Is the money saved worth the aggrevation of a high effeciency washer?

[pampam]

I'm shopping for a new clothes washer, but the energy star washers all seem to have the locking lids and require HE detergent. What are your thoughts on the new clothes washers?

 

[Mickey527]

I have an HE and when it dies I will buy a regular washer again.
I like to soak my whites at least once a year. In an HE washer you can't soak clothes, just wash them. when I soak them I turn on the hot water, add the soap and bleach and agitate for a while then turn the dial and turn off the machine. If you turn off your HE machine it drains out the water.
You can't dye clothes in an HE.
Oh, one more thing, 1 hour and 56 minutes to do my laundry if I want to run the heavy dirt load. How does that save?

 

[3boymthr]

Well, I didn't want a new HE washer and have not found that I really save any money with the HE I bought but what I discovered while shopping was that they don't seem to offer many new washers in the "old" style. They are there but they are hard to find and the ones that are out there get the worst ratings. Plus the all old style I found had really small capacity drums and only one or two cycle options - no delicate, only one or two temp settings, etc.

 

[FLmomof6]

I LOVE mine. Buying HE detergent isn't a big deal, it is any store that sells regular detergent and most brands make HE. I find less need to soak, as the HE gets our clothes much cleaner to begin with. Our electric and water bills are lower than before we purchased HE(I do about 50 loads a week, so the savings is probably higher for my family than most). If you must soak, use the wool setting. I don't know about other brands, but I have Samsung and there are shorter cycles you can use. I use the 32 minute cycle for most of our clothes (unless they are heavily soiled)...... a large load washed, dried and hung/folded takes about 70 minutes total. Cleaner clothes, time saved, less money on utilities= well worth it in this house..

 

[jenndisney]

I love mine too!!!

For my whites I need to soak now and again, I just use my sink. I can keep the water hot and that is the key to soaking I feel.

Our water bill is much lower and we all feel our clothes are cleaner.

 

[LoriNSC]

Love our front loading HE washer. I think it gets our clothes cleaner and it does save money. With 5 people in my house we do a lot of laundry too.

 

[Granny square]

I love my washer and hate the dryer.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

I love my he washer. No complaints!

 

[Handbag Lady]

We just got new HE front-loading washers in our apartment complex. We all hate them. The locking doors drive everyone crazy. You forget to put in a sock, and you are screwed. It will have to wait for the next load, and the next $1.25.

When you open the door, the clothes fall out on the floor if you don't have your basket there.

Clothes are no where NEAR as clean as they are in a regular washer. I can't wait to get out of this place when we buy our home.

The loads are smaller and now cost more.

No thank you!

 

[Plumeria9]

I love mine. My first HE washer was a Maytag Neptune, that was one of the first front loaders when they first got popular, about 10 years ago. That one didn't last as long as I thought it should, it only lasted seven years. The one I bought to replaces it is a Samsung. This one seems better, but only time will tell. I leave the door to the washer wide open when it's not in use, to prevent mold from growing in the gasket and inside the washer. If you are unable to do that, it might be a problem. When I bought the current washer, I was told that they make washers to hinge on the left side of the door, which is the opposite of what my laundry room is set up for, an my last laundry room was the set up the same way. I guess if I was able to switch the hinge side of the door, I couldn't keep my washer door open all the time and it would have been a problem. HE detergent is very easy to find, it is just lower sudsing and more concentrated. I soak things in a plastic dish tub if needed. I would not dye things in my $1500 washing machine! That can be done on the stove or in a plastic dish tub. Also I use a 38 min. cycle, that seems to do the job fine for everyday stuff.

 

[threecrazykids]

When we moved into our new house years ago we bought a top load HE washer because I didn't want the front load battles mentioned above (clothes falling on the floor...locking up after you start, etc).

I battled that piece of crap for YEARS before finally giving up. I just went on Craigslist about 2 months ago...found an older Maytag regular washer, the one with the agitator etc and my clothes are SOOOOO much better now and it cost me a whoppin $40!

I will NEVER buy a high efficiency washer again. I will continue to spend the money to fix an older washer that actually cleans my clothes before I'd ever fall for the newest coolest HE washer.

