Need suggestions for a new washer

[lovemachine]

So my washer went out. I believe it's the transmission, and from what I'm seeing, it'll cost almost as much as a new washer. The washer and dryer I have now were hand-me-downs. So who knows how old they are. I don't need a new dryer yet. It's electric, and I want gas. But I haven't had the chance to run black pipe yet.

So I'll just need a washer for right now. Any brands you all recommend? What to stay away from? Agitators, do I want one?

 

[JettaKnight]

I've been tickled with my LG top loader. No big agitator in this one, and it plays a happy tune when done - I like to do a little "laundry jig" to it.

It's big enough that one full load requires two separate dryer loads.


And, front loaders suck. Big time.

 

[Vigilant]

Redheaded front loader, that doesn’t mind back loading.

 

[Vigilant]

And, front loaders suck. Big time.

Thats a nice feature as well.

 

[BugI02]

Basic heavy duty top loader with agitator, check out Speedqueen - read some of the online comments about HE washers (the ones without agitators that take twice as long to cycle but you use a gallon or two less water )

Full disclosure, the full-bore spin cycle is ferocious - you will need to put delicate items in a lingerie bag or similar

 

[Vigilant]

In all seriousness, don’t buy a front loader they are a pain in the ass to keep the gasket free from mold and mildew.

 

[Cornfarmer]

+1 for speed queen. Manufactured in Midwest. Commercial quality

 

[Tactically Fat]

If you can swing the price - SpeedQueen or Fisher-Paykel.

However, our GE that we have is also quite nice. It's a non HE model, top load, and has an actual agitator.

I HIGHLY suggest a top load with an agitator. And one that will A) allow enough water, and B) allow soaking. Many HE washers do not allow these things. And with two little kids and a big ol' dog at your house (plus you and your roommate, too, I suppose) - you'll want both A and B. Trust me. And get the highest capacity you can.

We have this model, have for a few years, and it does a great job so far. https://www.lowes.com/pd/GE-4-2-cu-ft-High-Efficiency-Top-Load-Washer-with-Agitator-White/999922464

 

[Hoosierdood]

If you can swing the price - SpeedQueen or Fisher-Paykel.

Both of these are great brands. They are pricier, but last forever. Here are a couple things coming from someone who has sold appliances for a while...

- Non agitator models actually wash your clothes better. Its not just about less water. The fabrics have more contact with each other, getting more soil out of them. Think about this... when you wash your hands, do you fill the sink with water and swish your hands around, or do you rub them together? Same concept with clothes.
- Most current model HE models will have an option to fill the tub with water if you wish. It defeats the purpose on most loads except bulky items, but if you want a full tub of water, it is available.
- Whirlpool, Maytag, GE will be easier/cheaper to repair if you ever find yourself in that situation. Samsung and LG can be difficult to find parts/service for. However, as with many vehicles, most of the time the foreign models are more reliable and so they need less service.
- Look for a model that has a tray to put the detergent and softener in, rather than pouring it over the clothes. With HE washers, it can take a little time to mix the soap in with the water, so if there is a tray for detergent, it mixes with the water as it fills. This is mostly limited to LG, Samsung, and Maytag.
- My personal recommendation would be Samsung or LG. They both have balance control, so it doesn't sound like a space shuttle launch when it goes through the spin cycle. Plus they are fairly reliable by today's standards, and have a ton of cool features.
- Don't set your expectations too high. The reality is that they don't make things like they used to. They are more efficient, and get clothes cleaner, but they don't last as long. I wouldn't expect more than 10 years out of anything that you buy now.

 

[ws6guy]

I have a whirlpool HE top load(no agitator) for the last 8 years. The plus side it holds a ton of clothes and has been reliable. It usually cleans good but not great. It has to be loaded in a certain fashion for it to work properly which we do but part of the time some clothes never got wet let alone washed. Also when washing heavy items like blankets it gets out of balance easily which requires a lot of waiting for the lid to unlock and rearranging the load, this process can easily take a half hour or more. That being said when this thing quits my wife is dead set on getting an agitator model again.

 

[EvilElmo]

I have a Maytag HE pair (Bravos XL line). They are the first and last Maytag appliances I have or will ever own. The dryer is reasonably good quality, although I just had to replace the heating element in year 5.

The washer on the other hand is total garbage. The design is horrible.
- I had to replace the entire drive shaft in the 2nd year, about 2 months after the warranty ran out.
- the tub never completely drains, so there's mold and mildew in the washing machine literally all the time. I have to take it apart and clean it 3-4 times a year just to keep it from stinking up the house. If you want to see for yourself what I'm talking about here's a video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNL2CBnQw4M
- The funnel where the water supply line drops the water into the tub (where you pour the detergent) has so much gap between it and the hose that it sprays water on the inside the washer body, which then runs down and leaves a puddle on the floor. I used some heavy plastic to build up the height of that funnel and I still can't turn the supply faucets on more than 50% or there's water everywhere.

