A few weeks ago, our very faithful Kenmore washing machine that we bought in 1998, stopped working. I had been worried about it for a while and looked at washing machines a year ago but one salesman--who can't be selling very many washing machines!--told me I shouldn't get a new one until my old one really broke because the new ones aren't as good.
So when my old one broke, we did some research. We looked at Consumer Reports (which might not be as unbiased as they say they are), I talked to friends and put it on Facebook, and we looked at the online reviews. The online reviews were unbelievably negative. I was really conflicted. I could not decide what to get. At one point we were considering getting the old style of washing machine since the new ones seemed so unpopular.
Finally we went to the store and talked to a salesman who seemed pretty knowledgeable. And I decided to get the LG front-loader. From what the salesman said and my own informal survey, this seems to be a very popular washing machine to buy. Here are the reasons I went with it:
1. Easy access for short people: not too deep for people to reach in and get the laundry. The top-loaders are very large and deep. I could reach the bottom but I was pretty worried that my very short 12-year-old (who needs to be able to do her own laundry) wouldn't be able to. This was actually a deciding factor for me.
I was not that excited about having to kneel on the floor to get the clothes in and out, but it hasn't been a big problem. As I get older, that will become more difficult. That's when I'll buy a top-loader. I also wish the door was reversible so that the hinge could be on the right since my washer is on the right. I think the only brand that does that is the Electrolux. I could have bought pedestals to put my washer on, but I didn't want to spend the money and I had heard negative things about the vibrations on the pedestal.
2. Older technology. I'm hoping it means the washer lasts longer. The new top-loaders use much less water than they used to and use a different technology to clean the clothes without an agitator. It's a newer technology that they're still refining. In Europe, front-loaders have been used for a long time. We had one ten years ago when we lived in Germany for a year and it was fine, if slow. We looked at the top-loaders with agitators but the salesman told us they were "fake" agitators to make the consumers happy. He said that the only washer with a "true" agitator is the Speed Queen model because it's the only washer that uses the large volume of water required for the agitator to really work. I believe the government is mandating that the new washers use less water.
3. Gets clothes cleaner. This is not something I can ever prove but supposedly, according to the salesman, front-loaders apparently do a little better than top-loaders at getting clothes cleaner. So far I've been okay with how clean my clothes have gotten. A friend of mine called me up to tell me how she didn't like her LG front-loader because she felt like the clothes just weren't getting as clean. I asked the salesman about this and he said that one problem a lot of people have is that they use too much detergent. With the very low volume of water that these new washing machines use, it's very difficult for them to deal with too much detergent, breaking down the enzymes, etc. So the detergent builds up and the clothes don't get clean. So I use a very minimal amount of detergent--not much more than a tablespoon or two of the high-efficiency detergent.
4. Uses less water. We live in a state with very little water and water rates are only going up. It makes sense to conserve water. All the new machines use much less water than the old ones and the front-loaders use the least.
5. Bigger loads. The front-loader capacity is actually not bigger than the top-loaders; it's just bigger than my old machine. The first day I had it, I put in the queen-size quilt from our bed and it fit easily and washed up quite well. No more laundromat visits! The new machine holds a lot more than my old machine. I was worried about the length of time each load would take. It's very unpredictable, according to how the machine measures the size of your load. Loads can go anywhere from 40-125 minutes. I wish it was a little more predictable but maybe I'll eventually figure out the secret.
6. Competitive pricing. Front-loaders are generally more expensive. However, LG has competitively priced this front-loader at $700 and I can get rebates up to $100 from the electric and gas companies for energy efficiency. The machine has a lot of extra features including steam for sanitizing but I won't probably won't use those much.
7. Clothes dry much faster. This is actually something I didn't realize how significant it would be until I started using the washer. We kept our old dryer so obviously that's not the difference. But clothes dry in literally half the time now because the new washer takes so much water out of the clothes during the spin cycle. I'm anticipating that my electricity bill will be much lower. What a nice surprise!
Bottom Line: I've been happy with my purchase although I've only had it two weeks. The clothes seem to get just as clean with bigger loads possible and they dry much faster. I wouldn't mind if I didn't have to kneel down to get the clothes in and out but I guess you don't get everything you want!
Update: I've had my machine for about a month now. My main complaint so far is that it's difficult to wash things that are waterproof, like mattress protectors. I did a load with a mattress protector and the clothes came out much wetter than usual. Everything got clean though. I also wouldn't mind if the load length was a little more predictable. It seems pretty random right now.
