If you do not care about efficiency/saving water, get an old Speed Queen Commercial Top Loader washer for your house (they are not much bigger if at all than a standard top loader). In my experience, clothes come out cleaner, and the spin takes out more water. I’ve NEVER had a good experience with a front loader, in fact, any water-efficient machines either, they sometimes leave the clothes looking or feeling dirtier than they went in. Had this experience in many situations (vacation homes (rented), friends houses, and owned two). I refuse to use these efficient washers, especially the nasty Front Loaders, unless I absolutely have to. The only thing front loaders have better in my opinion is that it’s nearly impossible if at all to have an “unbalanced” load.
EDIT: Also, the energy efficient ones take WAY too long to finish a cycle in comparison.
front loaders are efficient on water, and can be wall mounted , etc also they are always gentle on fabrics and can work efficiently with relatively small loads ( relative to their maximum loads). Draw back… smaller loads, maybe not as effective on tough grubbiness, and can’t be opened when it has water in it. (well it can …but… ) Also, some front loaders are dryers too.
Top loaders have traditionally been rather more violent on fabrics, which might be desired when the fabrics are too grubby, can handle larger loads, can have items added or removed anytime, and are a bit more ergonomic for floor use… (who loves kneeling down to get to the door of a front loader ??? ) drawback… larger minimum amounts of water and detergent, perhaps more tough on fabrics but you can get lower impact agitator designs now, and less top loaders are dryers.
It’s always going to be cheaper to make a machine that, holds water, spins and must remain perfectly balanced, sitting upright over one balanced on a wall. You don’t need to be an engineer to figure that out!
It’s also going to be infinitely easier to completely drain all the water from all the parts, if it’s standing upright. Which is why new front loaders have huge issues with mold and making your clothes smelly. So much so that they now sell products JUST to address the smell in your clothes! A product that brags it will perfume your clothes for weeks upon weeks. Who thinks this is a clever idea?
You can say it’s more attractive or stylish but everyone I know who owns one has to leave it with the door constantly open to have any hope of avoiding mold issues. That’s not terribly attractive in my opinion.
To me it stinks of change for changes sake, more fashion than utility. All about a look, that’s in reality, ruined by an ever open door! Except, y’know, on the tv, in shows and commercials. Then it looks all hip, new and high tech.
It’s true that in theory, bleach in strong concentrations has the potential to damage seals and other components, but one would think that a machine that has a built-in bleach dispenser is built to handle it! The only cautions about bleach in my LG manual are not to use excessive amounts or pour it directly into the drum, but the cautions all relate to possible fabric damage, not machine damage.
And yet if you peek into the laundry room of any large hotel or other commercial operation, the washers you’re likely to see are all front-loaders. The key concept here is efficiency, not style. Personally, I appreciate the gentle tumbling action since the last top-loader I had was one of the infamous shredders.
I don’t see why it’s an harder to empty the water out of a front-loader than a top-loader, since both typically have to pump water uphill and there is inevitably some residual water left in some type of sump. As for mold and smell, I’ve never had the problem. I do leave the door open, but I also left the door open on the old top-loader for the same reason: to let the tub dry out. It’s more important on a front-loader because of the tight seal and because the gasket itself could get moldy, but anyone deeply concerned about an open door can always close it when things dry out. Mine is in the laundry room upstairs and the only reason I ever go in there is to do laundry, where the first thing I would do if the washer door was closed was open it to throw laundry in!
You solve part of the less efficient problem by taking out half the load before switching it to dryer mode rather than having it do it all in one go. The dryer needs space for air to circulate around the clothes and has a lower max weight than the washer. You probably don’t really want to put jeans or most jumpers through the dryer anyway. It’s still worth having a combi if you lack drying space.
Years ago, back in the early 90s, I lived in Paris. Our apartment then had a similar machine – a washer/dryer combination. Very compact, but, as you say, not great for throughput.
Now, in my apartment in New York, I have a Bosch front-loading washer, and a matching dryer. They stack. They’re small units, so they fit in a closet, and the drying is a condenser unit, which means that it doesn’t have to be vented to the outside. Very handy for apartment-dwellers.
It works great, no leaks, no fuss, and it’s very quiet, which is nice when I want to run some laundry at night while the two small girls are sleeping.
Downside? Not cheap. Not cheap at all.
