Do You Love Your Washing Machine?
April 15, 2015 5:53 PM Subscribe
Our 15 year old Maytag Performa is on life support. The brake assembly is failing, and getting at it to replace it looks like more of a project than I want to take on. Especially since I just replaced the pump in the thing.
We don't need anything fancy. A basic top loader will work fine. Has anybody bought one in the last few years that they are generally happy with?
We have an amana bought this year, cheapest one the appliance store sold. No problems or complaints.
posted by Ms Vegetable at 6:29 PM on April 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Ms Vegetable at 6:29 PM on April 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
We have the newer Maytag Bravos top loader and it works fine. FWIW, if I had to do it over again, I'd go back to having a washing machine with an agitator, the Bravos don't have one.
With the Maytag, I've monkeyed around with various wet and dry soaps, and water level, load size and time settings, but the new machine doesn't clean as well as the older one did.
posted by Zedcaster at 6:44 PM on April 15, 2015
With the Maytag, I've monkeyed around with various wet and dry soaps, and water level, load size and time settings, but the new machine doesn't clean as well as the older one did.
posted by Zedcaster at 6:44 PM on April 15, 2015
I love, love, love my Speed Queen. It's an old-fashioned, all-mechanical top loader with agitator. I bought it a little over a year ago. Read up on them--Speed Queen fans are a devoted lot.
posted by Jane Austen at 7:36 PM on April 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Jane Austen at 7:36 PM on April 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
Our appliance tech professor at the college I work at told me to keep my older Maytag (about 15 years old) as long as I can. He says all new machines have lighter weight parts and will wear out faster than he thinks a machine should.
You might rethink getting a new one and see if yours can be saved, even if you can't do it yourself.
posted by cccorlew at 8:01 PM on April 15, 2015
You might rethink getting a new one and see if yours can be saved, even if you can't do it yourself.
posted by cccorlew at 8:01 PM on April 15, 2015
I have a top loading LG Waveforce and I like it a lot. I can fit a ton in, I can wash big things and stuff seems to get clean.
posted by fingersandtoes at 11:51 PM on April 15, 2015
posted by fingersandtoes at 11:51 PM on April 15, 2015
I haven't bought a new washer recently but here is Sweethome's take on washers and dryers, though it appears to be in the process of being updated. I've read their articles (for lack of a better word - they're more complex than just reviews) on several other products and find their analysis very thorough and informative.
posted by 2 cats in the yard at 4:34 AM on April 16, 2015
posted by 2 cats in the yard at 4:34 AM on April 16, 2015
Disclaimer: GE Appliances employee here.
I have the Harmony washer and electric dryer set, and you can have them when you pry them from my cold dead fingers. I had it straight from the mouth of the head of our Laundry team that--at the time, which was 2003--this was the single best washer that GE had ever produced, which is probably why this one was so popular with the employees.
Alas, the general public didn't like the touch controls (which to this day I still don't understand--if you can operate a microwave, you can operate this washer/dryer)--so it was discontinued in 2010. The engineering of the machine, on the other hand, was so fabulous that the company migrated the best of it to the upper end of our current line of high-efficiency washers. The bastard children of the Harmony washer are:
* GTWN5550DWW
* GTWN5650FWS
* GTWN7450HWW
* GTWS8350HWS (also available in metallic carbon)
What makes them so great?
* Service call rate. We measure this as the # of service calls on a model while in-warranty (we don't have a way to capture out-of-warranty, because people don't always call our service team once the warranty's over). Obviously I can't reveal company sensitive info, but let me put it this way--when the numbers came in, the only reason the laundry team wasn't popping open champagne bottles is because company policy forbids drinking on the job.
