Top Load Vs. Front Load HE Washer?

[sourceninja]

We have a front loader, had it for the last 6 years with no complaints. No smells, we wipe down the seal after we are done washing clothes and leave the door open. We run a cleaning cycle once every 6 months.

Works great and I've noticed a lot less wear on my clothes compared to our old cheap top loader. It's also quieter.

 

[lakedude]

The other thing we don't like about our front loader is the way it adds water. With the top loader the valve kicks on, stays on till the tub is full and kicks off. With the front loader the valve cycles on, off, on, off, on, off, on, off..for a bit, on...for a bit, off for a longer bit, etc. Makes the pipes rattle!

Overall happy with front loader but adjustments do need to be made.

 

[vi edit]

Had my front load Samsung Washer for 4 years. Last month the metal basket that supports the whole drum rusted out and the drum fell into the bottom of the machine. I hated that thing from the start and was happy to get rid of it.

One, it sits so low that you either pay another $100 in matching bases or make a box to prop it up...or just deal with it and crouch down to pull clothes out. Which by the way is a pain because they become some spaghetti string of chaos and you start pulling out and everything else comes with it in a wet sloppy splat on the floor.

We had the musty smell that you could never get rid of even by leaving the door open. Plus it was loud/violents in the spin cycle. It'd shake the metal trim on the refridgerator on the other side of the wall.

Replaced it with an LG top load and it's been nice so far. That thing is cavernous...i can fit both my kids in there if I need to It's virtually silent. It's easy to load/unload and doesn't have that stank smell that the front load did.

In talking to most salesguys there's a big shift to top loads as they go agitatorless, HE, and more "upscale".

 

[Ichinisan]

All of this talk about leaving the door open on front load washers, i could have sworn the ones i looked at had a catch on them to make this easily accomplished so the door isn't just swinging open in the way of a walk way or something. Is this not the case for most?

I don't have one. needed to save money at the time so i went cheap top load washer.

Mine doesn't have it.

 

[Ichinisan]

One, it sits so low that you either pay another $100 in matching bases or make a box to prop it up...or just deal with it and crouch down to pull clothes out.

Sounds similar to the design of my Bosch front-loader. There's a base with a pull-out drawer. If that wasn't there, it would be so low I wouldn't be able to use it. Even with the base, it's irritating how low everything is.

Which by the way is a pain because they become some spaghetti string of chaos and you start pulling out and everything else comes with it in a wet sloppy splat on the floor.

This.

 

[DarkManX]

anyone have any experience with steam washers/dryers? How would dress shirts/pants come out?

 

[alkemyst]

From consumer reports but lines up well with what my friends/family said about the steam units they had when I was looking for my HE washer/dryer (and why I went with a top loader)

Steam settings. If you're looking to do less ironing and you think the dryer's steam setting is the answer, think again. We found using the steam option left our shirts with some wrinkles. But if what you need is an odor eater, the steam did remove more odors than conventional dryers. As for washers, past tests showed that steam settings cleaned stains slightly better, but these machines cleaned very well even without the steam.

Article: 5 money wasting features in washers/dryers: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...-features-that-waste-loads-of-money/index.htm

I have found my shirts and pants come out wrinkle-free in my set up as long as someone gets the laundry out of the dryer when the chime occurs. The additional 2 hour spin it will do at time intervals doesn't seem to help too much.

 

[qtnguyen87]

Sorry to bitch but why would someone invent something so useless when the top loaders are by far more superior? Everytime i load a front loader it falls out and im stuck with one hand inside the machine holding the stuff in while loading...WTF?? and i personally think HE machines are a waste of technology. Ya saves water but shitty job


This post through post #103 merged from another thread.
admin allisolm

 

[Scarpozzi]

Blame NYC, LA and other densely populated areas for realizing that high efficiency water appliances can save millions of gallons a year. This is just as bad as the Seinfeld episode with low-flow shower heads. "Low Flow? I don't like the sound of that." --said at least 3 times in that episode...

The front loaders have a few major design problems.
1. The doors seal. You don't get this with top loaders because the lid doesn't have to be water tight. This allows the tub to air dry after use and helps reduce mold/mildew buildup. Front loaders need to be left with the door slightly open when not in use.

2. The tubs do not drain efficiently. In the past 2 years, some companies have started tiliting the washing tub in front loaders at 5-10 degrees to promote drainage to the back of the tub. This is great, but could pose some balance issues if the tub spins too fast.

