Washer and Dryer Shopping Friday

We have kenmore front loader and dryer. The washer is one of the older models, we bought it at a sears outlet. It is a little noisy when spinning, but other than that works great. We have not had any mildew smell after about 8 months. It does have the ability to do a clean cycle if it is a problem, where you run it empty with bleach. I leave the door cracked sometimes, mainly since that makes it easier to load, but I also keep it closed part of the time.

We do have the steam option on the dryer and it works really well. It is mainly just to get the wrinkles out and takes 15-20 minutes depending on which setting. You can't put a whole load in, just a few shirts while it is going. It does work really well, thankfully since I hate to iron! So any time I don't get my husband's dress shirts hung up out of the dryer quickly I throw them back in on steam and they come out wrinkle free!

We've had great appliance purchase experience at Best Buy.

As for what you are looking for...I have Maytag Neptune front loader and dryer. I got mine before the quality of Maytag went down. About a year or 2 after I got my Maytag washer/dryer, I bought a top of the line fridge and dishwasher, BOTH of which were horrible and were replaced withing 4 yrs.

Due to that expereince, I will not buy Maytag again. I do love my washer/dryer and have had them about 10 yrs.

Hi, I bought a new washer about a month ago (unfortunately Illinois is taking forever to start the cash for clunkers so I didn't get to take advantage of that since my old washer was leaking). However, I shopped around and initially thought that I wanted a front loader and ended up buying another top loader. Even the salesman at Sears that could have made a much larger commission had I bought a front loader confessed that the maintenance on the front loaders is much more time consuming and that you should always buy the maintenance agreement with a front loader because you are definitely goign to need it. He said I would need to have someone come to my home annually to maintain the front loader if I didn't want to have to have emergency service. He said if I was "handy" I may be able to do the annual maintenance myself.

I also spoke with a coworker who bought an LG front loading combo, which are supposed to be top of the line and he has been really disappointed with them. He has to leave the door open on the washer when he is not using it so that he doesn't get a mildew smell, he has to buy the more expensive laundry soap, he has had to have someone come in to maintain the washer, there was more, but I don't remember everything. Oh, he said it doesn't clean heavily soiled clothes as well, he has 3 dogs and he said when his clothes are really dirty they end up stained even if he doesn't dry them. I don't know why that is. I spoke with a friend of mine with twins that uses cloth diapers and she actually got rid of her top loader becuase she said it didn't wash the diapers properly. These complaints were echoed online.

When I asked the salesman about the mildew smell issue and having to keep the door of the washer open, which I heard about a lot, he said that some of the more expensive front loaders now come with a fan that runs when the washer isn't running to dry out the washer so mildew doesn't form. I don't know what that does to the energy efficiency of the washer. It probably still uses less water, but more electricity. The top loader I bought is an energy efficient model and it has a water senser to know how much water to use and supposedly uses less than other top loader models.

Anyway, that was longer than I planned. Good luck with your decision.

D.

We purchased a Whirlpool Duet washer/dryer a little over 5 years ago. Our extended warranty just ran out - we're glad we had it because we've had some major repairs (one cost more than replacing the machine, but Sears fixed it instead).

We've been to 3 different Sears stores and HH Gregg to get their opinion. They all say that they've improved considerably in the past few years but are not designed to last more than 7-10 years max because of the materials used to keep the costs reasonable.

They sell the most LG's, Kenmores, Whirlpools and Samsungs. I don't know if they're being incentivized to sell the LG's but they were really talking those up.

Good luck.

we have the LG trom with steam.. it is 3 years old and going strong.. my friend bought these too and stacked hers.. love the steam option use it on my husbands work clothes.. out of everything i own this is my favorite thing.. made my life more simplfied.. saves time, water, love the dryer features and the wrinkle care feature along with antibacterial for my towels.. and large loads.. just an fyi.. any front loader u buy u will always want to leave the door open on the washer so the seal doesn't mold.. that is how air tight the washers are.. best tip the sales person ever told me.. and only use HE high effeciency soap :)
Lenc

I've had Maytags last for years. I don't know about them, "going down hill" from the post below.......and to be honest I haven't bought any for a while, but they were always good for me, lasting years and years.
Don't know if you have HHGregg there, but they are good. Fry's is also very good to buy from. Other than that, I would next choose Best Buy.
Happy Hunting, and good luck!

We just bought a Kenmore - washer and dryer - had them stacked, but didn't need to- just wanted more space in our laundry room. We hesitated about stacking them bc of having to move wet clothes from bottom to top- but it's not a big deal. Our washer is 3.6 cubic feet and SO big compared to our old washer!!!! We were without a washer for 5 days between buying and selling and did all laundry (2 kids and my husband and I both work out every day) in 2 loads! Super fast, super easy! Worth every penny! We didn't buy steam bc I read it's not worth the money, plus we don't wear many button downs - so we down iron a lot anyway.
Good luck