Complete and utter garbage. My recommendation is to avoid Maytag like the plague. They're owned by Whirlpool now so there will be a lot of common parts and designs so be wary. I'm not convinced that any HE washer is worth the money. I've come to believe they're a lot like low-flow toilets, neither one uses enough water to get the job done right.

 

[maxwelhse]

I'll preface this with some shameless self-promotion... If your old washer happens to be an old school Whirlpool, there's a 90% chance I have an entire transmission (20 years old), motor/capacitor/pump/timer/drive nut/clutch basket assy/drive coupling/etc/etc (less than a year of use in a single adult household and well over $400 of stuff) sitting in the corner of my garage I'd like to unload. Literally just bolt it in to your machine and it's ready to rock. I was hoping to get $200 for it all on eBay. So... /shamelessplug

That said...

Speed Queen cost reduced their machines, and reduced their water usage, as of 2017. The last "good" SQs have all been sold long ago now. The good news is that they didn't reduce their pricing! There are videos on YouTube comparing the new to the old and the appliance message boards are full of disgruntled old techs upset about the change. This DEEPLY saddened me as I had been eyeing a set (at an eye watering $2500) for a couple of years before I could afford them...

I bought LGs last year after years of frustration with my old Whirlpools (see the above massive list of new parts). I finally got the washer sorted out (the pump being the last repair) and then like 3 weeks later the dryer failed AGAIN. I'd had enough. Bought new ones on Lowe's website on super-sale and had them delivered that Saturday (if I recall, HD and others don't do Saturday delivery). If the deal had been straight (my local Lowes is horrible... it's a long story, but the punchline is I got about $400 additional off), the price with tax for the pair was right on the dot of $1300. I could have gotten them for $1200 at Sam's, but I needed delivery. I'll also toss it out there that you get MUCH better pricing if you buy in pairs. There were no sales of any kind of individual units. So, a washer would have been $850 or a pair for $1300.

Anyhow... I really like them. One of the things I feared the most was all of the horror stories of HE appliances growing mold and not putting enough water in as well as just flatly not getting clothes clean. No problems with any of that here. There's even a "water plus" button on the control pad that will put in extra water, so I just always push it. No center agitator either, which is flat out awesome. Something I didn't know about those types of units is that the bottom of the drum is actually an agitator and it moves independently of the rest of it, so it can SELF BALANCE (it does a little dance for about the first 5 minutes of the cycle to get things figured out)!! No more "bang bang bang" as the washer tries to run across the room because a towel got cross-eyed to a pair of undies. It figures it out on it's own, except for 1 odd load so far in the last year.

I am also fearful of the electronic controls on them failing, so I looked up the replacement costs. Each one takes about a $200 controller and a $200 computer. So, if they ALL failed at the same time, the machines are totaled, but just one or two in 10 years? Ehh, I'm OK with it. I also bought the extended warranties on them (somewhat inspired by my Lowes being a bunch of idiots) so I'm good to go for at least 5 years. The mechanicals have a factory 10 year warranty, so I'm out to 13 years on stuff like the motors and baskets.

The only thing I don't like about it is that it does a crappy job on bed pillows since they float and there's no agitator in the middle to keep them submerged. My work around for that is to just pause the load manually and trade them top for bottom myself. It's a small price to pay for the added convenience of never having to mess with pretty much anything else. The little jingles they play are pretty amusing too, like another poster mentioned. Oh, and they're ridiculously quiet. Like, I legit forget that they're running about 1/2 the time and the spin cycle starts and scares the hell out me.

So... I'd absolutely love to sell you my parts if you could use them, but my recommendation for replacement is absolutely my particular models of LG. Oh, the dryer is a beast too and it's electric. It works much better than the gas dryers I've used in the past.

edit: The guy above me hadn't posted before I finished up my novella. Literally everything he said is exactly why I wanted old school Speed Queens and was terrified of buying modern appliances. Exactly everything that's wrong with his machines is right with my LGs. I'll also put it out there that I work on cars as a hobby (or necessity some days) and I put some straight up rank clothes in my washer, just soaked to the bone in brake fluid and gas and all sorts of nasty crap, and they come out clean. I am cautious not to overload it though. The manual takes great care to mention that just because you CAN put twice as much stuff in it because there's no agitator in the way, you're not supposed to. That said, I run 2-3 loads a week as a single guy: Lights/darks/and utterly rank shop clothes. I don't see it as having any less capacity than my old school "plus" sized Whirlpools as I had exactly the same habits then.