* Performance. So the pair I own now is technically my second Harmony pair. When we launched the Harmony years ago, I won a pair in a sales contest, and because I was in an apartment at the time I gave it to my mom. My mom--who started out doing laundry the old-fashioned way--told me later that it was the greatest washer/dryer set she'd ever owned. She lived on a farm, and threw every stain imaginable at that thing, from grass and dirt stains to motor oil to bona-fide chickenshit, and the clothes came out clean as a whistle. I concur--I have yet to find a stain this thing can't beat, so long as you don't wait a couple of weeks to put the offending item in the wash.
The washer's spin action removes so much water, the dryer cycles regularly shorter than the wash cycles. And the size of the tub! No more taking my king-sized comforter down the laundromat!
Oh, and when I later won a new front-load washer/dryer pair and offered it to my mother, since I was still in an apartment? She flat-out refused to take it because she loved her Harmony set so much (I would up giving it to one of my aunts instead).
* Clean Speak Communication System. This is marketing-speak for "the washer talks to the dryer".
Basically, you stick the clothes in the washer, add soap, tell it what kind of fabric, color, or type of clothes (example: jeans) it's dealing with and how dirty the clothes are, close the lid, press start, and walk away. The washer then figures out how much clothing you've put in, adds the appropriate water level, and washes for the appropriate time.
When you come back to get the clothes out and you lift the lid, the washer--which is connected to your dryer via USB port, and please note the washer and dryer need to be next to each to enable this--communicates everything it learned about that load to the dryer. The dryer takes that info and uses it to figure out what heat level and cycle time to use to dry the load.
It was this feature that got my dad doing laundry because he could put in a load of jeans, add soap, press "Jeans" and "Start" and go back to watching TV. When the washer beeped, he'd take the jeans out, put them in the dryer, press "Start", and back to the den.
* The current versions of the laundry also offer steam to loosen soil, and SmartDispense so that you don't have to figure out how much to add for each load.
I could go on and on about the Harmony and its awesome descendents, but I'll sum it up this way. I paid a pretty penny, even with my employee discount, to get that washer and dryer pair for myself when I bought a house nearly six years ago and I'm so glad I did. I never in my life thought I could get so excited about a washer and dryer, but that set is jaw-dropping in its greatness.
If your budget can stand it, check out this pair (also available in white). If not, the washer I recommend to my apartment manager customers as our most robust, bulletproof model is the GTW180SSJWW. It's not nearly as fancy, but it does a great job getting clothes clean, and it can take some real punishment.
posted by magstheaxe at 7:54 AM on April 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
I have the Harmony washer and electric dryer set, and you can have them when you pry them from my cold dead fingers. I had it straight from the mouth of the head of our Laundry team that--at the time, which was 2003--this was the single best washer that GE had ever produced, which is probably why this one was so popular with the employees.
Alas, the general public didn't like the touch controls (which to this day I still don't understand--if you can operate a microwave, you can operate this washer/dryer)--so it was discontinued in 2010. The engineering of the machine, on the other hand, was so fabulous that the company migrated the best of it to the upper end of our current line of high-efficiency washers. The bastard children of the Harmony washer are:
* GTWN5550DWW
* GTWN5650FWS
* GTWN7450HWW
* GTWS8350HWS (also available in metallic carbon)
What makes them so great?
* Service call rate. We measure this as the # of service calls on a model while in-warranty (we don't have a way to capture out-of-warranty, because people don't always call our service team once the warranty's over). Obviously I can't reveal company sensitive info, but let me put it this way--when the numbers came in, the only reason the laundry team wasn't popping open champagne bottles is because company policy forbids drinking on the job.
* Performance. So the pair I own now is technically my second Harmony pair. When we launched the Harmony years ago, I won a pair in a sales contest, and because I was in an apartment at the time I gave it to my mom. My mom--who started out doing laundry the old-fashioned way--told me later that it was the greatest washer/dryer set she'd ever owned. She lived on a farm, and threw every stain imaginable at that thing, from grass and dirt stains to motor oil to bona-fide chickenshit, and the clothes came out clean as a whistle. I concur--I have yet to find a stain this thing can't beat, so long as you don't wait a couple of weeks to put the offending item in the wash.
