front-loading washers and dryers - starting to shop

[Hoggirl]

Can anyone tell me which brands to look at? Which brands you have and like? Pros/Cons of different brands? Also, we had a front-loading washer/dryer in England, and I hated the washer b/c there was NO OPTION AT ANY TIME to open it once you had started running it. In other words, if you dropped a sock you were out of luck! Do the ones here allow opening of the washers at any point in the cycle?
Thanks so much!

[Denise in IN]

We bought a front loader a few months ago. I spent a lot of time with Consumer Reports! I also learned from talking with the salesmen at Sears and Home Depot.

LG and Whirlpool rate very highly. We bought an LG, and I love it. The door can be opened during the cycle unless there is too much water in the machine, then the door will not unlock.

I did not buy a matching dryer. As far as I can tell, the only real benefit in the matching dryer is just that - the matching. You will get "bells and whistles", but not necessarily a better dryer. We went with a regular Kenmore dryer - the largest size available. Works great.

[Sunny]

Depends on where you want to put the machines. Front loaders can "walk" if you have them on a wood floor, upstairs especially they can move around and be loud. This was why we had to go with the Whirlpool HE5.

By nature of the beast, you can't open a door when it is full of water <g>. I gave my old front loader to my MIL when we moved. She has expressed the same regret. SHe was in the habit of getting the washer started, and then going throughout the house to collect anything else she thought should go in. It simply requires that you retrain yourself to get your clothes together FIRST before you get it going.
My washer has about a 2 minute "regret" time. I can start it, and then reopen if the buzzer and lock haven't set.

[Hoggirl]

nt

[Denise in IN]

LG is a brand name - somewhat new to the US. Here's their website: LG Electronics (http://us.lge.com/products/category/list/home%20appliances_laundry.jhtml)

We purchased our LG washer at Home Depot.

[Sue G in PA]

Sears Customer Serv. has been horrible. We had a gasket that shredded after a bit over a year due to dry-rot (you could tell b/c it wasn't a clean cut, but the rubber was "shredded"). So, NOT our fault...manufacturer fault. Sears refused to pay for any of it. Other than that, both washer and dryer have been fine. One thing to keep in mind...ALL front loader washers have a tendency toward mold/mildew building up UNDER the gasket. It WILL start to smell after a while. Keep your washer door open btwn loads to cut down on this and wash a load with bleach on th hottest setting once in a while. Don't know what to recommend, just know I can't recommend the Kenmore b/c of the CS at Sears and faulty manufacturing.

[OnTheBrink]

I have the Whirlpool Duet and it's great. You do have a short amount of time to open the washer up before the cycle gets going. We were told to not put it on a woodfloor, but on the cement slab, or reinforce the floor if you have a basement and you're putting the machine on the main floor.

If you get one, have them deliver it and level it for you. If the machine isn't leveled, it'll walk and throw it's transmission out of wack.

[susie in tx]

I had a LG in Europe and I loved it. It worked well and never caused me any trouble. It was small and I could not open it midcycle. The cycles were not as long as my one here in the States.

I have a GE here. It's on the second floor and it makes some noise, but not a ton. It is louder than my last top load washer. It is not as loud as the "quiet pack" dishwasher that I have. ;) One thing that I like about my GE is that it has an onboard heater. I accidentally filled the lint trap and didn't know how to find it, so I had a repairman come. He said that the insides of my GE were the same as the insides of the Whirlpool machines. I figure that my $400 savings were well saved.

I do like my front loader and would probably purchase another one if I had to buy another washer.

[awanama]

I would not recommend the Maytag Neptunes. We owned one, mostly because my husband worked for Maytag at the time. It molded and we ended up replacing the insides of it because one small motor burned out and it caused everything else to lock up.

Now we own a Whirlpool Cabrio set. Again, because of the large discount we get due to my father-in-law being retired from Maytag. These are not front loading but they have an extra large capacity tub and they only use 25 gallons of water per load compared to about 40 that most top loaders use. I've been very happy with how well my clothes come clean. The only things I don't like is that it's very hard on underwire bras and the dryer's sensor for dry is still on the damp side for my liking.