Links:
https://www.lg.com/us/washers/lg-WT1501CW-top-load-washer
https://www.lg.com/us/dryers/lg-DLE1501W-electric-dryer

YouTube appliance guy that does some pretty profound reviews (and is a very big fan of my LG models, which I discovered after I purchased them... also did an SQ 2017 vs. 2018 video that cost him his SQ franchise...):

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdmAqgUChg4_28q39FQe2bg

 

[target64]

In case you have not noticed, Fromt loaders suck.

 

[Vigilant]

In case you have not noticed, Fromt loaders suck.

Ummm, that’s actually a feature.

 

[mmpsteve]

For what it's worth, when my last one died, I went to Menards and bought almost the cheapest one they had, and it's worked fine for the last year. Yes, it may die in the next year, but I didn't pay very much, and when it dies, I'll buy another cheap one.

I do like that it has a hot water setting for underwears and such. Seems like cold water rinse is all you can get these days.

I'll follow up with brand name and such when I get home.

p.s. My rich brother has a fancy LowWaterUsage Aerospace model, and it stops and starts continuously for about an hour or more before you can even open it. Not something I'm interested in.

.

 

[RugerRog]

I have a Maytag HE pair (Bravos XL line). They are the first and last Maytag appliances I have or will ever own. The dryer is reasonably good quality, although I just had to replace the heating element in year 5.

The washer on the other hand is total garbage. The design is horrible.
- I had to replace the entire drive shaft in the 2nd year, about 2 months after the warranty ran out.
- the tub never completely drains, so there's mold and mildew in the washing machine literally all the time. I have to take it apart and clean it 3-4 times a year just to keep it from stinking up the house. If you want to see for yourself what I'm talking about here's a video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNL2CBnQw4M
- The funnel where the water supply line drops the water into the tub (where you pour the detergent) has so much gap between it and the hose that it sprays water on the inside the washer body, which then runs down and leaves a puddle on the floor. I used some heavy plastic to build up the height of that funnel and I still can't turn the supply faucets on more than 50% or there's water everywhere.

Complete and utter garbage. My recommendation is to avoid Maytag like the plague. They're owned by Whirlpool now so there will be a lot of common parts and designs so be wary. I'm not convinced that any HE washer is worth the money. I've come to believe they're a lot like low-flow toilets, neither one uses enough water to get the job done right.

I saw that video, as we have an older Maytag. There is a "Clean Washer" option. We put bleach in it about 1x a month, and run through the clean cycle to keep it from stinking. Much easier than taking it apart to clean. I'm in the market for a new washer too as the drive shaft and bearings need replacing again.

 

[nra4ever]

In all seriousness, don’t buy a front loader they are a pain in the ass to keep the gasket free from mold and mildew.

I have an LG front loader 10 years old. Never had a mold or mildew problem ever. The instructions clearly state LEAVE THE DOOR OPEN AFTER WASHING TO ALLOW DRYING. I leave it open a couple of days at least then close the door. Never has has a single problem. Does a great job of washing. Don’t buy LG dishwasher. That thing sucked!

 

[mmpsteve]

For what it's worth, when my last one died, I went to Menards and bought almost the cheapest one they had, and it's worked fine for the last year. Yes, it may die in the next year, but I didn't pay very much, and when it dies, I'll buy another cheap one.

I do like that it has a hot water setting for underwears and such. Seems like cold water rinse is all you can get these days.

I'll follow up with brand name and such when I get home.

p.s. My rich brother has a fancy LowWaterUsage Aerospace model, and it stops and starts continuously for about an hour or more before you can even open it. Not something I'm interested in.

.

Just checked, and my warsher is an AMANA. Coincidence, but my electric dryer is also: about 2 years old, and works great. Both have a sticker that read:
Designed, Engineered, and Assembled in the USA. Assuming Chinese parts, but they're getting the job done.

Am I a bad person for buying Chinese stuff? Can't say nowadays. Does anyone in the US make washers or dryers?

.

 

[Hoosierdood]

Just checked, and my warsher is an AMANA. Coincidence, but my electric dryer is also: about 2 years old, and works great. Both have a sticker that read:
Designed, Engineered, and Assembled in the USA. Assuming Chinese parts, but they're getting the job done.

Am I a bad person for buying Chinese stuff? Can't say nowadays. Does anyone in the US make washers or dryers?

.

AMANA is made by Whirlpool.

 

[Hickory]

Speedqueen top loader. With an agitator. Only thing that will clean my filthy clothes from working on the farm.
YMMV
Hickory