The washer's spin action removes so much water, the dryer cycles regularly shorter than the wash cycles. And the size of the tub! No more taking my king-sized comforter down the laundromat!
Oh, and when I later won a new front-load washer/dryer pair and offered it to my mother, since I was still in an apartment? She flat-out refused to take it because she loved her Harmony set so much (I would up giving it to one of my aunts instead).
* Clean Speak Communication System. This is marketing-speak for "the washer talks to the dryer".
Basically, you stick the clothes in the washer, add soap, tell it what kind of fabric, color, or type of clothes (example: jeans) it's dealing with and how dirty the clothes are, close the lid, press start, and walk away. The washer then figures out how much clothing you've put in, adds the appropriate water level, and washes for the appropriate time.
When you come back to get the clothes out and you lift the lid, the washer--which is connected to your dryer via USB port, and please note the washer and dryer need to be next to each to enable this--communicates everything it learned about that load to the dryer. The dryer takes that info and uses it to figure out what heat level and cycle time to use to dry the load.
It was this feature that got my dad doing laundry because he could put in a load of jeans, add soap, press "Jeans" and "Start" and go back to watching TV. When the washer beeped, he'd take the jeans out, put them in the dryer, press "Start", and back to the den.
* The current versions of the laundry also offer steam to loosen soil, and SmartDispense so that you don't have to figure out how much to add for each load.
I could go on and on about the Harmony and its awesome descendents, but I'll sum it up this way. I paid a pretty penny, even with my employee discount, to get that washer and dryer pair for myself when I bought a house nearly six years ago and I'm so glad I did. I never in my life thought I could get so excited about a washer and dryer, but that set is jaw-dropping in its greatness.
If your budget can stand it, check out this pair (also available in white). If not, the washer I recommend to my apartment manager customers as our most robust, bulletproof model is the GTW180SSJWW. It's not nearly as fancy, but it does a great job getting clothes clean, and it can take some real punishment.
posted by magstheaxe at 7:54 AM on April 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
The GE washer/dryer set I bought in '07 started crapping out in '09 and has been a great disappointment (no flames shooting out the sides, fortunately). Each has required several hundred dollars of post-warranty parts and labor. We won't be sinking any more money into either -- when either goes next, they both go. I swore off GE products forever after that.
Forever turned out to be just a few years, and when we were looking for a mid-tier gas range and oven, we went with the GE Cafe because the stovetop offered the most useable space of any of the 30" ranges. Plenty of room for big pots and skillets. It's great. Within 18 months the electronic igniter fizzled and needed to be replaced. It's been fine since, but it's only a matter of time.
Washer/dryers and other big consumer appliances seem like they've become disposable consumables. Just buy the cheapest you can find and plan on shit-canning and replacing in five years.
Sorry mags.
posted by notyou at 8:26 AM on April 16, 2015
Forever turned out to be just a few years, and when we were looking for a mid-tier gas range and oven, we went with the GE Cafe because the stovetop offered the most useable space of any of the 30" ranges. Plenty of room for big pots and skillets. It's great. Within 18 months the electronic igniter fizzled and needed to be replaced. It's been fine since, but it's only a matter of time.
Washer/dryers and other big consumer appliances seem like they've become disposable consumables. Just buy the cheapest you can find and plan on shit-canning and replacing in five years.
Sorry mags.
posted by notyou at 8:26 AM on April 16, 2015
We went with relatively inexpensive Whirlpool appliances. We've had better luck with those than with the GE's that we bought at the same time (after a house remodel). In 7 years we've already had to replace all of the GE's but none of the Whirlpool's.
