Here’s one solution to the “vibrating washer” problem, which my father tried with great success: put the washer on a “stall mat”. A stall mat is a heavy-duty rubber pad that is usually put in horse stalls for added comfort, and they’re made to withstand a full-grown horse standing on them all day without sliding around. I believe my dad got his on sale for around $30. The thick rubber padding pretty much eliminates any vibration noise, and his Whirlpool Duet on a ceramic tile floor used to make a pretty good racket. I’ve even heard it eliminates the noise you can get when your washer’s installed on an upper story of the house.
I’ll tell y’all this: if you’re looking to upgrade your washer and dryer, keep your eyes peeled for good sales. My parents and I got ours at a Best Buy appliance sale where they were giving 10% off if you bought two appliances, 15% for three, and 20% for four. So, we pitched in together and bought a washer and dryer for each of us on the same ticket, and with 20% off, it was just about like getting one for free.
We bought ours at the Sears scratch 'n dent. Who cares if your washer is scratched? And in our case, the defects were barely noticeable anyway.
We bought a front loading washer and matching dryer, and paid about what the washer would have cost new - plus we claimed the tax credit that year on our return.
I suspect it’s the satisfied feeling that the clothes are “taking a bath” when they are submerged, instead of just being tossed around with a few cups of water.
But we don’t clean dishes that way, why should we do it with clothes?
Makes me wonder, was there ever a time when the very first dishwashers filled a drum with water and then agitated to jostle the submerged dishes around?
My LG front loader does both wash and dry in the same drum and I’ve noticed less laundry related wear & tear on my clothes. It just seems like the front loading machine treats them better.
I’ve had a front-loader for about 6 months, when the old top loader broke down, and it would have cost more to fix than replace. It gets the clothes just as clean, and uses way less water. One thing, though, I notice; Using a liquid fabric softener doesn’t quite do the job like an agitating machine. The clothes aren’t as light and fluffy, which I miss. Anyone know the reason for that??? Perhaps a liquid fabric softener innovation will come in due course.
An additional reason in saving energy is that less, or perhaps just more concentrated, detergent is used. Those bottles on the soap aisle at the store have now shrunk down, so, less plastic packaging, and space used in shipping.
You could try switching to dryer sheets. I found they work almost as well as the softener in the top loader, so they might prove more effective in your case. They soften and cut down on static as a bonus.
One additional fact: virtually all washers in commercial coin laundries are front loading. They have to wash clothes thoroughly and well (to ensure repeat customers) yet use as little energy as possible (to remain profitable). Most of the laundromats I’ve been in have a few top loaders, but the majority will be various sizes of front loader.
I use a Whirlpool Duet, and it is very effective in spite of my habit of shoving all my clothes - no matter what color, material or degree of soil - in and washing it all on warm. My clothes get no coddling!
I don’t have a dishwasher, so I wash my dishes in a filled sink. Same idea - they get to soak fully submerged in water. I like it.
I’m still not sold on the front-loaders, despite all the raves in this thread. One reason is that the wash cycle seems to take much longer. Why is that? Is it because it takes longer for the clothes to soak up the meager amount of water used?
This was my biggest complaint using my mother-in-law’s super duper new HE washer. A regular “normal wash, warm/cold” cycle is 51 minutes! An “extra dirty” cycle was an hour twenty!!! And my teenager’s socks were still vaguely grey, just like at home with the 20 minute wash cycle of the 10 year old top loaders we have downstairs in our apartment building.
The dryer cycle was the same, no shorter than mine, about 45 minutes. Hers *said *41 minutes, but it had that “Approx.” in front of it, and the last 15 minutes took more like 25.
That’s odd, the front load washers clearly take longer, but the dryer should be faster. She might have a problem with her dryer. If the exhaust hose is partially blocked it can add a lot of time to the drying. I clean my hose out about once a year as it is a long one and with two kids we use the dryer a lot. My drying time is usually around 60+ minutes with my top loader.
I am surprised you can dry a load in 45 minutes. What dryer do you have, it sounds like a good model.
Another thought, is yours gas and your MIL’s electric?
Y’know, I’m not sure if ours is gas or not. Hers is gas. Hers is (was, at the time of washing) 8 days old, so if there’s something wrong with the exhaust hose, there’s An Issue.
Our dryer at home is a Speed Queen Commercial Dryer (to match the Speed Queen Commercial Washer). They’re not mine, they belong to the landlord, of course. My only real complaint about them is that they’re coin operated. Oh, to have my very own washer and dryer someday! They’re the same brand of machines that have been in my last three buildings. They’re not really “Commercial” any more than a Kenmore range is a “Commercial grade stovetop!” They’re just your generic “large” capacity machines. (Not really large at all - about 6 pairs of jeans, tops.)
Looks like this although I have no idea if it’s the same model or not. I know I’ve been here 3 years and it’s not newer than that.
