If you step back and think about what a washing machine is supposed to be, it’s a solution to a problem. The problem, dirty clothes. The solution consumes resources and gives you clean clothes. You can go to the laundromat, but that consumes lots of resources - several dollars load in quarters and the gas and time driving back and forth and waiting for your clothes to wash.
Anyways, I have read the top loaders inherently consume more water and soap because the water/soap ends up at the bottom of the drum, and there has to be a lot more of it to wet the clothes that are at the top of the drum. I’ve also read that the agitation is sort of a “clothes mower” action, wearing your clothing out more rapidly and effectively shortening the life of the clothes you buy. I have noticed this - I have an old maytag top loader, the kind that uses the mechanical timer, and it seems to rip holes in my underpants and generally shreds my clothes over time.
Soo…Front loaders eat less water, require less soap, probably use less electricity, cost less in clothing wear, and look cool.
On the other hand, they cost hundreds of dollars more up front and the decent ones use sophisticated electronic controls and sensors and there are far more parts in them to break.
The various review sites all say they are far superior, such as Consumer Reports, which says the Samsung brand front loaders are the best by far for their cost. But, if you dip into the Amazon review section, you find nothing but complaints. Samsung/LG, etc, nothing but walls of reports of the many delicate components in these machines failing and requiring a fortune in repairs to fix. Doesn’t do much good to save a few gallons of penny a gallon water every load if you burn through $600 worth of repairs every year or two.
So what gives? Is there any way to objectively figure out which washer to buy, taking this repair cost into account, versus the savings in water and clothing wear? It doesn’t do any good to read anecdotal reports of failure when I don’t know the percentage of people that have these failures.
I don’t know about top loaders and cost as here in the UK they simply don’t exist. They’ve been completely supplanted by front-loaders.
We bought bosch and for the last 8 years have been very pleased with it. £400 new, 1600 spin-speed and pretty much silent. It came with a 5-year guarantee and during the last year of that guarantee we had cause to replace the worn motor bushes under warranty (as it had been on pretty much constantly for the first three years of it’s life…cloth nappies for two children!) but for that blip, no problems and a very economical and effective wash.
I’ve had a second-hand Bosch for about 3 years; works fine, only fault is it takes it’s time. Nothing ripped, no repairs needed.
Previous was an Indesit ( there are only a few actual machine makers, the name is just the badge with non-German machines ), lasted maybe 5 years then the door hinge went and it was cheaper to buy a new one. It was not as well-made as the Bosch, but it cleaned as well.
Dunno if ever used a top-loader: assume I must have sometime; but even the machines in laundromats are front-loaders in Britain.
One should give them a service wash ( no clothes ) once a month if possible, maybe for top-loaders also…
My only complaint with our LG front loader is that the door stays locked for a minute or two after the end cycle chime sounds. So you get up to get the clothes, find the door is still locked, go back to browsing the SDMB, and forget about the clothes. It would’ve been simple to delay the chime until the door is unlocked, but no.
Anecdote alone, but I’ve owned two very different brands of front loaders for a total of 12 years now. Zero repairs to either. The reason I changed brands was that I moved to a different residence that had different machines pre-installed.
As you point out, the wailing on the consumer feedback sites proves almost nothing except that some fraction of machines fail, and when you give a million monkeys access to typewriters stuff ensues.
I have an eight year old, non-functional Maytag epic Z front loader. Other than the fact that it seemed to take quite a while to finish a wash cycle, it ran under heavy use for over seven years without a hiccup. According to the service tech I called over, it’s a problem in the wiring harness. I can either pay him for hours and hours of testing, pay to have him install a whole new harness or buy a whole new machine and it’s all going to be about the same cost. Time to get a second opinion I think.
I was open to the idea of front loading washers initially. Then they started selling a product to remove ’ that smell’ and keep it from getting into your clothes. Wha?
It seems there are parts which, if your machine isn’t left long enough to completely dry out between loads, develope a nasty smell, which can get into your clothes. And, with that, I’m out!
A simple Google search will reveal just how many people are having this issue. No thanks, I’m not looking for one more thing to clean!
I don’t understand why people are complaining about the wash time though.
My machine, for instance has a wash that might run to over 3h, adding a pre-wash and an extra rinse at the end, which I rarely use, but there are several other options of varying length, including my favourite: a 15 min wash for when I just want to do a couple of t-shirts or something very sensitive such as bras.
I just googled to find out what an agitator is (I have seen people complaining about them in other threads) and yes, it seems as if it would damage one’s clothes. Thing is, I used to have a top loading machine (Bosch or Siemens) and it most certainly didn’t have one. Its drum worked just like one in a front loader, just that it had a flap on top (under the flat, white top of the appliance) that you opened to put your laundry in. Other than that it worked just like a front loading machine.
Here’s the way I see it, and I own a front loader.
Front loaders use less water and detergent. If you do a lot of laundry and have a water bill, that could be a bonus.
Front loaders take bigger loads and work best with full loads. If you like to do lots of little loads, a top loader with a load size adjustment would be better.
The two front loaders I’ve owned have set cycle lengths, which take longer than a top loader. You can adjust how long the machine washes on most top loaders.