We didn't go for very expensive machines or extra-fancy finishes because we figured we'd be replacing everything within 10ish years anyway. Sad to say, that seems to be the way it's going with appliances any more. I once asked a repair person about repairing or keeping our stand-alone freezer, and he told me that appliances all used to come with a 10-year warranty, whereas now they all come with a 1-year warranty. Based on that my two cents is to go mid- to low-budget.
posted by vignettist at 8:47 AM on April 16, 2015
We didn't go for very expensive machines or extra-fancy finishes because we figured we'd be replacing everything within 10ish years anyway. Sad to say, that seems to be the way it's going with appliances any more. I once asked a repair person about repairing or keeping our stand-alone freezer, and he told me that appliances all used to come with a 10-year warranty, whereas now they all come with a 1-year warranty. Based on that my two cents is to go mid- to low-budget.
posted by vignettist at 8:47 AM on April 16, 2015
Also weighing in for the Speed Queen. We recently had a very expensive front-loading LG (with all of the doodads and whistles) croak just out of warranty and kicked it to the curb for a Speed Queen.
Speed Queen also builds commercial laundromat equipment, for whatever that's worth. The things are complete tanks.
posted by jquinby at 4:13 PM on April 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Speed Queen also builds commercial laundromat equipment, for whatever that's worth. The things are complete tanks.
posted by jquinby at 4:13 PM on April 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
I've been happy with my LG waveforce. It does not have central spindle, you can shove immense piles of laundry in. I have a superstitious fondness for the Sanitary Cycle, which takes 3 hours and reheats the water to extremely high temperatures.
My repairperson has told me that the Korean appliances put a lot of work into the interface and electronics, but the mechanical structures and durability are underbuilt.
posted by ohshenandoah at 6:58 PM on April 16, 2015
My repairperson has told me that the Korean appliances put a lot of work into the interface and electronics, but the mechanical structures and durability are underbuilt.
posted by ohshenandoah at 6:58 PM on April 16, 2015
Speed Queen. Same thing that happened to jquinby happened to me.
posted by beefetish at 11:19 PM on April 16, 2015
posted by beefetish at 11:19 PM on April 16, 2015
I was quite happy with my Frigidaire Affinity front loader. It gets the clothes clean with a minimal amount of soap (and water, for that matter), and is super fast compared to most top loaders. Plus it takes much less time and energy to dry a load thanks to the ridiculously high speed spin. It easily fits large items that only ginormous top loaders can handle, despite being on the narrow side. (One of the reasons we chose that specific one was its ability to fit in a 21.5" opening, most full size front loaders are 24", IIRC) Oh, and it's a heck of a lot easier on the clothes since there is no agitator to beat things up.
The only problem I've had with it in the 8 years we've had it was a broken latch which was a $5 part that took about 5 minutes to replace. And it was reasonably inexpensive to purchase. The washer and dryer were less than $1000 together. (at Best Buy, not known for being the best buy)
I would never willingly go back to a top loader. If you made me, I'd take the Speed Queen my landlord supplied in the last apartment I lived in. Basic, but bulletproof.
posted by wierdo at 7:37 AM on April 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
The only problem I've had with it in the 8 years we've had it was a broken latch which was a $5 part that took about 5 minutes to replace. And it was reasonably inexpensive to purchase. The washer and dryer were less than $1000 together. (at Best Buy, not known for being the best buy)
I would never willingly go back to a top loader. If you made me, I'd take the Speed Queen my landlord supplied in the last apartment I lived in. Basic, but bulletproof.
posted by wierdo at 7:37 AM on April 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
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The Samsungs were floor models that, with discounts for scratches and dents, came to $400 a piece down from $850. They have all the bells and whistles and steam things.
The Maytags are super reliable for their age though sometimes the washer forgets to drain and needs to be put in manual drain mode.
I would highly recommend either brand, and would highly recommend shopping, as I did, for fancy ones with dents on the side at deep discount, then putting them in a closet where nobody else will ever see such dents or know about them unless someone outs your metafilter handle in real life.
posted by slateyness at 6:23 PM on April 15, 2015