it gets the clothes as clean as our top-loader used to.
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I hate it for tons of reasons.... I hate that my cloth diapers never seem clean. They smell funky and a couple of them have stains which never hapened with my old washer.<br><br>
I hate that it rips the clips off of my bras if I do not clasp them before they go in. The vast majority of my nursing bras have had one or more clips ripped off and it ticks me off.<br><br>
I hate that I have to run my clothes through a couple of cycles to get all of the detergent rinsed (I only use 2 TBSP & I measure). This is not saving me any water or electricity.<br><br>
I hate that my DD's clothes do not come clean. Some of her clothes look like they were never washed after coming out of the FL. My old washer destroyed clothes but at least it got out all of the stains.<br><br>
I don't think they save water or electricity because of the multiple washes per load. I would never recommend getting one to anyone. Stick with a reliable top loader - cheaper and they work.<br><br>
Rant over <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/irked.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="irked">:<br>
JoyfulMomma
I hate that it rips the clips off of my bras if I do not clasp them before they go in. The vast majority of my nursing bras have had one or more clips ripped off and it ticks me off.<br><br>
I hate that I have to run my clothes through a couple of cycles to get all of the detergent rinsed (I only use 2 TBSP & I measure). This is not saving me any water or electricity.<br><br>
I hate that my DD's clothes do not come clean. Some of her clothes look like they were never washed after coming out of the FL. My old washer destroyed clothes but at least it got out all of the stains.<br><br>
I don't think they save water or electricity because of the multiple washes per load. I would never recommend getting one to anyone. Stick with a reliable top loader - cheaper and they work.<br><br>
Rant over <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/irked.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="irked">:<br>
JoyfulMomma
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2,271 Posts
I swear the Kenmore/Whirlpool FLs (they have the same guts, just different skins) seem to either be a dream or a nightmare...<br>
I'm on a couple of cloth diapering boards, and some of the other people are always fussing about their dipes not coming clean. It's obviously not their washing routines, because they're always *way* more meticulous than I am - yet I LOVE my washer.<br>
I have the Duet HT, aka the Kenmore HE3T. I can stick about a week's worth of dirty laundry in it, and it has a high enough spin speed to work with a regular (old, non-fancy) dryer in the same amount of time. My diapers are clean and my clothes look great. The window in the front is marvelous entertainment for the dog. The container of cheapo Costco detergent I bought eons ago still has a couple inches' worth in the bottom, and that should last me until July (I'm not using the HE stuff, and I won't be unless Costco starts selling it <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile">). It uses 1/3 the amount of water for a load. It has a wool cycle and a silk cycle and a soak cycle and a rinse/spin cycle and I can put my dingy towels in on "Whitest whites" and they come out beeyooteeful.<br>
My BIL works part-time in an appliance store, so we were able to get the HT for less than a regular Duet. He suggested it over the Neptune - Maytag's had some reliability issues lately, plus there's no nifty window to watch the clothes go 'round <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/orngbiggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="orange big grin"><br>
Consumer Reports just published ratings on washers, so you might want to dig up the last issue or two.
I'm on a couple of cloth diapering boards, and some of the other people are always fussing about their dipes not coming clean. It's obviously not their washing routines, because they're always *way* more meticulous than I am - yet I LOVE my washer.<br>
I have the Duet HT, aka the Kenmore HE3T. I can stick about a week's worth of dirty laundry in it, and it has a high enough spin speed to work with a regular (old, non-fancy) dryer in the same amount of time. My diapers are clean and my clothes look great. The window in the front is marvelous entertainment for the dog. The container of cheapo Costco detergent I bought eons ago still has a couple inches' worth in the bottom, and that should last me until July (I'm not using the HE stuff, and I won't be unless Costco starts selling it <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile">). It uses 1/3 the amount of water for a load. It has a wool cycle and a silk cycle and a soak cycle and a rinse/spin cycle and I can put my dingy towels in on "Whitest whites" and they come out beeyooteeful.<br>
My BIL works part-time in an appliance store, so we were able to get the HT for less than a regular Duet. He suggested it over the Neptune - Maytag's had some reliability issues lately, plus there's no nifty window to watch the clothes go 'round <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/orngbiggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="orange big grin"><br>
Consumer Reports just published ratings on washers, so you might want to dig up the last issue or two.
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I have a 3 year old bottom of the line Kenmore (basically same as Frigidare) and haven't had any of JoyfulMomma's problems. I use 1 T of detergent and sometimes pretreat stains with BacOut or oxygen bleach. Something to note though is that Portland has very soft water, so perhaps that may explain some of the difference. The only time I do multiple washes is for diapers. I have never dunked, but do let poop roll off into the toilet if it will. I did 2-3 loads for newborn poop (about 2 dozen infant prefolds plus wipes) and do 3-4 for a similar amount of toddler prefolds. I've heard that AIO's might not wash as well in front loaders but have no first hand experience (I had no problems with fitteds).
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I have one of the first generation Maytag Neptune washers (has push buttons rather than an electronic panel). There are two things I don't like about it: 1) there is no agitator, so some stains still remain on clothing, even with Shout sprayed on it; and 2) my washer seal is very moldy (this problem has supposedly been fixed on the new style Neptune).<br><br>
What I do like is the capacity. I have no problem with throwing in my queen-size bedspread and still have room left over. If you can, get the matching dryer so you have a set. I have the Neptune washer but an old, regular capacity dryer, so sometimes I have to split the washload into two to dry it.<br><br>
I also use regular detergent in mine, just a very small amount (1/3 of the amount you would use in a regular washer).
