Front loading machines will have more challenges for you. Although I believe that they are more efficient than the top loading washers they tend to be slower in completing the wash cycle. They are also noisy and vibrate if you place them on a suspended floor. An advantage is that you can use the whole tube since there is no agitator to take up space. I have a front loader presently, but would not buy another. Remember any appliance you buy today is going to be warranted for about five years. What does that tell you about what the manufacturer thinks the life expectancy of their product is?
Buying a washer and going back to old school. That's IT!
- Thread starter rxonmymind
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- #22
Between the two evils I'd go with a front loader only IF you care about this so called efficiency. My Neptune fills with approximately five gallons of water then as it turns lifts and drop the clothes. This is much gentler on clothes and the baffles or fins inside the drum also lift the water and acts as a cascade onto the clothes. Not bad, but we also run a second wash on our clothes without detergent to rinse extra good.
Rx, have you looked at the top loading Speed Queen commercial washers? They are standard 30 inch(750mm) width and so will fit in any standard size washer/ dryer nook in most homes here in the States. We have these in our dormitories but they are slated for replacement with front loaders by the laundry vendor. From what I have seen the new front loaders are standard width as well. I will have to check dimensions yhough. I believe the reason for replacement is due to residents overloading them and not efficiency though I need to verify that assumption.
I am going to enquirer of our vendor as to whether they will sell their machines to "civilians " so to speak. Working for a state entity at times gives you an inroad you normally would not have. There is also the issue of the vending apparatus on top of the machines. It is more than a mere coinage acceptor these days. They also have electronics in them to allow connection to card readers. Our students use university ID cards with a declining balance to purchase laundry access. I am sure they can be configured to work with credit cards as an option. The reader is not part of the machine. Rather it is remotely mounted in the laundry and a very simple cabling system connects the machines to it. This allows one data connection to access all machines instead of paying for each machine. The gist of it is, the coin vendor and electronics have to come at a price. If I can manage to sort one sans the extra equipment it may make it a viable option for the home. I'll be checking into it.
Cheers, Todd
I am going to enquirer of our vendor as to whether they will sell their machines to "civilians " so to speak. Working for a state entity at times gives you an inroad you normally would not have. There is also the issue of the vending apparatus on top of the machines. It is more than a mere coinage acceptor these days. They also have electronics in them to allow connection to card readers. Our students use university ID cards with a declining balance to purchase laundry access. I am sure they can be configured to work with credit cards as an option. The reader is not part of the machine. Rather it is remotely mounted in the laundry and a very simple cabling system connects the machines to it. This allows one data connection to access all machines instead of paying for each machine. The gist of it is, the coin vendor and electronics have to come at a price. If I can manage to sort one sans the extra equipment it may make it a viable option for the home. I'll be checking into it.
Cheers, Todd
I bought a toploader HE two days ago. We had a frontloader but it shook the new house because the laundry room is on the second floor and the floors aren't properly supported for the vibration a frontloader puts out.
The reason frontloaders are better than toploaders in terms of effective cleaning is the very reason why we had to buy a new washing machine.
Frontloaders use gravity to create greater agitation to clean your clothes. The clothes spin to the top and fall down, basic physics. This perpendicular motion inherently creates more vibration which is why frontloaders are not generally recommended for second floor laundry rooms.
Toploaders simply cannot reproduce the type of agitation produced by a quality frontloader. This translates into frontloaders having higher performance ratings for cleaning clothes.
All of the above assumes HE technology is being used. I was at Lowes and Home Depot last week looking at washers. You will be hard pressed to find an old style agitator that is new.
HE washers are bizarre. They just don't look right because of their low water levels. It is important to remember that it is the agitation, not the amount of water, that cleans clothes.
Our old and new HE washers inject and drain water throughout the washing process. The old school type just fill up the tub with water and slowly agitate your clothes with a center piece, drain and rinse. It is like comparing a shower to a bath. With a bath you are basically sitting in your own dirty water.
Old school machines are built better. They were built by real people who expected these machines to last 10- 20 years. You can't say that about newer machines. Regardless, newer HE machines will clean your clothes more effectively so stick with a frontloader or, assuming you buy, shell out an extra $75 for an extended warranty.
I am relaying all the research I have done over the past two weeks. I am not passionate about the subject.
I did not even glance at how much energy or water I would save for the year. I figured the "energy star" label was enough info for me.
In other words, my above suggestions are not based on personal or political views. I am just relying on what I have read from consumer reports.
I still have two weeks on my consumer reports subscription. All of the articles on the subject state that a good frontloader will clean more effectively than the best toploaders.
I can't post links without a login and I can't reproduce the content due to copyright infringement. You will have to take me at my word or shell out $5 for a month subscription. If you have a couple of questions, feel free to contact me and I will see if I have the answer.
