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Completely lost looking at a new washing machine
jungleroomx
It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered User regular
It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered User regular
Situation: With 3 kids and a wife, the normal sized top-loader washer is simply not big enough to handle our needs. I go through 2-3 outfits a day during the weekday, and with everything else we're washing 2-3 loads a day. Our current washer can fit maybe 5-6 pairs of jeans or towels. It's not big enough. Also, our dryer is dying, so there's that...
Online reviews seem useless (in most cases). It's difficult finding a "top list" of washers and dryers.
I'm completely blown away by how much these machines have advanced since the last time I bothered to look at them (Late 90's, when I first moved out of my parents house), and certain brands like Samsung and LG... well, hell, I didn't even know they made washers and dryers.
Can anyone point me in the right direction? My cap is $2500 for the pair (willing to go a little higher if it's worth it, but not too much), and with our current machines getting close to clunking out, this is becoming something that I'll need to fix before the end of the year. My wife wants them in red, but it's not a dealbreaker if they aren't red... but it would be nice to make the old lady happy.
Anyone?
Online reviews seem useless (in most cases). It's difficult finding a "top list" of washers and dryers.
I'm completely blown away by how much these machines have advanced since the last time I bothered to look at them (Late 90's, when I first moved out of my parents house), and certain brands like Samsung and LG... well, hell, I didn't even know they made washers and dryers.
Can anyone point me in the right direction? My cap is $2500 for the pair (willing to go a little higher if it's worth it, but not too much), and with our current machines getting close to clunking out, this is becoming something that I'll need to fix before the end of the year. My wife wants them in red, but it's not a dealbreaker if they aren't red... but it would be nice to make the old lady happy.
Anyone?
jungleroomx on
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But it sounds like what you're looking for is something with more space. So I would start by looking at tub sizes, price, and customer reviews.
Oh, and efficiency too, for both electricity and water. Though that's pretty standard among appliances, nowadays, what with the "green" initiatives everywhere.
If you get a front loader make sure you read up on maintenance to prevent mildew.
I'd take a look at the most recent reviews from Consumers Digest or Consumers Report.
I highly recommend LG washers/dryers having beaten a one step up from the bottom end model like a rented mule for the past couple of years now. Fair warning though don't stack them if you don't need to, and the pedestals cost an arm and a leg so if you want those that will affect your budget ($230 each).
The thing is for the big capacity your wanting you may have to settle for a top-loader, which uses more water/power to run as opposed to a smaller front-loader (seriously if you've never used a HE front-loader you'll be SHOCKED at how little water it uses.) so you might want to weigh your options on going with a medium-large sized front-loader vs a mega capacity top-loader.
Additionally make sure when picking a dryer to go with one with the stainless steel drum, non-stainless (base models) will chip when hit with loose change or belt buckles or other metal objects which then can lead to rust.
I would also like to ask how you manage to burn through three outfits a day, I mean we all like to have a wardrobe change mid-scene but that seems to be a bit...off.
And I misspoke: The washer is just about big enough. It's the dryer that sucks. What I probably should have said is that our current laundry setup is entirely inadequate to our needs.
Thanks for the recommendation on the LG: I've had a lot of people tell me they're excellent machines. I didn't see much of a difference between the LG front and top loaders, and the front loaders had larger options (5.1 vs 4.7), but it seems like the front loaders have more options like steam cleaning.
Our biggest issue right now is drying. We have a 3.5 cubic ft dryer that takes 2-3 cycles to dry (it's unclogged and mostly lint free, but about 8 years old), and a 3.2 cubic ft washer. It just takes forever, so the clothes just sit there and we wait for the dryer to do its thing. The LG's i think I've picked (thanks to the responses) are these:
Washer
3.6 cu.ft
Dryer
7.3 cu.ft
Basically the dryer can (theoretically) handle 2 washer loads at once, or dry 1 washer load much faster.
Seem like good choices?
oh, one more thing. There were a lot of negative reviews complaining of all kinds of problems, like the small or it would make a lot of noise. But we have had none of those issues, and i would seriously question if those people were using the machine correctly.
http://www.consumersearch.com/clothes-dryer-reviews
I like ConsumerSearch because they aggregate reviews (including CR) and update the big categories pretty often. They seem to agree with the above advice re: LG stuff.
I used to work as a diesel mechanic, and with a decent detergent (Bio-Zet, I have no idea if it is available in the States), the old machine got my work clothes clean every time. The new one gets my current work uniform (I run the kitchen in a fast-food restaurant) clean as a whistle, too.
My mother uses a second one of these machines to wash her horse rugs. If you don't know what that is, imagine one of those little dog jackets, but sized to fit a god-damn horse, and thickly quilted with canvas on the outside. Horses are basically long-legged cows, and they like to roll on the ground. Including in their own shit. The machine just eats the rugs up and spits 'em out, nice and clean.
As far as I know they come in a range of capacities, I think ours is the 8 kilogram? It's the 'family' sized unit, anyway, We don't need one that big now, but we bought that size knowing that we'd still have it when we have kids, and we do end up needing a bigger machine.
Online reviews for washers can be tricky as was stated before, a lot of people seem to love to take a high efficiency machine and not care for it properly (ie proper detergent, cleaning it as recommended) and give it bad reviews for smelling or too many/too few suds.
Explained above, but being in the military you'll use:
1 Physical Training outfit
1 work outfit (ACU camo's)
1 civilian outfit after work
On an average day. I've gone through 5 outfits in a single day before.
The barracks I stayed at had high efficiency machines but would often clog them up with too much powder detergent, and when they were done they would close the door and not allow the machine to dry out (front loaders). Never got cleaned, too many suds, etc.
People are jerks.
A couple of tips if you're moving to front loaders: You don't need to use a "cupful" of detergent. Read the instructions for your machine. Ours recommends 2 tablespoons, for example, and we've gone through three bottles of Tide in two years.
Try to get a unit with a built-in heater for the times you need a hot-water wash, as you aren't then using your home's hot water supply.
And as has already been stated, you need to watch out for standing water/lint/etc in the rubber seal around the washer. We haven't had any mildew issues, but I try to take pretty good care of it.
If you can fit it into your budget, a Steam Dryer is FANTASTIC. The wrinkle-relax feature on ours means I can just toss a shirt in 15 minutes before I need to leave and don't need to worry.
Unless you are overloading your dryer, it taking 2-3 dries to completely dry is usually a venting issue.