Front loaders spin the clothes much dryer than do most top loaders. However, it’s easy to just give the clothes an extra spin cycle on a top loader, if you wish.
You can’t really soak clothes in a front loader.
The smell mentioned by others can be prevented by leaving the door open after the last load.
In summary, the advantages of a front loader are water savings, larger loads, and shorter drying times. Top loader advantages are adjustable wash times and cycles, if you get the kind with knobs that set the water level and cycles.
My wife was concerned about this when we were shopping for a new washer about 3 years ago. A Facebook friend of hers told her to wipe the seal dry after each load and leave the door open an inch or so after your last load will eliminate the problem. So far she has done this and we have never had any problems with smells.
We’ve had a Bosch front loader for a few years and think it works well. No smell issues as we leave the door open for a while after each use. We have a water bill as well as a septic system so using less water per load is a plus for us.
Unless the ultrasonic washers are on the market I’ll surely buy another front loaded when needed.
Front loader use less water and soap, and less electricity. The clothes come out less wet than with a top loader and then use less electricity (or gas) in the dryer. Possibly the maintenance cost are higher or the life of the top loader shorter because the door must seal. They are also not as rough on your clothes as a top loader, so they will last longer and save you more money.
Like most today, our front loader has a part-wash cycle. This uses even less water and takes a little less time. There are of course, other choices for different textiles and degrees of soiling. We have never had any smell problems, and believe me my wife would know. The only niggle is that the automatic detergent dispenser gets clogged - we now use the kind that you put in with the wash and only softener goes in the dispenser.
Fears about the door seal are overplayed. I think that some people imagine the whole thing filling with water. If fact the water level stays below the sill of the door, even with a full load.
I got an LG front-load washer and matching dryer for the new house about six years ago and have had no problems with either. The choice of front-loader was just on the basis of someone’s recommendation, I really didn’t much care about the alleged savings. I can confirm a couple of the comments that were made here:
The major pluses for a front-loader are the low water use and that the clothes come out with most of the water squeezed out by the high-speed spin, but I really like the fact that it’s easier on the clothes. Some top-load agitators are really hard on them in terms of wear and tear, depending on the design. I had one previously whose “feature” was one-directional agitation (I think it was a Whirlpool). Yeah, this was great – some things actually came out torn, and bedsheets would be tied up in knots. Whoever designed that thing should be taken out and shot. The front-loader is a blessing compared to that abomination.
The major negative for a front-loader is the time it takes. The old top-loader probably took about 20 minutes for a complete cycle. The front-loader takes roughly three times longer – it can be more than an hour depending on the wash options chosen.
I should also mention that due to the very high spin speed, there could be a potential vibration issue if installed on an upper wood-frame floor as opposed to basement. Mine is on an upper floor without issue, though you can definitely feel a minor vibration during the high-speed spin, but it supposedly has an anti-vibration auto-balancing system.
I can’t comment on reliability except to say that I haven’t had any problems in six years. The tub is direct drive and all the controls are electronic so it could conceivably be even more reliable than some old top-loaders.
Must be specific to that model. Mine doesn’t do this. The door unlocks about a second or two after the tub stop spinning.
I just leave the door open when I’m done. Potential problems may come from mold, especially around the door seal, but leaving the door open lets everything dry out. Complete non-issue, as far as I’m concerned.
Beat me to it, kunilou.
Not only do you use less water, you use less than 1/3-1/2 as much detergent. Plus, the clothes are much drier before using the dryer, so you make up the time you lose for the wash cycle on the dry.
Biggest drawback I’ve found is having to relevel the machine frequently. Second is that grease stains do not seem to come out as well, but that Oxiclean spray shot stuff cures that.
I lived in an apartment with shared coin-op laundry facilities, that had front loaders. (I don’t know what brand.) Here is something I noticed:
When not being used, I could reach in and turn the drum by hand, and I heard all kinds of gurgling noises. In other words, the water from the previous use was not entirely going down the drain, but some of it stayed in the pooled in the machine somewhere.
I never looked at the insides of one of these washers. Obviously, there must be an outer drum that’s not full of little drain holes, surrounding the inner drum that you see with all the little holes. That’s where I think there was some water being left behind.
That squicked me out. It means that when I wash my laundry, my wash water has part of the previous user’s wash (well, rinse) water mixed in with it. It also means that my own rinse water has part of the soapy dirty wash water mixed in with it.
Is this a thing with all front loaders? (ETA: That would also explain, I suppose, why front loaders get smelly. I don’t think they dry out very quickly between uses like I think a top loader does.)
After getting the Bosch Maxx 5 I looked for a manual online, and was charmed by the online manual stores which demanded £8 a download. So I went to the manufacturer and got it as a pdf for free.
There’s an additional Drain program ( I couldn’t get into all the different choices offered: life’s short ); and a section on cleaning the drain pump where one opens the little service flap and floods the floor, to clear fluff from the propeller; but as well as the inlet pipes there should be drainage pipes + hoses as standard ( and in some small machines I understand there’s a drainage hose one lifts into the kitchen sink, which seems unattractive ), and a pump to master them all.
I’ve never come across any water residue; but in your case the pump may be clogged.