Whatever you decide, I hope it works out for you.
For members who disagree with me, feel free comment. Just note that I will not be revisiting this post because I simply am not interested in washing machines. I researched the subject out of necessity and I thought I would pass on what I had learned to a fellow member.
Take care.
The reason frontloaders are better than toploaders in terms of effective cleaning is the very reason why we had to buy a new washing machine.
Frontloaders use gravity to create greater agitation to clean your clothes. The clothes spin to the top and fall down, basic physics. This perpendicular motion inherently creates more vibration which is why frontloaders are not generally recommended for second floor laundry rooms.
Toploaders simply cannot reproduce the type of agitation produced by a quality frontloader. This translates into frontloaders having higher performance ratings for cleaning clothes.
All of the above assumes HE technology is being used. I was at Lowes and Home Depot last week looking at washers. You will be hard pressed to find an old style agitator that is new.
HE washers are bizarre. They just don't look right because of their low water levels. It is important to remember that it is the agitation, not the amount of water, that cleans clothes.
Our old and new HE washers inject and drain water throughout the washing process. The old school type just fill up the tub with water and slowly agitate your clothes with a center piece, drain and rinse. It is like comparing a shower to a bath. With a bath you are basically sitting in your own dirty water.
Old school machines are built better. They were built by real people who expected these machines to last 10- 20 years. You can't say that about newer machines. Regardless, newer HE machines will clean your clothes more effectively so stick with a frontloader or, assuming you buy, shell out an extra $75 for an extended warranty.
I am relaying all the research I have done over the past two weeks. I am not passionate about the subject.
I did not even glance at how much energy or water I would save for the year. I figured the "energy star" label was enough info for me.
In other words, my above suggestions are not based on personal or political views. I am just relying on what I have read from consumer reports.
I still have two weeks on my consumer reports subscription. All of the articles on the subject state that a good frontloader will clean more effectively than the best toploaders.
I can't post links without a login and I can't reproduce the content due to copyright infringement. You will have to take me at my word or shell out $5 for a month subscription. If you have a couple of questions, feel free to contact me and I will see if I have the answer.
Whatever you decide, I hope it works out for you.
For members who disagree with me, feel free comment. Just note that I will not be revisiting this post because I simply am not interested in washing machines. I researched the subject out of necessity and I thought I would pass on what I had learned to a fellow member.
Take care.
Hi,
What fun! I, too, have no interest in one of those HE washers. I don't care one whit about saving water. I do not have to. My well is artisian, punched into a natural spring. It spits at least 5 gallons a minute out the overflow port on top of the casing straight into the duck pond. So, what a washing machine uses is immaterial.
Our main washer is a stainless steel commercial, but the brand escapes me at the moment. It was meant for laundromat use, and has never had an issue. It replaced a GE Filter Flo from the late 1960s back in the early 1990s when the GE tub rotted thru. Our secondary washer, for cleaning the truly dirty clothes I make when doing farm work, is an Easy double tub from the 1930's, which is one step newer than a wringer washer.
That was my Grandmother's. It has to be filled with a hose, into the main tub. It agitates with three inverted copper 'soup bowls' that run up and down as they rotate. I have never seen anything get the crud out the way the Easy does. You have to pull the sopping wet clothes out of the main tub, and put them into the smaller rinse tub, and use that hose again, but it does work well!
The only failure the Easy ever had is the drain valve, which opens one tub drain or the other, corroded thru some 30 years ago. I made a new one in my machine shop (another place I produce really dirty clothes for the Easy to wash). Oh, and I have had to replace the brushes in the GE ac/dc motor once, too.
Our third washer is an original Maytag wooden tub with a gasoline motor. This one gets used at antique farm shows, but I rarely use it otherwise.
If I were going to buy a new washer today, though, I would go after a commercial one meant for constant use every day of the week.
Stan
What fun! I, too, have no interest in one of those HE washers. I don't care one whit about saving water. I do not have to. My well is artisian, punched into a natural spring. It spits at least 5 gallons a minute out the overflow port on top of the casing straight into the duck pond. So, what a washing machine uses is immaterial.
Our main washer is a stainless steel commercial, but the brand escapes me at the moment. It was meant for laundromat use, and has never had an issue. It replaced a GE Filter Flo from the late 1960s back in the early 1990s when the GE tub rotted thru. Our secondary washer, for cleaning the truly dirty clothes I make when doing farm work, is an Easy double tub from the 1930's, which is one step newer than a wringer washer.
That was my Grandmother's. It has to be filled with a hose, into the main tub. It agitates with three inverted copper 'soup bowls' that run up and down as they rotate. I have never seen anything get the crud out the way the Easy does. You have to pull the sopping wet clothes out of the main tub, and put them into the smaller rinse tub, and use that hose again, but it does work well!