 

[Cinerbelle]

I hate my front loading HE washer too. Its 10 years old and hopefully going to kick the bucket soon. It twists my clothes into knots that make the wrinkles hard to come out even in the dryer...forget the clothes I hang to dry, they are totally wrinkled. I also hate the mildewy smell. I ALWAYS leave the door open on the machine when it isn't in use, clean the gasket and run a hot empty load with baking soda and vinegar at least once every couple of weeks and it still smells off. UGH!!

 

[McKelly]

Hate my HE Washer. As mentioned, can't soak, clothes are a twisted, wrinkly mess and I have to second rinse all of my darks because it leaves a soapy residue. Ugh! I miss my old agitator!

 

[ldo]

I have samsung 330 (?). I can unlock doors for 10+ minutes and add more clothes--it even adds a bit more water when I do that. I always stop and add at least 2X b/c i am finding kids socks, etc.
It is much gentler on clothes--they last longer and look better--colored polos stay "new" much longer.
I do not like the bleach cycle. I like to add a bit of bleach to towels/sheets. In my old washer, even if they were light colored, I could add a few teaspoon in the full water and it would not make bleach marks. The HE sprays the bleach at the end and I got random bleach marks on towels, khaki pants, etc.
Bottom line--only bought one when old washer died. LIKE it a lot. Also, it's way easier on the back that pulling wet clothing out of old washer.

 

[twinboysmom]

Put me in the camp that HATES their he washer. I have a top loader (because I didn't want to battle the mildew problem of the front loaders) and it is terrible. It is only 18 months old and I have tried every cycle and detergent to get my clothes clean. We are moving shortly and it isn't coming with us. I rewash clothing constantly, use more stain spray than ever, and the cycles are so long because I always have to wash on heavy duty. And some how every few loads I will pull out me or two items that are completely dry. I do not overload this washer. I will buy a new one with an agitator or just buy a used one.

 

[CammelleandBre]

The only thing I don't like is how long it takes the clothes to wash.

 

[BelleBeautyandtheBeast]

Guess I am one of the few odd ones who loves their HE washer. I bought a set of Frigidaire Affinity and love, love, love them. I call them my extra appendages lol. I'm weird like that

I have had no real complaints. I was just reading the reviews on Lowe's and it seems most people are not as happy with the washer as I am.

As for savings, I do use less water but every year the kids grow bigger and I have more laundry to do The dryer takes 45-50 minutes to get a big load dry. If I size the load just right I can match up the wash and dry cycles to 35 minutes each. My old dryer took at least 60 minutes to dry any load. I use a little bit less electricity. The savings are not substantial.

Yes, the lid locks. If I forget a sock I push pause and the washer unlocks, I add the sock and it starts back up. What can be frustrating is if I need to cancel the load. The washer stays locked for something like 3 minutes.

My biggest complaint with my washer is the dumb sound it would make when the load completed, I just turned the chime feature off.

I would be pretty grumpy if the clothes didn't come clean, but the washer does an awesome job washing up the many messes we create. I'm happy.

 

[kirstenb1]

I hate the HE washer. But when we bought it 2 yrs ago, I don't even know if you could still buy a regular washer. We chose Maytag, since it was made in America, and all theirs at Home Depot were HE.

 

[mcraige]

We bought our Whirlpool Duet HE front-load Washer and Dryer before we moved in August, and love them. We can add clothes after the wash cycle starts. Ours has a "soak" setting, and "tumblefresh" in case you aren't there to remove them when the load finishes. Ours alternates between clockwise and counterclockwise, so the clothes aren't really wrinkled. My only complaint is the fabric softener doesn't seem to work as well as it did in our traditional washer.

 

[lovin'DVC]

I try to be as energy and budget efficient as possible, but when our HE front loader died after 6 years, I replaced it with an inexpensive agitating top-loader. With the exception of unbalanced loads if I wash pillows or bath mats, I don't miss the front loader one bit. The top loader cleans better, much faster, and I haven't seen an increase in our electric and water bills (and we do a lot of laundry).