[cin]

We had a neptune also and it was a piece of garbage. The early ones were REALLY bad, I dont' know if they've gotten all the kinks worked out yet. I liked it, it just was cr*p. I now have an LG and I LOVE it. Ours is a combo washer/dryer, so we only have 1 machine. It does the washing and then starts drying it. The water & energy usage is lower, but the loads run a LONG time, up to 6 hours. I don't know how the energy usage is less, but DH has it graphed out.

[Beth in Central TX]

I really like our LG set. The front panel is just like a cd player. There's a big pause button which unlocks the washer and let's me add to the load.

[DIY-DY]

Can anyone tell me which brands to look at? Which brands you have and like? Pros/Cons of different brands? Also, we had a front-loading washer/dryer in England, and I hated the washer b/c there was NO OPTION AT ANY TIME to open it once you had started running it. In other words, if you dropped a sock you were out of luck! Do the ones here allow opening of the washers at any point in the cycle?
Thanks so much!

I really didn't want all the bells and whistles on many of the models, and we ended up going with a Fridgidaire Stacked laundry Center (for about $900, on sale). It's one unit, instead of two units w/ the stacking kit that is available on other models/brands. It's on a tile floor and hasn't roamed anywhere yet.

I love it! It's compact, but can hold scads of clothes (there are six of us right now, we live in the country, and are still working on rehabbing the house and property - boy can those boys make the laundry!)

I try leaving the door open to let it air out, but DH always comes behind me and shuts it (I think he's afraid baby girl will crawl in there or something). So far, though (18 mos. later), we haven't had a problem w/ odors or gunk build-up. I think the nominal airing out time the door does get seems to do the trick.

You can turn it off if you find a dropped sock or some such thing. It'll remain locked until it's safe to open (either right away, or it'll drain enough and then unlock). Obviously, you can't just throw something in mid-cycle, but for my scatter-brained life, it seems to give me enough of a grace period that it hasn't been a problem.

The one thing I really didn't like was the buzzer system. They are both *loud* (washer and dryer), and there's no way to just turn them off other than opening the panel and disconnecting them entirely. (Which is what we did, b/c let's face it, I don't care when the wash is done. I'll get to it when I get to it.)

So, I know many folks really enjoy the higher-end models and options, but just in case you were looking for a basic workhorse that gets the job done, doesn't take up a lot of space, and doesn't cost much, I'd throw this option out there. :)

[nancypants]

I like mine. We have the Maytag Neptune pair... they came with the house... My only recommendation is to get the platforms to put them on (or build them) because I really don't like having to lean so far over to unload it. I sound like a wimp. I just think it would be easier on the back if they were up higher. :o

[Sharon in SC]

LG set for us. Love them! I've since sold my mom and sister on them. :-)

[elegantlion]

We have the Whirlpool duet set. We've had them for about four year without incident. I love them! I do not have the stands, I am 5'4" and it's not a problem for someone of my height.

[Rachel]

We were going to get the Duet set but it wouldn't fit in our space (Make sure you measure if you have a tight fit) and we ended up with a Frigidaire set and have been very happy with them.

I second getting the platforms underneath........I would have killed my back if I had to stoop over every time...and I keep all kinds of stuff down there since there is lots of extra room beyond the detergent and stuff.

[Hoggirl]

nt

[Liz CA]

Can anyone tell me which brands to look at? Which brands you have and like? Pros/Cons of different brands? Also, we had a front-loading washer/dryer in England, and I hated the washer b/c there was NO OPTION AT ANY TIME to open it once you had started running it. In other words, if you dropped a sock you were out of luck! Do the ones here allow opening of the washers at any point in the cycle?
Thanks so much!

can be opened at any time during the cycle. You turn it off and wait until the door light goes out. After adding /subtracting items, you pull the know back out and it resumes the cycle. - Thank God! I couldn't stand it if I could not open it during the cycle.

[Ellie]

but I don't stack them (I have a laundry room). In fact, I paid the extra to buy pedestals for them. The washer door can be opened once I start the machine. Ocassionally the washer doesn't spin properly:( but it seems to get over it, and I think we're ok now. Service has been good.