The only failure the Easy ever had is the drain valve, which opens one tub drain or the other, corroded thru some 30 years ago. I made a new one in my machine shop (another place I produce really dirty clothes for the Easy to wash). Oh, and I have had to replace the brushes in the GE ac/dc motor once, too.
Our third washer is an original Maytag wooden tub with a gasoline motor. This one gets used at antique farm shows, but I rarely use it otherwise.
If I were going to buy a new washer today, though, I would go after a commercial one meant for constant use every day of the week.
Stan
- Thread starter
- #26
Hi,
What fun! I, too, have no interest in one of those HE washers. I don't care one whit about saving water. I do not have to. My well is artisian, punched into a natural spring. It spits at least 5 gallons a minute out the overflow port on top of the casing straight into the duck pond. So, what a washing machine uses is immaterial.
Our main washer is a stainless steel commercial, but the brand escapes me at the moment. It was meant for laundromat use, and has never had an issue. It replaced a GE Filter Flo from the late 1960s back in the early 1990s when the GE tub rotted thru. Our secondary washer, for cleaning the truly dirty clothes I make when doing farm work, is an Easy double tub from the 1930's, which is one step newer than a wringer washer.
That was my Grandmother's. It has to be filled with a hose, into the main tub. It agitates with three inverted copper 'soup bowls' that run up and down as they rotate. I have never seen anything get the crud out the way the Easy does. You have to pull the sopping wet clothes out of the main tub, and put them into the smaller rinse tub, and use that hose again, but it does work well!
The only failure the Easy ever had is the drain valve, which opens one tub drain or the other, corroded thru some 30 years ago. I made a new one in my machine shop (another place I produce really dirty clothes for the Easy to wash). Oh, and I have had to replace the brushes in the GE ac/dc motor once, too.
Our third washer is an original Maytag wooden tub with a gasoline motor. This one gets used at antique farm shows, but I rarely use it otherwise.
If I were going to buy a new washer today, though, I would go after a commercial one meant for constant use every day of the week.
Stan
Wow! Stan I hope you could show us some pics of your Grandmother's Easy does and wooden Maytag!!! Love to see them
Thanks!!- Thread starter
- #27
Woohooo!
Our old washer finally died this last Thursday and we knew what we wanted. This was perhaps the quickest purchase we ever made in a store. Walked in & listened to the salesman went through couple minutes of informational facts then bought it. While it's not sexy, I'm confident of it's longevity, reliability and build quality. This should last us 25+ years without a hiccup. Anyway we even tried to buy their floor model, LOL, as a new one was coming in Saturday so we had to wait.
So Saturday came which felt like Christmas. Powered through couple loads of laundry that FINALLY have a clean smell to them and not some burnt laundry fragrance.
Water level? To the TOP! Feels good to have clean laundry again. That's not asking too much.
Our old washer finally died this last Thursday and we knew what we wanted. This was perhaps the quickest purchase we ever made in a store. Walked in & listened to the salesman went through couple minutes of informational facts then bought it. While it's not sexy, I'm confident of it's longevity, reliability and build quality. This should last us 25+ years without a hiccup. Anyway we even tried to buy their floor model, LOL, as a new one was coming in Saturday so we had to wait.
So Saturday came which felt like Christmas. Powered through couple loads of laundry that FINALLY have a clean smell to them and not some burnt laundry fragrance.
Water level? To the TOP! Feels good to have clean laundry again.
That's not asking too much.Attachments
I agree. It's a machine to aggitate and rinse my clothes and the dry my clothes. That's it. I don't need to monitor the space station, I don't need it to tell Amazon to send me more supplies, I don't need it to make me lunch, I don't need it to be tied to wifi or Bluetooth enabled.
Just wash my friggin clothes!
My grandmother-in-law bought a set of those Samsung "I have more computers and intelligence than a Harvard graduate" machines. Once they brought it in we noticed clothes piled up. She admitted she didn't even know how to turn the machine on. There's no power or on/off/start/stop button. It's all integrated into the touchscreen panel. Less than 2 years of very minimal use (just her and her daughter) the motherboard went out while she had a load of clothes in. Now these new machines lock for child proof aka stupid lazy parents and so her clothes were locked inside with the water. Call for warranty repair - sure "that'll be a week maybe two ma'am" and that was with raising chaos and complaining. They came in fixed it and then she had a washer that had mildewed clothes she had to toss and run several bleach cycles just to get the smell and bacteria removed.
Again just wash my friggin clothes!
Just wash my friggin clothes!
