Important Question.
 

Washing Machines:

Just bought a new house, where we need to choose our appliances. Wifey currently has a top-loader which i hate. "Some of my friends say the front-loaders leak" she says.

I've always had front loaders in the UK - I believe they clean much better. Especially if you have alot to wash as the weight pushes down from top to bottom and it all spins together without really getting thrown around for a good wash...which is why they invented front loaders.

Which is best? This is the question we all want to know.


So let's hear it. WW3 may commence or be avoided depending on your answers.:popcorn:

Re: Important Question.
 

Top loaders are shite had one in a rental when I forst moved here. Aside from the fact I thought I'd just stepped back into the 1950's I had no idea where you even put the detergent. And they wash crap.

Obviously front load all the way.

Re: Important Question.
 

There's no debate. Top loaders are just shit.

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Top loaders also put holes in clothes!

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same as mandy...first place had a top loader and it was honestly junk

when you washed whites, you had to do it twice...once with detergent and then once without, as the detergent wouldn't mix properly in the wash and the clothes came out with a bit of the colour of the detergent still in them!

front loaders in my new place, and they're rather good...just wish they didn't play a ridiculous tune when they've finished their cycle!

Re: Important Question.
 

Ooh mine do that too! (Sing at end of cycle)

First few times I was walking round thinking done one had changed my ring tone!

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Front loader. Bought mine in 1999 and it was still going strong when I sold my house last year. Never had any leaks. As has been mentioned, the agitator in the top loaders damages your clothes.

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How much will you pay for your new washing machines? I haven't bought one in yonks, but was amazed last time in Sears to see that a high-end set-up is priced at more than $3000. That seems crazy to me, and is why I will continue to use the river. ;)

Re: Important Question.
 

I agree whole heartedly with all of the anti top loader brigade.....hang on...that's all of you! (Not one 'yeah! For the top loader response'). We have a NEW top loader where we have just moved, I'd never met one before.

As Shard says, washing machines are incredibly expensive here, so for the foreseeable future, I'm going to have to make loving friends with the alligator inside whilst it munches my clothes:(

Re: Important Question.
 

We recently bought fridge, stove, freezer washer and dryer. The total was, iirc, $3600 of which the stove was $1500 or so. (The stove seemed the thing worth spending on, it's hard to tell if one fridge is better than another while it's easy to tell if dinner is cold and raw). It's a front loading washer, the top loaders eat your clothes. So, non-matched pair of new GE laundry appliances, gas dryer, about $1100.

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When I was in the states I used toploaders a couple of times and they are bobbins, might as well have cleaned my clothes in an open sewer pipe. Therefore when I do eventually get to Canada it will be front loader all the way :)

Re: Important Question.
 

Front Loaders use much less water than Top Loaders which can be a consideration if you are on a well. A reasonable unit can be bought for $1000 or so.

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What about a high efficiency top loader with no agitator? Very nice machine and can wash a huge amount of clothes and king size duvets.

Re: Important Question.
 

I am also a front loader fan, even if I do get a celebratory tune at the end of each cycle. I can recommend sears kenmore brand, ive had two sets now, last set went in house negotiations. Front loaders use less water and clothes last much much longer.

Re: Important Question.
 

Yep mine too..they keeping going on playing a tune every 30 second or so,,,the tumble dryer is the same until you empty them...they are like a couple of toddlers throwing a tantrum if you dont empty them ...yes i know you are finished but will you just f...off and leave me alone:thumbdown:

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What would i do without BE for guidance in my life. So it looks like only Oink has voted for top-loaders, presumably because there is no river nearby. Those of you stuck with top loaders but have a river nearby have sensibly opted to use it, according to the poll.

So, cheers for the input...i'll be forwarding the results to my o/h. This will become a Canada vs UK international diplomatic dispute over the weekend, so i may post back for moral support. It's at times like these that i roll out my grandmother's dishtowel showing all the useful things us (mainly Scottish :pbut some British) have sensibly invented. The top-loader wasn't on the list; must have been a North American invention by someone with heavily Irish roots.

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Isn't that an oxymoron? Just out of interest, how do the clothes at the top stay wet?

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Forgot to ask the other question: is anyone stupid enough to have their washing machine/dryer upstairs (i.e. next to your bedrooms)? I presumed that all normal people had their washing machines lower to the ground for the obvious reason... that leaking washing machines and gravity don't go well together and can really make a piss mess of your ceiling below!

But apparently it's all about 'ease of access' - you can take your freshly laundered underpants and walk two feet to the drawer from where they originally cometh...instead of having to drag your backside downstairs to the machine and then walk upstairs with a basket. Heaven forbid.:blink:

Re: Important Question.
 