What I do like is the capacity. I have no problem with throwing in my queen-size bedspread and still have room left over. If you can, get the matching dryer so you have a set. I have the Neptune washer but an old, regular capacity dryer, so sometimes I have to split the washload into two to dry it.<br><br>
I also use regular detergent in mine, just a very small amount (1/3 of the amount you would use in a regular washer).
We have the top-of-the-line Bosch washer (I think it's TOL, maybe middle?) It was expensive (though no more than the TOL American washers), but SO worth it. It has its own water heater--the temperatures get up much higher than they can without a water heater. Plus the water heats up slowly, so it's less damaging to your clothes. Our diapers and clothes always come out very clean. It removes stains so much better than a top-loader. It impresses me that the diapers come out so clean even though some of them remain stuck together (I use thin gauze flats, but double them up. When they come out of the washer, they're still together, but the stains are gone and they smell fine).<br><br>
It also helps that we use a German brand of laundry detergent, Persil. It's more environmentally friendly than many laundry detergents, and the enzymes are specially formulated to dissolve in different temperatures of water. We thought our clothes were clean just using Tide. But with the Persil, they get extra clean. It's more expensive, though, as it's imported. But we use even less of it than we did of Tide.<br><br>
The only downside of the Bosch is that it is a rather small capacity washer. I personally like the small footprint of the washer, but I know many would find it inadequate.
It also helps that we use a German brand of laundry detergent, Persil. It's more environmentally friendly than many laundry detergents, and the enzymes are specially formulated to dissolve in different temperatures of water. We thought our clothes were clean just using Tide. But with the Persil, they get extra clean. It's more expensive, though, as it's imported. But we use even less of it than we did of Tide.<br><br>
The only downside of the Bosch is that it is a rather small capacity washer. I personally like the small footprint of the washer, but I know many would find it inadequate.
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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>jerebo</strong></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">The only downside of the Bosch is that it is a rather small capacity washer. I personally like the small footprint of the washer, but I know many would find it inadequate.</div>
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There are "full sized" Bosch's available now. When we made our purchase three years ago, we would have got the Bosch but for the fact that we were renting at the time and the landlord refused to let us install a 220V outlet for the Bosch.
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<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">
<div>Originally Posted by <strong>jerebo</strong></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">The only downside of the Bosch is that it is a rather small capacity washer. I personally like the small footprint of the washer, but I know many would find it inadequate.</div>
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There are "full sized" Bosch's available now. When we made our purchase three years ago, we would have got the Bosch but for the fact that we were renting at the time and the landlord refused to let us install a 220V outlet for the Bosch.
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i use <a href="http://www.consumerreports.org" target="_blank">www.consumerreports.org</a> to help make my decisions regarding big purchases like washers, dryers, etc.<br><br>
if you are looking for front-loaders under $500, they recommend the Maytag SAV4655A[WW] ($480) and theKenmore (Sears) 2485[2] ($460). if you're willing to spend more, there are quite a few others that CR recommends.<br><br>
it's well worth the $26/year to join this site... i know i've saved hundreds by using it!<br><br>
katje
if you are looking for front-loaders under $500, they recommend the Maytag SAV4655A[WW] ($480) and theKenmore (Sears) 2485[2] ($460). if you're willing to spend more, there are quite a few others that CR recommends.<br><br>
it's well worth the $26/year to join this site... i know i've saved hundreds by using it!<br><br>
katje
Love my Kenmore HE3t. I used to have an Asko and it worked great, when it worked. It was a bit of a lemon as they have a good reputation. Anyway, after using my mom's Maytag top loader temporarily I noticed that my clothes (especially diapers) were not getting nearly as clean as they were in the Asko frontloader. I knew I wanted another frontloader so went with the Kenmore. Works great, cleans great, love it!
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4,983 Posts
I have a large front loading kenmore and LOVE it.
I have the LG front loader and really like it.<br><br>
It seems to get things very clean and takes out a lot of water in the spin (so less time in the dryer). I like having the sanitizing cycle for sheets and towels. It has a delay wash function that is great when you want to take a shower/bath before bed but are also planning to wash clothes overnight. It has chewed up a couple pillow cases. I'm not sure whether that was from over-using the sanitizing cycle or from them getting caught on something in the washer. I haven't seen any wear on other clothes so I'm betting my sheets can't handle the sanitizing as much as I'd like to use it.
It seems to get things very clean and takes out a lot of water in the spin (so less time in the dryer). I like having the sanitizing cycle for sheets and towels. It has a delay wash function that is great when you want to take a shower/bath before bed but are also planning to wash clothes overnight. It has chewed up a couple pillow cases. I'm not sure whether that was from over-using the sanitizing cycle or from them getting caught on something in the washer. I haven't seen any wear on other clothes so I'm betting my sheets can't handle the sanitizing as much as I'd like to use it.
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<a href="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=60003&highlight=front+loader" target="_blank">Previous thread on front loaders</a>. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile">
Well--Thank you all so much for the help!!!<br><br>
I am getting the LG front load washer in the morning at 10!!!!!!!<br><br>
I got a scratched /dented model for $809.00<br><br>
With a 5 year $99.00 warranty .<br><br>
Looking forward to washing clothes tomorrow.
I am getting the LG front load washer in the morning at 10!!!!!!!<br><br>
I got a scratched /dented model for $809.00<br><br>
With a 5 year $99.00 warranty .<br><br>
Looking forward to washing clothes tomorrow.
well--it came -they hooked it up---and it leaked all over the floor---.........<br><br>
had to call Best Buy-they will have a service guy call me tomorrow<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/greensad.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="greensad"><br><br>
got one load done & it is cool -it spins so fast-only uses 10.8 gallons of water per wash.
had to call Best Buy-they will have a service guy call me tomorrow<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/greensad.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="greensad"><br><br>
got one load done & it is cool -it spins so fast-only uses 10.8 gallons of water per wash.
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