So when my old one broke, we did some research. We looked at Consumer Reports (which might not be as unbiased as they say they are), I talked to friends and put it on Facebook, and we looked at the online reviews. The online reviews were unbelievably negative. I was really conflicted. I could not decide what to get. At one point we were considering getting the old style of washing machine since the new ones seemed so unpopular.
Finally we went to the store and talked to a salesman who seemed pretty knowledgeable. And I decided to get the LG front-loader. From what the salesman said and my own informal survey, this seems to be a very popular washing machine to buy. Here are the reasons I went with it:
1. Easy access for short people: not too deep for people to reach in and get the laundry. The top-loaders are very large and deep. I could reach the bottom but I was pretty worried that my very short 12-year-old (who needs to be able to do her own laundry) wouldn't be able to. This was actually a deciding factor for me.
I was not that excited about having to kneel on the floor to get the clothes in and out, but it hasn't been a big problem. As I get older, that will become more difficult. That's when I'll buy a top-loader. I also wish the door was reversible so that the hinge could be on the right since my washer is on the right. I think the only brand that does that is the Electrolux. I could have bought pedestals to put my washer on, but I didn't want to spend the money and I had heard negative things about the vibrations on the pedestal.
2. Older technology. I'm hoping it means the washer lasts longer. The new top-loaders use much less water than they used to and use a different technology to clean the clothes without an agitator. It's a newer technology that they're still refining. In Europe, front-loaders have been used for a long time. We had one ten years ago when we lived in Germany for a year and it was fine, if slow. We looked at the top-loaders with agitators but the salesman told us they were "fake" agitators to make the consumers happy. He said that the only washer with a "true" agitator is the Speed Queen model because it's the only washer that uses the large volume of water required for the agitator to really work. I believe the government is mandating that the new washers use less water.
3. Gets clothes cleaner. This is not something I can ever prove but supposedly, according to the salesman, front-loaders apparently do a little better than top-loaders at getting clothes cleaner. So far I've been okay with how clean my clothes have gotten. A friend of mine called me up to tell me how she didn't like her LG front-loader because she felt like the clothes just weren't getting as clean. I asked the salesman about this and he said that one problem a lot of people have is that they use too much detergent. With the very low volume of water that these new washing machines use, it's very difficult for them to deal with too much detergent, breaking down the enzymes, etc. So the detergent builds up and the clothes don't get clean. So I use a very minimal amount of detergent--not much more than a tablespoon or two of the high-efficiency detergent.
4. Uses less water. We live in a state with very little water and water rates are only going up. It makes sense to conserve water. All the new machines use much less water than the old ones and the front-loaders use the least.
5. Bigger loads. The front-loader capacity is actually not bigger than the top-loaders; it's just bigger than my old machine. The first day I had it, I put in the queen-size quilt from our bed and it fit easily and washed up quite well. No more laundromat visits! The new machine holds a lot more than my old machine. I was worried about the length of time each load would take. It's very unpredictable, according to how the machine measures the size of your load. Loads can go anywhere from 40-125 minutes. I wish it was a little more predictable but maybe I'll eventually figure out the secret.
6. Competitive pricing. Front-loaders are generally more expensive. However, LG has competitively priced this front-loader at $700 and I can get rebates up to $100 from the electric and gas companies for energy efficiency. The machine has a lot of extra features including steam for sanitizing but I won't probably won't use those much.
7. Clothes dry much faster. This is actually something I didn't realize how significant it would be until I started using the washer. We kept our old dryer so obviously that's not the difference. But clothes dry in literally half the time now because the new washer takes so much water out of the clothes during the spin cycle. I'm anticipating that my electricity bill will be much lower. What a nice surprise!
Bottom Line: I've been happy with my purchase although I've only had it two weeks. The clothes seem to get just as clean with bigger loads possible and they dry much faster. I wouldn't mind if I didn't have to kneel down to get the clothes in and out but I guess you don't get everything you want!
Update: I've had my machine for about a month now. My main complaint so far is that it's difficult to wash things that are waterproof, like mattress protectors. I did a load with a mattress protector and the clothes came out much wetter than usual. Everything got clean though. I also wouldn't mind if the load length was a little more predictable. It seems pretty random right now.
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