The Bosch units replaced a similarly-sized Asko set. The Asko units came with the apartment (every apartment in my building came with a washer and dryer – new construction building). The Askos were complete garbage. Leaky and loud, and impossible to find parts and service for. Everyone in the building agrees. Many have been replaced. Don’t ever buy an Asko.
The US has both TOP and FRONT loaders and has had them for as long as i have been on this planet.
Top loaders are simply cheaper, they do not need a bunch of well designed seals, they need less support and less bearing structures.
On the down side, they use more water and are rougher on your clothes, and maybe do not wash as well.
They are more common simply due to cost.
Front loaders cost more, they have to be engineered better.
You can not have a body that flexes all over or it will leak like a siv.
So you have the expense of making the cabinet more rigid, you have a large front seal assembly that must be durable, as well as the rear seals.
You need good bearings at the front and rear of the drum.
You also can not use the cheap little combo drive motor/Transmission/pump assemblies, so that may cost more as well.
But they use less water, and they are gentler to your clothes, and i think they wash better
Never had that issue with a front loader, never had one mold.
The door is sealed, the topload is not.
But you should not seal the door when it isnt running anyways.
It lets the unit have air flow to dry.
It prevents compressing the gasket, so the gasket lasts a long time.
It isn’t infinitely easier to get the water out of the top loader either.
Look how the front loader is made.
You have the basket where the clothes go, it has all the little holes, and it fits closely inside the tub.
The tub only has holes for water to go in, or out.
Water exits out its bottom where it naturally wants to flow to anyways.
And the rest of the exit path is pretty much identical to a top loader from there.
So emptying the machine should be of no issue at all.
Front loader FTW. My wife can sit on a little stool and easily transfer wet heavy clothes from the washer to the dryer without any hassle. And I cut a cheap luan door to size and put it across the tops of the machines, painted it white, and we have a perfect work surface to pile laundry baskets on.
The doorway into the “dirty side” of the basement is too narrow to fit a machine through, so whenever we replace machines I have to remove everything to the rough frame. I have done this twice so far. Ugh. That’s why I replace both machines at once.
ETA: To echo others, top loaders are SO cheaply made. In the months as my last top loader was dying, I performed surgery on it a few times, and was quite surprised at how flimsy everything is. And they can make it that way because of the lack of need for tight tolerances.
Yes, pretty much - front loader under counter version.
The washing-dryer combo is not as common tho, but some people like them, esp. if they only have space for one unit.
Depending on space, convince or layout, people put the tumble dryer on-top of the washing machine.
I’ve never really seen a top-loader in any household in Europe, except one here in Ireland - but those were Americans who just had to have a real American washing machine.
I purchased a new washer in the 1990’s and top loaders were just coming into the market. Their big selling features were 1) Less energy, 2 Less water 3) Better on the clothes (NOT better at cleaning, but gentler & less wear). The front loader cost (then) started at double the top loaders and went up from there.
I’m very happy to be up-sold and was ready to buy one, but I happened to ask the salesperson what he thought of the claims and would he buy a front loader? I was told, that those claims were 100% true, but basically marketing BS.
He explained that the energy and water saving would never payout in the expected +10 year lifespan of the machine. He also said they were better on clothes, but said, “What percentage of your clothes do you ever stop wearing because they’re worn out out due to washing? You stop wearing because they go out of style well before they wear out” My drop-offs at Goodwill are a testament to that.
Fast forward to 2 years ago, needed a new washer again (after 12 years) and asked if what I was told before was still true? The Home Depot sales guy said “yes, still true”. He said they push the front loaders hard because they make “way more profit on them” and promoting the energy efficiency is good for their corporate image, even if there’s no payback for consumers. He directed me to a high-efficiency top loader (same water & energy use as a FL) for about $500 less than their cheapest front loader.
He said if you ask about a front loader, he will never direct you away from one, but if you ask about the best overall washer, he would never direct you to one.
In Europe I would find it very hard to get a top loader at all, never seen one in a shop and only saw ONE single top loader washing machine in a home (owned by an American).
That’s correct, when I last bought the cheapest front loaders in Canada were on sale in the $1,000+ range.
The high efficiency top loader I bought was around $500 (on sale). As I said, a big difference in price that I couldn’t justify based on the “savings” of the front loader.
Yes - I was a little surprised at the exchange rate. I just browsed the website of my go-to discount supplier and they don’t offer any top loaders. I guess there is simply not enough demand here. More to do with space saving than water and energy though. The range is wide though - from £279 to £1120.