I recommend Asko brand. $$$ but you'll never have an issue with the machines PLUS no annoying tune. PLUS no annoying rubber ring to clean.

ps. Fisher & Paykel does a really good top loader.

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Agreed, some of the fridges look like the replicator from Star Trek. I'd rather have a decent cooker.

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It does these amazing maneuvers during the wash and rinse cycles. Also, it sprays the clothes from the top.

It weighs the clothes and only uses as much water as needed. When I wash things like duvets, I use the bulky cycle and it does use quite a lot of water for that.

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We had a fancy new front loader, I think the model name was Duet. It was rubbish and took forever to was the clothes even on short cycle. This house came with a very old Kenmore toploader which washes stuff clean. the short cycle is under 15 minutes. I haven't noticed any holes. It is bloody noisy.

I think when I need to replace it I will go with a top loader.

Re: Important Question.
 

The machines are downstairs, but we have the best of both worlds. I am not quite sure how it works, but I put the laundry into a basket upstairs and within a few days it reappears washed and in its closet/drawer also upstairs. I haven't quite figured out to get it magically ironed yet, but I live in hope. :D

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lol that's magic that is :D

Re: Important Question.
 

Thanks;)

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Ah yes...back in the day, the now Mrs AX lived with me in the UK. When the time came to move to Nfld she went over a few months before me to start a University course. After a week I rang her:

`Darling, the washing process is broken`
`What do you mean, we just bought a new washing machine, how can it be broken, have you rang up the shop, etc etc`
`No, dear the washing process itself is broken`
`Listen, you tell that shop that you want a repairman out immediately, this is ridiculous`
`Dear, you`re not getting me. I used to put dirty clothes in the laundry basket and a day or so later they`d end up in the closet freshly washed and folded. Now the laundry basket is full and I`m running out of clothes.`
`You`re an idiot. Now go wash some clothes.;)`

Re: Important Question.
 

"Nasty, brutish and short" is, I think, the phrase for top loader cycles. The speed is convenient, I must admit.

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Oink? Where ..
Sorry .. Just saw he voted but didn't comment.
Probably a sarcastic vote! Lol

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We have a self-cleaning oven. It smells a bit but you just have to push a couple of buttons. I like that. I'm a bloke.

We also have a self-cleaning fridge. No idea how that works but it seems to.

Ditto bogs.

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Yes!!! Me and I loved it. :lol: Most laundry comes from upstairs and it worked for me to have it washed, sorted, ironed and put away. Laundry room was next to the Master Bedroom, so the ironing board was set up (as needed) in front of the TV and ironing was no longer a chore. In 22 years, never had a problem with water leaking from the laundry room. Now, the bathtub is another matter.:lol:

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Top loaders are crap and ruin clothes. :thumbdown: We have one in our condo and I can't wait to get rid of it. My daughter's just replaced her top loader with a front loader and is so pleased she did.

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:confused:

Where's the choice for what works fine and reasonably priced?

We have our trusty washer/dryer pair for $600 from Leons in 2005. Works great. Top Loader.

Nothing damaged, everything comes out spotless.

I had front loaders in England. No better, no worse.

Re: Important Question.
 

By no means an expert in washing machine technology but does it really make a difference?

Surely it's still a big drum that spins quickly just on different axes

Re: Important Question.
 

You would think. However, in real life what happens is that the clothes get compressed via gravity and the weight of water. It simply spins around and around (right round baby, right round aka Marc Almond...yes i'm at lunch and had 2 beers)

So anyway this by it's nature means that the clohes gett compressed. I've often found clothes come out with spots where the liquid gel pac has got stuck and there's still goop left on your clothing in one spot. So to me, top loaders are out of the question. We have a top loading washer and a front loading tumble dryer...i think that if it was a top loading dryer the clothes wouldnt get dry...as they oudnt tumble! This is the issue i have with the washer not washing: the clothes don't move around.

I wrote this post as a bt of fun but with a half-serious question. I think i have all the ammo i need now, so thanks for the help all you clever people.

In my research, i found this great candidate for one of the online dating TV ads, it must be his other job: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5MAIlPK1mw

Re: Important Question.
 

Perhaps there's something wrong with your sticky-uppie-thing that turns and moves the clothes around. :rofl:

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At least get it right .. Dead or Alive -Pete Burns!

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This. I suggest the lot of you read Swift again.

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Frank? :D

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The Jonboy of Swiftiness.

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I too used to get holes in clothing when I had a top loader. Bought a lovely big front loader (and separate dryer) which is quieter, more economical, uses much less water (we are on a well), has a delay timer (great for coming home to a newly washed load) and it also plays a lovely tune when finished ;)

When I went back to the UK last summer I remember looking into my mum's teeny weeny front loader and thought I was in toy town :rofl: I'd forgotten just how many loads of laundry I had to do back then. Virtually took up my whole weekend :ohmy: