Front Load Washer and Dryer info

[heatherleigh]

I got an LG cherry red dryer last summer when my old one broke. I have no complaints, and I'm able to dry huge stacks of clothes at once. The plan was to purchase the matching washer when my old one broke, but it won't bust! I really want a front-loader too. I decided I'm just going to put our old washer in the downstairs laundry room (we have one up and one down). It may come in handy to have an extra one anyway. Good to hear all the reviews here. It sounds like LG makes a great washer as well.

 

[Evi]

I have front loaders and love them everyone says leave the door open. So I have I've never had a problem. Granted I also have a dedicated laundry room so leaving it open doesn't bother me in the least. If I had them in a visible place I could see that being a problem.

 

[adisneymama]

I never leave my door open and have never had a problem with smell. All I do is run the bleach cycle thru once a month as recommended. Like I said I have had mine for 3 yrs now.

 

[daleswife]

Why don't you just do a full sweep of the house before starting laundry so that you have it all in one shot?

I do a lot of baking and cake decorating out of my house and Im lucky to even catch time to do laundry. And if its a pair of pants that dd HAS to have and I miss it, I just go throw it in.

Its awesome that they have pause buttons. My mom has one and her's dont have the pause button....and its rather small.

 

[TnTWalter]

went a few months without heat on my dryer because I was so close to the black friday deals....if there's any way you can wait....do...

Got mine for $1200 total for both.

Samsung VRT Steam in the blue steel [free upgrade to steam and color because of black friday issue...worked in my favor I think ;O)].

I had a frigidaire gallery washer before and HATED HATED HATED it. Do not buy it.

 

[SalandJeff]

I have a Duet front loader, but it is not the really large capacity one. I'm not thrilled with it. I don't feel it gets the really dirty clothes all that clean unless I do a soak cycle. (My dh and dd can get pretty dirty!!!) I also don't think we have seen much in savings on water/electricity.

I would like to get a different machine with a larger capacity, and am also considering the top-loaders. There is the Maytag Bravos and Whirlpool Cabrio and I believe the capacity is between 4.7 and 5.0 cf.

Does anyone have any experience with either of these machines?

 

[jemmouse]

went a few months without heat on my dryer because I was so close to the black friday deals....if there's any way you can wait....do...

Got mine for $1200 total for both.

Samsung VRT Steam in the blue steel [free upgrade to steam and color because of black friday issue...worked in my favor I think ;O)].

I had a frigidaire gallery washer before and HATED HATED HATED it. Do not buy it.

Did you just recently in the past year get yours? I think my mouth fell when I saw your price. I have had mine for close to 3 years now and I don't have the steam(it wasen't available at the time) and I paid so much more.YIKES How do you like the steam? And do you use it often?

 

[MoniqueU]

I have half a maytag set. I say half because the dryer broke, the parts arent even availablr and I had the repairmen out a bunch of times before the barrel finally broke apart tearing all our clothes. So far no problems with the washer and I like it but I will never buy anything maytag again. And over and over I read about people who think there is an odor problem with the front load washers and we have never had that issue. Maybe it just happens where people have humidity but our air is bone dry and we have never had a problem. We bought ours when they first became available so they are not new and improved models. It does irk me though that my washer and dryer don't match though.They are both modern with pedastals but not identical and it bugs me, like having sheets that don't match your bedspread.

 

[apnep]

I dont have a front load washer for one specific reason....If I have a small load of laundry and start the washer and go into my or my kids bedrooms and find another piece of clothing that needs washed then I can take it in and throw it in the washer, as long as its still filling up of course, If you have a front load, it locks.

I have a front load set from Samsung, and if I find clothes that need to go in I can put them in at anytime, all I have to do is pause it and it unlocks and then close it and it continues on. I'm pretty sure the others do that too.

Ang

 

[apnep]

went a few months without heat on my dryer because I was so close to the black friday deals....if there's any way you can wait....do...

Got mine for $1200 total for both.

Samsung VRT Steam in the blue steel [free upgrade to steam and color because of black friday issue...worked in my favor I think ;O)].

I had a frigidaire gallery washer before and HATED HATED HATED it. Do not buy it.

I purchased the Samsung VRT super capacity in white for the same price. We stacked ours to save space. I love them. Lucky you for getting the steam version at no extra cost! I didn't have to get mine at a black friday deal though, I think I got in March a couple of years ago.

Ang

 

[*BTMRR*]

I have a Duet front loader, but it is not the really large capacity one. I'm not thrilled with it. I don't feel it gets the really dirty clothes all that clean unless I do a soak cycle. (My dh and dd can get pretty dirty!!!) I also don't think we have seen much in savings on water/electricity.

I would like to get a different machine with a larger capacity, and am also considering the top-loaders. There is the Maytag Bravos and Whirlpool Cabrio and I believe the capacity is between 4.7 and 5.0 cf.

Does anyone have any experience with either of these machines?

I really love my Cabrio set. The capacity is humongous. I can't believe how much laundry can go in there and come out clean. If you set the spin cycle to "high" things will get twisted/wrinkled but if you put the spin on a lower setting this isn't a problem. I have only had these for a month or so, so I'm not sure about energy savings or longevity, but so far so good.
I have four active boys in the house so we have LOTS of dirty laundry!! This super capacity set has been a godsend.
We couldn't go with a front loader because we have a cat and small kids and didn't want to worry about having to leave the washer door open.

 

[SalandJeff]

I really love my Cabrio set. The capacity is humongous. I can't believe how much laundry can go in there and come out clean. If you set the spin cycle to "high" things will get twisted/wrinkled but if you put the spin on a lower setting this isn't a problem. I have only had these for a month or so, so I'm not sure about energy savings or longevity, but so far so good.
I have four active boys in the house so we have LOTS of dirty laundry!! This super capacity set has been a godsend.
We couldn't go with a front loader because we have a cat and small kids and didn't want to worry about having to leave the washer door open.

Thanks for the feedback. Do you remember how much you paid? And what capacity is the washer - I believe there are 2 different sizes.

I think my dd would fit right in with your 4 boys....I call her Huck Finn...she loves dirt and loves to go barefoot!

 

[arminnie]

We have the Duet washer and dryer, they are over 7 years old and we've never ever had any problems. Love them. No repairs, no noise issues, pause button for forgotten items to be added, water does not pour out like I thought it would, uses 1/2 the detergent of top loading but holds almost twice as much clothing. Can wash even my king sized comforter with no problems. Leaving the door open keeps it smelling fresh, too. I will never go back to top loading.

Our previous dryer only lasted 4 years, so I'm thankful for every load my big family can wash and dry!

My experience is that they hold less.

I bought the Whirlpool Duet with steam about 3-4 years ago. Loved, loved, loved them. But when I bought a condo the laundry area was 1 inch less deep than needed. It killed me as I paid a fortune for it. I gave it to my sister and her first comment was on how it held less than her top loader. I had never noticed it being small though.

I loved the front loader so much that I bought a compact version for my condo. That was a BIG mistake. The front loader on a smaller washer is so tiny. You really can't fill it totally or the clothes won't spin enough to wash properly plus it won't run a load if it weighs too much.

I literally cannot wash a queen set of sheets in one load. I'm just one person, but I can't put much more than 2 towels and a couple of washclothes in a load. So I am doing laundry constantly.

I have a stackable set (non top load) in New Orleans that I don't like either. But it's because the drier is only 110 not 220. It takes forever to dry anything - like two hours. I was going to replace it with a front loader stackable, but now I'm not in any hurry to do so. I can live with a longer drying time easier than having to do 2-3 times as many loads.

 

[SalandJeff]

My experience is that they hold less...

I learned this lesson myself when I bought my Duet....you cannot go by the name or whether it is front or top loader....you have to look at the cubic foot capacity of the washer to determine how much laundry it will hold.

I thought because mine was the Duet, it was large capacity. But there were different models of the Duet and I got the smaller one. Lesson learned...do my homework!

 

[aprhj]

Thanks for all the replies. Right now I am looking at a pair of Samsungs and just wanted to see what others thought on the ones they had. Looks like Samsung and LG have the best comments and Whirlpool and Maytag are out.

The Samsung washer has the Silver care. Do any of you have experience with it?

thanks

 

[lorac4disney]

I have the Whirlpool Duet washer and dryer. I can't tell you how much it was. It was a gift from my parents. They bought a set for themselves and liked it so much that they insisted I have a set. I did see an sale run on them about a year or so later. It was a little under $1000 for the washer and about $1400 for the dryer at that time, but they were relatively new back then.

I've had mine for about seven years now. I've not had to do any repairs on them at all. They work just as well today as they did the day I got them. Considering that I do a minimum of four loads of laundry a day, that is no small feat.

My washer has an Add a Garment feature so tossing something in at the last minute hasn't been an issue with me.

 

[jemmouse]

Thanks for all the replies. Right now I am looking at a pair of Samsungs and just wanted to see what others thought on the ones they had. Looks like Samsung and LG have the best comments and Whirlpool and Maytag are out.

The Samsung washer has the Silver care. Do any of you have experience with it?

thanks

I have the Samsung with the Silver CAre. I have used it, but to be quite hinest I really haven't noticed any difference. But I do LOVE the Samsung! They are so quiet, and are so easy. One of my best ever purchases!!

 

[*BTMRR*]

Thanks for the feedback. Do you remember how much you paid? And what capacity is the washer - I believe there are 2 different sizes.

I think my dd would fit right in with your 4 boys....I call her Huck Finn...she loves dirt and loves to go barefoot!

Mine is the 5.0 capacity, and I believe I paid about $1900 for the set at Lowes. I'm not sure if that was a good price or not--I didn't shop around much because I was desperate...not good budget board behavior I know!

 

[tinab]

I absolutely love my 5 year old Whirlpool Duet because they can wash loads twice as large as my top loader could and is much quieter too. I have never noticed a smell but I always finish my wash day with a load of whites with bleach. When the washer was 3 years old the door latch failed. They run $60 for the part which I changed myself. You probably will have more repair issues with the front loaders as they have more features to break down. You might want to purchase a warranty. Hope this helps.

 

[rbork]

LG front loaders here. BB Monday before blackfriday deal on line was 350 a piece! Didn't buy pedestals this time...thought I'd hate it but really....I can deal with it and I find that they don't "walk" across the floor as much as when I had the pedestals. They also put a hole/ drain thingy in the door seal that doesn't allow water to just sit in the gasket and mold it up. I always leave the door open and yes leave the dispensor open sometimes too. And they have access to the filter from the front. Huge help if it would get clogged. My old Kennmore sucked down an entire sock.

I will NEVER NEVER NEVER waste money on a Maytag or Kennmore ever again.
Fed up with Kenmorre after 3 control boards and a thermasensor in 4 years. Clearly it was a p.o.s. Sorry... but I was LIVID w/ Sear's repair.

Good Luck on whatever you decide OP.