We will be moving in December and have decided to buy a new washer and dryer when we do.

Has anyone used the "new" type of washer, the front load kind and/or the kind that sprays the water from the top over the clothes, etc, etc.

We use an incredible amount of water are thinking it might be good to buy a washer that uses less. I have also heard that they spin the clothes better and therefore the clothes take less time to dry...

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

BettyC
Mom to Anna, Charlie and Sarah, 6/99

I have bought a washer and dryer in the past three years and am kicking myself for not getting one of the expensive front loaders. When my washer went, they were kind of new and mine was broken so I went to Sears with my three in the Runabout and didn't think about it too much. I got a Kenmore...one of the huge ones....not cheap....and I HATE it. My clothes have never had so much lint on them! Sure you can theoretically wash a BIG load, but then the darks are FULL of lint, and you have to rewash them. Ditto the dryer. I have had the service people here twice in the first year. We are actually looking forward to them breaking down for good.}> Like I said, they were a lot of money, so it is a bummer that we don't like them.

My sister just bought the front loader washer & dryer... she hates it!!! She says it kills her back bending over to load and unload the clothes. Plus once you start your washer you can't add any forgotten pieces. Because of course, you can't open the door of the washer once there is water in it.








Karen (Mommy of)
Kira Faith, Sara hope,
Lexi Joy (4 yrs) 4/15/99
Big sister Arielle (5yrs)

Karen
Mommy to GGG 8 yrs & G 9 yrs

We bought the Whirlpool Duet washer/dryer and have been very satisfied with it. If you get the drawers that go under them it will raise them up quite high (helpful if you have back problems and have a hard time bending over). There is also a pause button that lets you stop the cycle and add clothes. The water level never gets above the door so you can add at any time.

David

Ditto on the Whirlpool. Our washer went out and my mom bought us this one, with the stand underneath. I LOVE it and am always doing laundry now! Hehe. I can't wait for my dryer to break so I can buy a new Whirlpool. They are also stackable if you don't have lots of room in your laundry area like us.



Liana
Proud Mommy to Jack, Alayna, and Emma - 6/12/02 (31 Weeks, 3 days!)

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Liana

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I had to replace my washer and dryer in the last year (one at a time), and have been pleased with my picks.

I bought the Maytag Atlantis washer, and love it. I looked at the front loading washers, but I am always wanting to add something in after the load has started, and just wasn't up to the hefty price tag of the front-loaders. I know the front loaders save water and detergent, but I am pleased with my selection.

I bought the Maytag Neptune dryer and LOVE IT! It finishes around the same time my washer does (on a normal size load), saving lots of time. LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!

Heather

Heather, BBBB (two identical, two fraternal) 28 1/2 weeks, now age 18!

We splurged on the Kenmore HE3t series (front loading/large capacity) and love it! We got the drawer pedestals, so they stand up off the ground (actually higher than my old dryer). I never thought I'd be excited about a home appliance, but I have actually caught myself bragging about my washer and dryer. (How pathetic! LOL) It is amazing how much I can fit in a load . . . and everything comes out CLEAN. The dryer keeps up with the washer too, which in turn helps me keep up on laundry.

According to the associated video, you can wash 22 towels in one load. I've tried it and it's true. Supposedly, so long as you can shut the door, you are good to go. Since we have quite a few bedwetters, we are constantly washing sheets and comforters . . . I can fit two complete sets or three twin comforters in one load! With our old washer and dryer, I was NEVER caught up on laundry. Now I really have no excuse. Now, if I could just get everything folded and put away, I'd be in good shape.