My grandmother-in-law bought a set of those Samsung "I have more computers and intelligence than a Harvard graduate" machines. Once they brought it in we noticed clothes piled up. She admitted she didn't even know how to turn the machine on. There's no power or on/off/start/stop button. It's all integrated into the touchscreen panel. Less than 2 years of very minimal use (just her and her daughter) the motherboard went out while she had a load of clothes in. Now these new machines lock for child proof aka stupid lazy parents and so her clothes were locked inside with the water. Call for warranty repair - sure "that'll be a week maybe two ma'am" and that was with raising chaos and complaining. They came in fixed it and then she had a washer that had mildewed clothes she had to toss and run several bleach cycles just to get the smell and bacteria removed.
Again just wash my friggin clothes!
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Speed Queen seems like a great brand from their website and reviews.
28 minute wash time? I feel like my top loader takes an hour!
28 minute wash time? I feel like my top loader takes an hour!
I beat mine against rocks.
Very old school.
Very old school.
In our house, the Mrs. and I have a Roper (top load), Washer & Dryer that's at least over 20yrs and we've haven't had any problems yet (knock on wood...they run just like Ever-Ready batteries...they just going, going & going). 
To address today's 'high-speed', LED, washers & dryers (with all the 'bells & whistles'),...six (6), months ago when we were visiting my younger sister and her family in Rochester Hills, MI, when it came to washing / drying our clothes, we had to wait until my sister returned from town because we didn't know to operate these 'technological wonders'.
Sheesh...give me 'old school' over today's machines any day!
"Laundry today...or naked tomorrow". Anonymous
To address today's 'high-speed', LED, washers & dryers (with all the 'bells & whistles'),...six (6), months ago when we were visiting my younger sister and her family in Rochester Hills, MI, when it came to washing / drying our clothes, we had to wait until my sister returned from town because we didn't know to operate these 'technological wonders'.
Sheesh...give me 'old school' over today's machines any day!
"Laundry today...or naked tomorrow". Anonymous
HE = BS. Hyperactive environmental "solution" to a non-existent problem.
I'd like to find an old 5-7 gallon per flush toilet on the black market. These new ones suck.
Woohooo!
Our old washer finally died this last Thursday and we knew what we wanted. This was perhaps the quickest purchase we ever made in a store. Walked in & listened to the salesman went through couple minutes of informational facts then bought it. While it's not sexy, I'm confident of it's longevity, reliability and build quality. This should last us 25+ years without a hiccup. Anyway we even tried to buy their floor model, LOL, as a new one was coming in Saturday so we had to wait.
So Saturday came which felt like Christmas. Powered through couple loads of laundry that FINALLY have a clean smell to them and not some burnt laundry fragrance.
Water level? To the TOP! Feels good to have clean laundry again.
Our cheap Admiral top loader died on 1 January. The wife wanted a front loader and we wound up with an Electrolux sourced from Home Desperate for around $800. We settled on it mainly for the fact we could change the door hinge swing from left to right hinge side. Important in some homes where the laundry closet has pluming on the right side. As is typical of these new machines there is no adjustment for water level. You get what it gives you. You can adjust the wash times and it is incredible to me to see 48 minute timer options for wash loads. We may be saving water but we are certainly burning a lot more electricity which is much more expensive per use unit. So far it is working pretty well and is whisper quiet.
If we would have had a Speed Queen dealer nearby I would have certainly given them a look but with Christmastide just past our budget would likely not allow it. If you don't mind, could you give us a ball park figure or price range of a unit similar to yours?
- Thread starter
- #35
Actually Jason only for the "quick wash" cycle is that true. A regular load is 40 minutes. That's including two full fills of cold water rinses
For your sake sir I hope that your not using an endangered rock. Oh, do you also have a rock license? Approximately how much water did you use? Avoiding the water meter is a serious offense. What do you think this is a country you can just free load off and not pay a licensing fee?
Neanderthal!
That's pretty much it.
I find it ironic we can make 230 mph cars and trust people with that but not the amount of water for YOUR needs in a washer.
- Thread starter
- #36
Ours was a shade under $1k which I was fine paying for something to last many decades. It's a very robust machine made by a company who has been at it for a long time here in the USA. Look at all the laundry mats in the U.S. More than likely its Speed Queen in there.
Outer tub is made of porcelain over steel. All gearing parts are made of metal along with stainless steel wash tub. Parts availability was also on my mind if needed at all. Being made in W.I. I can have the part overnighted in the future. It all adds up to being a solid choice. Good warranty too! But in the end all that won't impress me if I can't get clean clothes. This does EXACTLY that.
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- Thread starter
- #37
A unimatic!
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Just moved into a new house and got an LG top loader. Seems to work well and he wash cycle is about 45 minutes. Shrug.
For your sake sir I hope that your not using an endangered rock. Oh, do you also have a rock license? Approximately how much water did you use? Avoiding the water meter is a serious offense. What do you think this is a country you can just free load off and not pay a licensing fee?
Neanderthal!
Pure Gold!
