Front load vs. top load HE?

[pooh4evr]

We have had a top load kenmore elite for a few months now- replaced a whirlpool front loader- I love the top loader much more! I t is so much quieter, no yucky smells, I can add things during the cycle...it is better for us.

 

[Sadie22]

Many of the odor problems are from using too much of the wrong kind of detergent in addition to not allowing the washer to dry out. A tiny amount of HE detergent is needed, but many people just dump some in. Read the manual for any machine you purchase.

I had an HE toploader which would not dissolve powdered detergent well enough, so I had to use only liquid detergent in it. When it broke and the cost of repair was half the price of new, I bought a frontloading Kenmore machine. I am very happy with it. Less drying time is needed. I use Wisk HE liquid detergent.

 

[cmac609]

My prior was a regular top loader and only lasted 7 years and was fixed 2x during that time. So 3 months ago we went out and bought a Whirlpool HE top loader. This was my first time having a HE washer.

Even though the cycles are longer (which I don't care for) my clothes do come out MUCH cleaner and smelling MUCH better than my old washer. Also MUCH dryer so I save time on the dryer too. My towels have NEVER smelled as good as they do now.

We are a family of 5 and I do alot of laundry and a 100 oz bottle of detergent lasts about a month for me now.

I was told by the salesman that many people think they can use regular detergent in the machines but that is what causes problems down the road and breaks it.

My washer is HUGE too. We got the biggest one. I am able to put soooo many clothes in there which normally would be 2 loads in my older one which wasn't that small. I got the biggest one they had.

Good luck.

 

[talulabelle]

uhhg. Lots of conflicting reports. Seems to be a big difference between brands. I still don't know what to get and need to decide because I'm sick of the laundermat!! I think I'm leaning toward front loader only because my previous HE top loader ripped huge holes in towels and teeny tiny little rips in light weight cotton clothing. SO annoying! I had never had a hole in a any garment and the first day of that washer i started getting little holes. My husband tried to blame it on the cat must have dug her claws in and "started" the hole but I was only noticing after a wash cycle. Funny how she never did that with the old washer. I also just think that the the clothes tumbling through the water seems like a better idea that being "twisted" into it. I know that HE top loaders have come a far way in 4 years, but I am still scared to make the same mistake twice.

 

[momxx5]

My BFF and Bridesmaid in my wedding owns a Mom & Pop applicance store in FL. She personally has the BEST of all applicance out there. However she did find out quite quickly that the front loading washers do not get all clothes as clean as the top loader with agitator.

He sons play sports, oldest football & wrestling. His clothes are gross. The front loader simply did not get all the grit out and she ended up washing his clothes at least twice.

I have a top load Whirlpool. It is the largest one they had at the time, about 12 yrs ago. With 5 kids, many playing sports, etc, we needed a large capacity one. Not we have had to fix it a few times....kinda easy fixes because Best Friend has been able to "walk me through the repairs" and that has saved us tons of money. (especially in labor).

So, I love my top loader (would love a new one because although this one is 12 years old, with a large family its "real life" is more like 20+yrs) and anytime it is possible to replace it, we will certainly be getting a new top loader. We we probably be the last consumers to ever buy a front loader.....yes they are pretty & all but they simply don't do the job I need.

NOW...talk about dryers.....we are in pretty desperate need of a new one. Our original Whirlpool large capacity burned out 2 yrs ago and we are using a Maytag hand-me-down. At first it was awesome but not it is dying a slow and LOUD death....a large wet load is heavy and causes rubbing/screeching of the barrings and thus it is unbearable the noise. I tried drying smaller loads and sometimes that works on the noise level, but not always. As the load dries and gets lighter the noise is less annoying.

After my new job a few new applicances will be on the list. Maybe in time for Santa to bring them.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I believe it was here on the budget board, but may have been elsewhere, that someone clued me in that the washers you buy today are purposely made to last about 5 years of steady use before you have to replace them. If you look at all the interior gears and dials and everything else, you realize that they are made almost entirely of plastic, not of good old, sturdy metal. Everyone I know who's bought a washer in the past couple of years has already started having problems.

My plan, when and if my 20 year old work horse dies, is to go out and buy myself another old top loader. It may not be pretty, but I want clean clothes and low maintenance, not pretty.

 

[coastiewifern]

We have had a top load kenmore elite for a few months now- replaced a whirlpool front loader- I love the top loader much more! I t is so much quieter, no yucky smells, I can add things during the cycle...it is better for us.

Can ik what model you have? Shopping

 

[coastiewifern]

I have a GE top loader HE washer and I absolutely love it! I really like being able to "pause" the load if I've forgotten to throw something in and also that I do not have to bend over to pull things out of it.

What model do you have?

 

[MickeysAttic]

The major difference is not Front loader vs Top Loader...it is actually the way it washes. The HE washers all beat the clothes clean, thereby causing the holes I mentioned in our Disney Tshirts. It started happening when we got the Top Loader HE machine and it stopped happening when we got rid of it and bought the old style Whirlpool NON-HE machine.. The NON-HE machines (the old school ones with the Agitator) uses more water, because it swishes the clothes around a tall agitator in a tub FULL of water rather than beating them against each other. That is how the Appliance store explained it to us. They said 1st, do not buy anything that has the electronic controls (that means there are factory pre-set loads and can't be changed) plus he said that is usually what dies first is the LED readout.
IMHO go with any non-HE washer...I use more water but have no more holes in our clothes since we dumped the HE last year.
I have saved money by not having to replace our Disney T-shirts over and over again!

 

[RitaE]

Funny I was just having this discussion with a friend.

Our first washing machine lasted nearly 20 years and did awesome. Then it died and I bought one of the HE front loaders because they look so snazzy and better. It didn't do real great and died after 3 years. So I bought a different brand HE. I swear when this one goes I'm returning to the top load old style machine.

The other day I pulled a load out and all the socks in the middle of the clump were still bone dry and smelled of 19 year old boy feet. Seriously? I paid a premium for this????

Anyway, my friends experience has been about the same as mine.

 

[addicted2dizney]

forget the front loader idea.. stay with the top loader. not enough water in them to clean the clothes.. such a let down. I was so happy to get mine but not worth it at all!

 

[coastiewifern]

I have a Front Load Samsung VRT with night wash/dry cycle (if you forgot and need a couple items for morning). I love, love it. Is my 2nd FL and have had NO problems with clean clothes or odors. Have always cracked the doors open, even when I had top loaders, which is only common sense to me to let them dry out between uses. It is super quiet and hardly vibrates. Can't say enough good about it I don't manually dry it out, nor do I ever use any kind of "cleaner" - so don't understand the odor problem that some have mentioned.

I just bought the samsung vrt top loader. It arrived today. Just did 5 loads of laundry. It is soooo quiet compared to my last washer. The only thing is I don't think it dries super fast. I can fit a TON of clothes in it though. What used to take me 6 loads was only 4: whites, towels, dark and colors

 

[yeahdisney]

We ordered the samsung vrt top loader it is to arrive next week, did you get the dryer too? If you have time send me some more of your feelings about the machine. The store shared 30 days to return it if it does not do what you want it to. Do you find you can change the water levels? Have you run a small load and it spin correctly. Thank you Diane