Sandy.
adoptive/foster mom to "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"
Nicki (15)
D (8)
T (7)
C (5)
Gage (4)
Trevor (3)
Seth (3)
Ty (2)

Sandy.
adoptive mom to "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"
Nicki (17)
Keegan (9)
Luke (9)
Chase (6)
Gage (6)
T.J. (5)
Seth (5)
Ty (5)

We have a fisher-paykel washer and dryer and I LOVE them. They are designed to be more efficient, have much fewer problems (fewer parts)and save water. They were very reasonably priced too. We got them at the Great Indoors and I think Sears carries them too.
We tried the 'newest and greatest' and most expensive first and had to request a refund because we had so many problems with it.
Lorraine
I found this link on their newest product
http://www.fisherpaykel.com/Corporate/news-release/documents/breakThroughProduct-040403.pdf

Lorraine

Reach for the heart of God and not just His hands.
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Life happens when love is given.


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We recently bought the Kenmore HE3T and love it!!!

I have cut my loads of laundry in half, and love the savings in water (we have well water and a septic system), energy and detergent (1/2 to 1/3 of what I used before), plus you can stack the drier on top of the washer which was great for us (limited space in our laundry area). I can wash all the sheets (1 queen bed + 4 twins) in one load, and although I haven't tried the 22 towels, it does our 10 or so along with all the whites in a single load as well.

Also it seems to be true that it spins better and dries faster - on average my loads used to take over 1 hr to dry, and now they rarely take more than 40min.

The other major thing for me is that it washes stuff MUCH better. My parents have used front loaders in Europe for years and I was always amazed at how much cleaner the clothes came there. I used to spend a lot of time pre-washing by hand anything that was stained or even just very dirty (which is most of the childrens' clothes), and now that is not necessary!

The price was steep, but so far I think it has been worth every penny. There was a recent review in consumer reports that has all the details.

Good luck with your shopping

Teresa

We got a Kenmore high-efficiency front-loader from Sears and I like it very much.
You do have to bend over to put stuff in and take it back out. I do stop it and add stuff without trouble. It cleans clothes, doesn't beat them up as much as the top-loader and is more efficient. I don't use the HE detergent all the time anymore and don't think it makes much difference. The HE detergent isn't very different in price (it never does seem to go on sale, though, and they don't always let me use coupons on it). The washer is noisier in a small part of its cycle than top-loaders because of the super-spin, but the clothes are very well drained and dry lots quicker too. So more efficient there too!

Nancy

mom to beautiful BBG triplets, born February 2002 at 33 wks, 4 days

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Thank you everyone for your replies! Do they tell you that you HAVE to use a special detergent in these high efficiency washers???

BettyC

No - you don't have to. They recommend the high efficinecy detergents to reduce the risk of oversudsing, but they also tell you that you can just reduce the amount of regular detergent by 1/3 to 1/2 of the quantity you use in top loaders. I have noticed a significant saving in the amount I spend in detergent!!

There is a great review on detergents in a recent consumer reports, and they said the same thing. The detergent that they rated best was actually the Tide powder (I had always thought liquids were best...).

Teresa

We also have the HET3 & love it. I don't have the pedestals yet so there is some bending over for loading/unloading. I use whatever liquid laundry soap is cheap and just use 1/2 the usual amount. It has an "add clothes" feature for when you find another item to add after you started a load.

Shell
Jacob, Daniel & Rebecca 1/7/00

We bought the new HE3t washer and dryer with pedestals and just love them! The washer is so quit and it uses so little water. My neighbor has 4 kids and has two sets of these washer/dryers stacked side by side. She swears by this sets up to reduce the time it takes to was and dry the clothing. We thought that was a bit much….now we are going to be asking for a plumbing referral to do the same thing! Oh how quickly things change.

Curtis

Grant, Jack, Nolan
2/18/04

We bought the MAYTAG NEPTUNE washer and dryer. I love it! I never thought I would say that about a washer and dryer. It has made my life so much easier. Not to mention it has saved us $$$$ because it really does CLEAN the clothes withouth ruining them. Therefore, we are not having to replace the clothes. There has not been a stain I have not been able to remove.

Deanne
Proud Mommy to
Andre'(4), Alyssa, Aidan, & Alexander

Deanne
Proud Mommy to
Andre'(4), Alyssa, Aidan, & Alexander ( months)