Washing machine Advice - Front loader or Top Loader?
 

so im in the market for a washing machine.

i went down to the shiny new mall they opened up the other day, but i returned more confused than before i went and non the wiser.

so i thought i'd see what the smart people at TFP think about washing machines

Top loader vs front loader? whats the difference, why is one better than the other?

why is a front loader more expensive, while the top loader fits more but it cheaper?

silver or plain ol' white?

warranties?

any particular brands i should or shouldnt go for?

im looking at mid range, so im not looking to buy some cheap-ass brand from china, nor am i looking at ones embedded in diamonte crystals like i saw yesterday.

TFP, what do you reccomend?

Front loader can (depending on the drum size) be used for larger items (quilts, for example) and has a gentler cycle. For example, my down sleeping bag cannot be washed in a top-loading machine, because the agitator will totally rip it apart.

My parents' front-loading GE machine was great the first couple of years, but it began to have problems with mold build-up on the seals. Any attempts to keep them clean have been thwarted. Sorry I don't have more advice.

My mom has had a Maytag frontloader for at least 10 yrs now and she will never have a top loader again. The biggest thing is no agitator as listed above. As far as mold problems that gg says, you just have to leave the door open to dry out after using. Pretty much everything high end these days is frontloader.

I wouldn't have a front-loader, due to the problem with the seals. My trusty fix-it dude who sees all in his jobs also told me not to get a front-loader. Just bought a Whirlpool Cabrio.

Useful thing about top-loaders...
 

...is that you can change your mind, add and remove items half way through the cycle. The front loader won't allow that because, of course, the door is locked while there is water in the drum.

One lasting impression I retain from my years residence in the USA is the strong, simple and relatively unsophisticated (by some standards) domestic appliances. Delivered with a parts list which shows the location and part number of each component, and largely repairable by the average handyman.

A top-loader from Sears, Monkey Wards etc was a prime example of an appliance which would last for 30 years providing good service with minimal attention.

Of course that was more than 20 years ago...

Front loaders are gentler on your clothes, because everything is just tumbled instead of agitated. They also use a LOT LESS water, and work better with cold water. So, if you're doing a lot of laundry for a family with six kids the lower run cost could help justify the higher initial cost. For an adult or two, not so much difference.
My mom, who has a front loader in the house and an old toploader in the barn, says that the top loader with the stronger agitation does a better job of getting really dirty clothes (like farmhand clothes) clean.

I've got an old Sears top loader that I will use until it dies, but bought a new LG brand front load dryer a couple of years ago, and the larger drum size is really nice with king size bedding and other large bulky items.

Lindy

some really good advice here..im leaning towards the front loader because of the potential power and water savings as opposed to the toploader.

any articular brands people recommend?

ive seen LG around, and they have 10 year motor warranty. are there any brands that have international warranty?

If I were in the market for a washer, I'd get a front loader. My SO's mom has one and we used to do our laundry there before we moved here. It takes a lot less water and the amount of extraction during the spin cycle means that the dryer takes less time to get your clothes dry. Also, if you do get a front loader, they also use less detergent (although adding less detergent is a good idea regardless of what kind of washer you choose).

For a short while I had a top loader that worked really well. I also got my advice from tfp so, I got nothing for you man.

My wife's favorite toy is her LG front loader which sits next to her LG dryer. We love this front loader after using it now for about a year. It is super quiet and smooth, uses hardly any water and minimal detergent and I even use less than "recommended" and it still cleans very well...it's one of those "He" rated high efficiency units that use "special" detergent made for that so you already use a lot less. It's a cool dark green color ...overall, a very nice applicance. Remains to be seen how long it lasts but so far we like it better than Maytag and Wirlpool that I've had over the last 35 years.

Btw, this LG has a "pause" button that you can hit and open it up during mid-cycle...the amount of water used is so little that there is no problem doing that.

I'd like to get a front loader cuz I'm a short lady of 5 feet and sometimes I can hardly get the last items esp. socks from off the bottom of my GE. I sorta have to almost climb up on it to get my hand down there!

My friend who has a Sears frontloader has had nothing but trouble with hers. She said it doesn't always remove the soapy film as well as she wants and it has broken 2 times in one year. That's all I have heard so far...

got pictures of this? :oogle: ...just so I can show my wife that we made a good choice since she's also on the short side.

Pictures!?!#$!!?

Are you crazy - it would be one gigantic rear end shot!

I'm short too, and my front loader LG dryer causes similar problems. The big tumble drum is really deep, and because of the location of the vent, the door opens into the room, not toward the wall, so it is awkward to get back in there. Little items like panties and sox always seem always seem to end up at the back of the drum for some reason. Not as bad as climbing up on the top, though.

Lindy

I'll never go back to top load. Water savings, energy savings from both the washer and the more efficient spin cycle that dries clothes better before the drier, and less detergent usage.

Lindy,
Check to see if your LG doors are reversible. I just checked the manual for ours and it shows how to reverse the direction that the door opens.

I used to work at a laundry mat and had experience with both front and top loaders. Front loaders ftw. As for brands you can't go wrong with Maytag. They build some quality stuff.

Ask the salesman what the warranty covers. We didn't get a front loader specifically because we were told that the warranties don't cover anything that would happen to the computer. The machine won't work without it which means if you get a power surge and you didn't go through the expense of getting a 30 amp surge protector, or your protector fails, you're going to be paying 1/2 to the full cost of the washer to get it fixed.

May not be a big deal to you - but I like to be able to fix my own appliances and I couldn't do that with any of the front loaders.

Top load...all the way