3. The door seal could always leak.... Rubber gaskets wear out....and often don't seal properly for whatever reason. I don't know how often this is an issue, but there's always potential for water leaks out the front of those machines.

Last July, our washing machine started leaking from the main seal in the tub. It was a $17 fix, but the machine was over a decade old and I had already fixed a few parts on it. The wife wanted something new, so I ordered a SpeedQueen AWN542. SpeedQueen makes commercial washers/dryers. I paid more for this thing, but the stainless tub and smooth/quiet operation makes it worth it. I don't particularly like the main companies that are offered at typical appliance stores. They come out with way too many models/designs that don't offer any new innovation...they just fail repeatedly at working out problems.

http://www.us-appliance.com/awn542....4_a_7cawn542&gclid=CN_6lvHMnrwCFVFk7AodEi8AIA

 

[qtnguyen87]

Ya when i have a full tank of soap in it the bubbles come out of the door. I sometimes watch the machine wash for a good couple of minutes to make sure everything is ok. I have noticed that the operation is very retarded. The machine will tumble.....wait a minute than tumble...then wait a minute...and im going how the fuck is this cleaning???? My 10 year old top loader works perfectly fine and for some reason i believe the clothes come out better on my top loader.

 

[videogames101]

front loaders work fine for me, every problem you listed is just a potential problem, not a inherent flaw imo

 

[Capt Caveman]

Ya when i have a full tank of soap in it the bubbles come out of the door. I sometimes watch the machine wash for a good couple of minutes to make sure everything is ok. I have noticed that the operation is very retarded. The machine will tumble.....wait a minute than tumble...then wait a minute...and im going how the fuck is this cleaning???? My 10 year old top loader works perfectly fine and for some reason i believe the clothes come out better on my top loader.

Never had leaking problems or soap bubbles coming out thru the door seal and I've been using front loaders for over ten years.

Full tank of soap? Sounds like you're using the wrong kind of soap.

 

[dainthomas]

I've had a Maytag front loader for six years and have had no issues and it cleans great and uses less water. Plus it's easier for short people (i.e. women) to unload.

 

[bignateyk]

Ya when i have a full tank of soap in it the bubbles come out of the door. I sometimes watch the machine wash for a good couple of minutes to make sure everything is ok. I have noticed that the operation is very retarded. The machine will tumble.....wait a minute than tumble...then wait a minute...and im going how the fuck is this cleaning???? My 10 year old top loader works perfectly fine and for some reason i believe the clothes come out better on my top loader.

uh.. are you using the right kind of soap and following the directions for how much to use?

They make special soap for HE washing machines and you aren't supposed to use very much of it (it's really concentrated).

 

[KidNiki1]

i love my front load HE washing machine. never had any issues with it.

 

[qtnguyen87]

Yes, i have HE soap, maybe because GE made the loader?

 

[SearchMaster]

My almost-20-year-old top loader is still running well, but from everything negative I've read about front loaders, I will almost certainly replace it with another top loader. The dryer has had one service call, zero on the washer.

 

[Blackjack200]

I've heard that front loaders are easier on the clothes. My next washing machine might be a front loader for that reason alone.

 

[rcpratt]

I've had my new front-loader for nearly a year and never had this issue.

User error.

 

[qtnguyen87]

I inherited this machine at work=(

 

[lozina]

You can stack FE loading machines to save space

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[NetWareHead]

I purchased a floor model front loader washer and dryer in 2003 and have still had them. Have even survived a few tenancies. <knocks on wood>

 

[CurseTheSky]

We had a front loader, then switched to a top loader (without the center agitator), and are now back to a front loader.

The modern top loader was a complete POS. We'll be sticking to front loaders from now on.

Finally, if your laundry is falling out as you're loading the washer, you're WAY overloading it. Check the manual - it's not supposed to be packed up to the top. It's only supposed to be filled about 1/2 to 2/3rds of the way IIRC. We never have problems with clothing falling out, so perhaps your washer isn't level? Having bubbles coming out of the door just makes me think that's the case even more.

 

[Capt Caveman]

I've heard that front loaders are easier on the clothes. My next washing machine might be a front loader for that reason alone.

It's b/c it doesn't have an agitator. I believe some HE top-loaders have done away with the agitator also.

 

[lozina]

It's b/c it doesn't have an agitator. I believe some HE top-loaders have done away with the agitator also.

So what do they substitute the agitator with?

An infinite loop of Fran Drescher laughing?