Front Loads

Front load washer is GREAT!! I have a Kenmore, no probs at all. I love that I can put my king size comforter in there with no prob, before I had to go to the laundy mat to do my comforter.

We bought front load top of the line Maytag washer and dryer about 5 yrs ago or so. I love them. Never had a problem with either and no mildew smell. Mine has a hot water heater on board and I love that feature. Hope you find what you like!

Hi N.,

I'm from the netherlands, and toploaders like you have here in the USA are considered from the middle ages. You can not buy them overthere, probably not since I'm born (I'm 36). We bought an expensive toploader 4 years ago when we came to the USA (back than there was only one brand of frontloader, but almost nobody sold it, now it is somewhat more common). But boy, I miss my frontloader every day. Clothes get so much more cleaner in a frontloader. (yes, I don't use very cheap soap, so that's not the reason)

So I'm not sure about the American front loaders, but if they are copies of the European washers: Go for it!

I.

And oh, about the mildew smell, I've never heard of it. The european frontloaders have a little hole in the rubber manchette, and the water leaks out (in the machine) so there's never water left in the rubber. Maybe something to check out?

Hi N.!

Well, it seems that it is all good and my comment is as well! I love mine. Have had them for a year and bought them from Lowe's. We did buy both even though our washer was the only thing that really didn't work anymore (sold dryer), but it looks stupid (at least to me) to have just one of them instead of the set. I also bought the pedestals and love them. I am short, and they work great for me, but what I really like is that you hide alot of soaps, dryer sheets and stuff like that instead of always having them on top of your set.

I bought the Whirpool and really like it a lot!

Good Luck!

G. B.

We have the kenmores from sears. I have had them about 4 years and still love them. We debated getting the top of the line larger ones, but decided not to because of space limitations. You never know if you move what size utility room you will have. The ONLY downside I see is that once you start the wash you can not add in anything (like the sock you turn around and see on the floor.)

Hi N.,

We've had the Kenmore HE4 front load washer and dryer set since May. I love them. I feel like an infomercial for them most of the time because anytime I have someone over and they ask about them, I gush about all their features and how nice the clothes come out and on and on, ad nauseum. They were pricey, but I think they were the best investment we've made in a long time.

I had originally wanted them because of the water savings. They use about 1/4 of the water of the regular top loads and 1/2 the water of the high efficiency top loads.

We wanted something that would wash a king size comforter (we have two dogs and a cat and just have to wash linens a lot) and this set does it just fine.

Aside from the water savings, other nice things are the preprogrammed settings and the ability to save settings so that you can start a load with just a push of a button, they are such large capacity that I can do fewer loads and the high spin speeds gets the clothes practically dry right out of the washer so that the drying time is much shorter (although I will point out here that the wash cycle times are longer than on front loads... not an issue for me since I'm not usually just sitting around waiting for a load to be done).

After seeing mine, my mom got the LG set from Lowes. She really likes her set, too. Her washer has a "steam clean" setting that you can use to just steam the wrinkles out of something or freshen it up.

I did get the pedestals because I am tall (5'10") and have a bad back and I really, really like not having to bend way over to get the clothes out. However, we didn't pay $199 per pedestal as we were able to buy a set of the floor samples from the prior year. They matched the color of our set (we got the champagne color). The only difference was the inside racks in the pedestals were a slightly different configuration and were a gray color instead of a blue color. I couldn't really see a benefit of one configuration over the other and what do I care about the inside color, so we were able to get those for $99 for the set. So ask if they have anything like that, if you want the pedestals.

The clothes really do come out so nice from these that I think it will save a lot of our clothes (of course, bear in mind that my old set had taken to eating my clothese, so I'm sure that anything I got would have been an improvement over those)>

If you have any specific questions, please let me know. This is all I can think of right now, but I can say that I am sooo happy with them and I never thought that an appliance could make me that happy.

As for a waste of money, I couldn't really see anything that fit that category (oh, and we bought them when they went of sale, so I would definitely recommend waiting for a sale) and since my mom had her last set for 26 years, I see it as a long-term investment. I had figured it up at the time and if we keep the set for more than 4 years, the water savings for our family of three makes these cost the same as the cheaper regular front loaders and if we keep them for 6.5 years, it's the same cost as the high efficiency top loaders... anything beyond that and we are saving money.

Hope that helps.

P.

I just got the front loads a few weeks ago from Sears and love them. I got the top of the line as I wanted the largest and most powerful machine as we have allergies and need to regularly wash all bedding including comforters. That's the best thing about the front load washers - they're great for bedding. They also have special cycles for jeans, which really wrings out the water so they'll dry more quickly.

I also got the strange blue color and just love it. My laundry room is painted a white white and we have stainless appliances in the kitchen and a tile that has specs of blue/grey, so it looks great.

The machines aren't cheap and in hindsight I think a way to save some $s would be to get the front load washer with a regular dryer. They won't look quite so good together since the control panel is on the front versus raised on the back. But, I think you can save several hundred dollars that way. I also did not get the pedastals, which are another two hundred dollars each, but I'm only 5'3". If you're taller or have back problems, you might want to budget for the pedastals, as well.

Per the point about the GE's having a mold problem around the seal, I can see the potential for that problem with my Sear's model, as well. Since I am highly (to an absolute extreme) sensitive to mold, I dry off the seal when I see any water settling on it and I leave the door open for a while after I remove a load of laundry. Also, you'll want to check under the seal, as it also collects water AND socks (I don't think they get there during the cycle, but rather while loading/unloading).

we bought a set a few years ago, and I think they were GE, but when we moved we left them. The problem I was having is the constant smell of mildew. It seems that the rubber piece in washer that holds the door tightly sealed (they called it the rubber boot) was holding water, and it would make my clothes stink and everything. They replaced the boot at one point with one that was supposed to prevent that problem, but it really did not help. I assume that it was a problem with that particular style, as clearly lots of other people love theirs, but I was willing to part with that smell! So be sure that you ask about that, and maybe stay away from the GE version. I hope you find something that you love. Best of luck ~A.~

My husband bought the front loaders and I was upset at first. They are more expensive since he bought the top of the line. But now I realize that we save more money. They are efficient when washing and drying and have saved us money on water and electricity.

We own Kenmores. 3.5 capacity. AND I can wash a lot of towels at once. It is great.

If you purchase a set make sure they are energy efficient. Energy Star!

i bought my maytag Neptune frint load as the floor model from arron's you can pay it off in 90 days no interest or over two years with interest your choice. we did 90 days, well worth it!!!

We bought ours a year ago when we moved here from VA at Costco.
We got the Whirlpool Duet. I really do like mine cause I can fit my king size comforter in there and it does come out clean.
I use to have to wash it 2 times before I could use it. You also don't have to use a lot a soap cause just a little goes a long way. I use to go though 2 bottle of detergent a month now a bottle last me about a month or so.(we are a family of 5)