urbanMamas recommendation on a washing machine?
Most of us urbanMamas face the battle of the pile on a regular basis. To that end, we'd like to help an urbanMama narrow her search on a new washing machine. Can you lend your experience?
We have had a Sears "Kenmore" front loader for the past four years. Last week it stopped working. The cost for repairs is enough that we are looking to buy a new machine. It has to be a front loader to fit in the spot in our laundry room. I am not going back to Sears. I have been burned one to many times buying through them. I need a machine that can handle diapers, carpenter's clothes and all the clothes a newborn can spit up on. What do you mamas have? What do you like/dislike about your machines?
I too will no longer shop at Sears. I have a kenmore elite h3 and absolutely hate it. :) We've had Sears out several times, but they still don't work very well.
My mom recently bought an LG front loader and she really likes it. I've used it a few times and it does a really good job. Even cleaned our cloth diaps in it once or twice.
Posted by: meg | March 03, 2009 at 05:06 PM
yup the LG front loader with steam is the bomb.
Posted by: ssh | March 03, 2009 at 06:24 PM
LG and Samsung both make very good washers, and you can get a lot of washer for not a lot of money (relatively speaking) from both brands. Amana also has a nice washer, made by Samsung, for less than $800.
Posted by: brad | March 03, 2009 at 08:02 PM
My next purchase will be the Bosch. Both washer and dryer are small enough to fit in our small space and friends have never had problems with either and loved the options.
Posted by: carie | March 03, 2009 at 08:05 PM
we have an LG front loader that's a stacker. it has a hand wash setting which has changed my life ;) the machine is great.
my mother in law is a pretty diehard bosch customer with most of her appliances and they are all totally amazing, but very pricey (and worth it). i'm not quite at the stage of my life where i've earned a bosch!
Posted by: suzanne | March 03, 2009 at 09:18 PM
Another rec for the LG front loader with steam. I will never iron again. (Well, that's probably not true, but a girl can dream.)
Posted by: jess | March 03, 2009 at 10:00 PM
I also am very disappointed in my Kenmore front loader - - save water? How, when I often have to wash things twice, and always have to use the extra rinse? Ours will be 4 this year, now I know I might also need a new one!
Anyway when I have to get another one, I'll get the one I wish I had, the Bosch. Expensive, but they last FOREVER and do a GREAT job. And they heat their own water. I used to work on a fishing boat, and they always had Boschs, doing about 5-10 loads a day of slimy heavy clothes, and they cleaned very well, and operated very smoothly.
But, in my opinion, any of the European ones will be reliably very good also. They have been manufacturing high efficiency washers for a long time.
Posted by: keenbeen | March 04, 2009 at 09:43 AM
Got an LG front loader. I love it--it uses only like 6 gallons of water per load. And clean like nobody's business! I only wished I'd purchased the one get so hot it gets mildew out of my dish towels. I highly recommend LG.
Posted by: Erin | March 04, 2009 at 11:59 AM
I have a samsung silver car front loader - I LOVE it!! My clothes come out soft and clean and you can always wash in cold water. I bought it at Best Buy a year ago.
Posted by: Lynne | March 04, 2009 at 07:21 PM
I have a Whirlpool front loader, and I like it. It gets a TON of use, and is holding up pretty well. I do think I will switch to a Bosch next time around though, mainly because its usage is so high and I think the Bosch will hold up better.
Posted by: mamatothree | March 04, 2009 at 07:58 PM
i have an LG front loader and it's great... using the "sanitize" setting is perfect for cloth diapers!
Posted by: abby | March 04, 2009 at 07:58 PM
we got a kenmore elite he5t with steam this summer and have been very happy with it. it has the steam sanitize mode that i totally love. we have a few sears appliances and have always had good luck with them and their service dept.
Posted by: anon | March 04, 2009 at 08:04 PM
I will give props to standard tv and appliance. . .we gave up on Sears two years ago. We have bought out dw, washing machine/dryer/ and microwave all from them. They will match prices. I have a front load whirpool and absoletely love it, but also hear the LG is magnificent.
Posted by: shan | March 04, 2009 at 08:09 PM
I'll 2nd the props for Standard TV and appliance. There's an older gentleman...Micheal, I think? and he's super great to work with! I never thought of going there until recently and they are supre nice and can work with you on many levels!
Good luck!
Posted by: stellamama | March 04, 2009 at 09:40 PM
i have had my maytags for 13 years now!
Posted by: sanQ | March 05, 2009 at 12:19 AM
I have a whirlpool frontloader from Standard, and I like it OK. I do have to rinse a lot more than I did with my old frontloader (which was a GE), but the other options make up for it, I guess. The handwash cycle is great - very gentle, even on woolens. The "sanitary" cycle is handy for things that smell mildewy or otherwise stinky.
Posted by: nancy | March 05, 2009 at 10:51 AM
Wow. I have an avocado washer dryer set from the early-seventies that came with our house. I have appliance envy.
Posted by: AnEmily | March 05, 2009 at 01:54 PM
there is a huge sale at standard this wknd i think! that's where we got our washer/dryer, no problems yet, 6yrs running!
Posted by: yomama | March 05, 2009 at 02:12 PM
We have a Fisher and Paykel top loading high efficiency washer that is really great. Besides handling everything I throw in it, it has some really cool features:
You put the detergent (less than a regular washer needs) down the center of the agitator, where it gets mixed with a little water and squirted through the clothes at a high concentration before the machine fills the rest of the way with water.
You can program a soak or an extra rinse into the cycle (great for diapers). All the standard options are there too (heavy duty, delicate, hot, warm, cold, etc.).
And you can program the cycle to start in the future, so if you are a lazy laundress like me who makes it to the basement once a day at best to move the wash to the dryer and start the next load, you can make sure the wash is freshly finished the next day, rather than sitting wet overnight.
We've been using ours for quite a few years.
Posted by: Jenny | March 06, 2009 at 12:36 PM
We shopped around a lot when we bought our front loader about 2 years ago. We ended up with a Whirlpool Duet Sport. Its a little smaller and lower priced than the regular duet, but has some of the features we like, such as a "sanitary" cycle, which is great for the cloth diapers and a super delicate cycle, which is a must for my nursing bras. We looked at Sears and they had the highest prices and I hate their hard-sell approach. We bought all our other appliances at Standard and had a good experience, but we got this at Best Buy because we were able to talk them into a good deal. They also sell this washer through Costco, but like usual, it is a special version only for Costco and is slightly different than the one sold everywhere else.
Posted by: Joie | March 08, 2009 at 08:34 AM
We have a Kenmore and I like it but just an FYI my Kenmore is actually made by LG, My Kenmore stove by Maytag, and My Kenmore frige by LG so check the serial number if you want to buy a certain manufacturer. I will give a plug for the smaller appliance stores. Not a fan of Standard or Sears--sales pressure, someone following you around. I like the service of Dewils in Vancouver or DeWhitt in Milwaukie.
Posted by: Marina | March 19, 2009 at 10:09 AM