I wonder if they cleaned out the exhaust before hooking up the new dryer. That could be a problem. If the dryer is new, maybe it is some sort of new lower heat model to save energy.
When I buy my next dryer, I need to shop more carefully. We got the current Washer & Dryer without shopping around as we were too busy with everything else needed for the move.
I’ve been researching washers and dryers for the past year while formulating remodeling plans, and American front loaders typically have a problem with mold. Front loaders should remain open after use to allow the insides to dry out. This is important for me because I don’t have much room and where I’m planning to put the washer, it would be imprudent to leave the door hanging open.
It’s not advisable to use liquid fabric softeners in front loaders because they can coat the outside of the drum creating a nice medium for mold to grow. You should use the high efficiency detergents if indicated because again, the soap scum may provide a medium for molds to grow.
Front loaders also seem to be more expensive to fix. The rubber seals on some brands seem to deteriorate rather quickly and they are quite expensive to replace. One company even allowed dissatisfied customers to trade in their front loaders for a top loader (I think it was Sears, but I’m not certain).
So, even though a front loader would allow me to stack and save space, unless I read something that seriously tips the scales in favor of front loaders, I think I’ll be getting a top loader.
Using dryer sheets with a top loader was less than satisfying for me. I think that liquid fabric softener does a better job. And, I hafta say, it appears that LFS is better when saturated in solution, as in an agitating machine. And, I am pretty sad and picky when it comes to fabric softeners, will open up and smell every damn bottle, and only a scant few pass my nose test. It’s a luxury I like…
Cillasi sez not to use liquid fabric softeners, but my machine has a dispenser for them. Gonna have to look into the absolute physics of fabric softeners, then.
And. WhyNot, my experience is that the longer wash time is well made up by the quicker drying time. Mine’s an electric.
The wash cycle typically consists of a few different actions, often repeated more than once (i.e. fill-agitate-soak-agitate-drain-rinse fill-agitate… etc. I don’t think it takes longer for the water to soak through clothing just because the drum is on its side (this seems to indicate you’re still under the impression that the clothes only get damp).
They’re automatic washing machines - you can leave them unattended and do something else while they wash the laundry - does the cycle time matter all that much?
I think the point is that effective cleaning isn’t really about the amount of water, it’s about the amount of agitation. Front loaders agitate much more efficiently, top loaders compensate for less agitation with more water. You just need to have enough water to dissolve anything, once you get to that critical point adding more water doesn’t have any benefit chemically.
Definitely. It’s much more convenient to have a load of laundry washed and dried in 1.25 hours (what my current top-loading w&d does) as opposed to 3 hours. A lot of times, I will wash an outfit that I want to wear that same day, so it needs to be done quickly.
I noticed this too when I first got the machine, now I always use the quick cycle button, and the time is 28 minutes. Little boy clothes still come out clean. Every once in a while I have to wash the whites on a normal cycle which is 51 minutes. I did this too when I had a top loader, but it was in the form of letting it soak with the lid open.
Are you talking about a garment you’ve only just taken off? In that case, I guess you’d need a faster turnaround time. <shrug> I can’t say I’ve ever found myself in that situation - my clothes get washed and dried after I’ve worn them, then they’re stored in the wardrobe and I take them from there to wear them.
Quick wash cycle on my automatic washing machine takes a little over half an hour, including the spin - this is with a reduced load, but I can’t imagine a situation where I’d want more than a couple of garments washed straight away.
The Whirlpool Duet I have (which seems like a popular model, based on this thread) has a “Clean Washer” cycle on the dial. About once a month, when you’re not using the washer for anything else, you run that cycle with about 2/3 of a cup of bleach in the dispenser, with no other detergents or clothes in the machine. The machine runs a special cycle with hot water and bleach to clean out the drum thoroughly. They say that’ll keep any nasties from invading. And of course leaving the door open to allow the innards to dry between laundry sessions is a big help, as well.
As for the fabric softener, I’ve never heard of a problem with it, and there’s a special compartment in the detergent dispenser drawer just for liquid fabric softener (there are three separate compartments, for detergent, bleach, and softener), so it seems odd that they’d advise against it while providing a convenient means to use it. One thing that people apparently have to adjust to is that front loaders are very efficient, and therefore they use less of everything. If you use as much detergent, bleach, and softener as you used to use in your top-loading machine, you’ll be using too much, and that, I would imagine, could indeed cause a problem.
As far as the speed issue goes, I think that the ability to wash larger loads makes up for the slower wash cycles. The instructions for my washer say you can fill the drum completely full, as long as you don’t “pack” it. Top-loaders need extra room to work, so even the larger tubs need some overhead.
They’re the same brand of machines that have been in my last three buildings. They’re not really “Commercial” any more than a Kenmore range is a “Commercial grade stovetop!” They’re just your generic “large” capacity machines. (Not really large at all - about 6 pairs of jeans, tops.)