Clothes Washer & Dryer

[zetroc]

I don't look forward to the day my aging Kenmore pair die (bought ~13 years ago off of Craigslist so probably 20 years old now) but am pleased to hear that Speed Queen are still making simple machines that work. Thanks dudes.

[bironi]

So I've been nursing some other brand since our warranty service ended.
My last repairman recommended the most basic model, with no glitzy new features, more stuff to break.
I'm going Speed Queen if it's still an option when I have to change out the machines.
I should do that before I must.
Perhaps it's time for that chat with my wife.

[TTX1]

Purchased a new home in 2019. The machines that came with the house immediately died. Wanted SQ, but went with LG based on Consumer Reports, availability, and price. So far, the machines have been good and I admit that I've used the LG app to get a notification when the load is done so I don't need to make an extra trip to the basement to check...

One downside: LG frontload washers stink. I mean, they smell bad. The door gasket does not fully drain, and whatever remains becomes a petri dish if you keep the door closed. If the door is kept open, it's not bad as long as you periodically run a clean cycle with bleach / vinegar / machine cleaner tabs.

And this is why it's important to get the load out of the machine right away - leave it overnight, you might need to wash again to get the smell out. WTFATMO.

It's coming up on 4 years of otherwise trouble free operation, but given the chance to do this over I would buy SQ and probably opt for top load, too.

[Saab2000]

Purchased a new home in 2019. The machines that came with the house immediately died. Wanted SQ, but went with LG based on Consumer Reports, availability, and price. So far, the machines have been good and I admit that I've used the LG app to get a notification when the load is done so I don't need to make an extra trip to the basement to check...

One downside: LG frontload washers stink. I mean, they smell bad. The door gasket does not fully drain, and whatever remains becomes a petri dish if you keep the door closed. If the door is kept open, it's not bad as long as you periodically run a clean cycle with bleach / vinegar / machine cleaner tabs.

And this is why it's important to get the load out of the machine right away - leave it overnight, you might need to wash again to get the smell out. WTFATMO.

It's coming up on 4 years of otherwise trouble free operation, but given the chance to do this over I would buy SQ and probably opt for top load, too.

Front loaders basically need to always be open when not in use.

[bironi]

Purchased a new home in 2019. The machines that came with the house immediately died. Wanted SQ, but went with LG based on Consumer Reports, availability, and price. So far, the machines have been good and I admit that I've used the LG app to get a notification when the load is done so I don't need to make an extra trip to the basement to check...

One downside: LG frontload washers stink. I mean, they smell bad. The door gasket does not fully drain, and whatever remains becomes a petri dish if you keep the door closed. If the door is kept open, it's not bad as long as you periodically run a clean cycle with bleach / vinegar / machine cleaner tabs.

And this is why it's important to get the load out of the machine right away - leave it overnight, you might need to wash again to get the smell out. WTFATMO.

It's coming up on 4 years of otherwise trouble free operation, but given the chance to do this over I would buy SQ and probably opt for top load, too.

I had the same mold problem with my front loader.
My solution was to cut strips of bath towels and placed them in the gasket crevices where the mold buildup occurred.
Then I filled a water bottle with bleach and soaked the strips.
Let it sit for 24+ hour, removed strips and ran the clean cycle.
Looked like new.
Since I always dry the lower door section after loads with a towel, remove the detergent/bleach drawer, dry the compartment and let the drawer air dry.
Leave the loading door open.
It's a bit of a pain, but it works well.
Byron

[thollandpe]

One downside: LG frontload washers stink. I mean, they smell bad. The door gasket does not fully drain, and whatever remains becomes a petri dish if you keep the door closed. If the door is kept open, it's not bad as long as you periodically run a clean cycle with bleach / vinegar / machine cleaner tabs.

Front loaders basically need to always be open when not in use.

And don't use fabric softener. The special sauce in that stuff is derived from lipids (sometimes animal fat) that will turn rancid and stink to high heaven. Blecch.

I had the same mold problem with my front loader.
My solution was to cut strips of bath towels and placed them in the gasket crevices where the mold buildup occurred.
Then I filled a water bottle with bleach and soaked the strips.
Let it sit for 24+ hour, removed strips and ran the clean cycle.

Have you tried Benefect (https://benefect.com/) to beat back the mold? It's botanical, non-toxic, and smells nice, because its active ingredient is thyme oil. It's also more effective against mold than bleach, I learned about it from professional mold remediation contractors. Harder on mold, and way easier on people and materials (like that expensive rubber door seal). It's Canadian!

[Drew]

Speed Queens installed and running. Probably a half dozen washes now and all is well. Washer is surprisingly much quieter than previous Whirlpool turd. Dryer about the same... much more influenced by how many zipper clad garments are involved.

They certainly look... industrial... but I don't care, and hopefully I don't have to think about laundry machines again until about 2040 at earliest. I'm a happy Chappy.

[Saab2000]

Speed Queens installed and running. Probably a half dozen washes now and all is well. Washer is surprisingly much quieter than previous Whirlpool turd. Dryer about the same... much more influenced by how many zipper clad garments are involved.

They certainly look... industrial... but I don't care, and hopefully I don't have to think about laundry machines again until about 2040 at earliest. I'm a happy Chappy.

Excellent. I hope the endorsements here (including mine) are valid. Leave open to ventilate, even the top loaders.

As always, RTFM. Read The Full Manual.

FWIW, I’m a huge believer in air drying most of my clothes. I have a drying rack and virtually everything but the largest items are air dried. That lint in the lint filter? That’s your clothes, one fiber at a time.

Save energy and your clothes. I have the dryer but it’s used only for bulky items.

I hope these are keepers.

[j44ke]

Excellent. I hope the endorsements here (including mine) are valid. Leave open to ventilate, even the top loaders.

As always, RTFM. Read The Full Manual.

FWIW, I’m a huge believer in air drying most of my clothes. I have a drying rack and virtually everything but the largest items are air dried. That lint in the lint filter? That’s your clothes, one fiber at a time.

Save energy and your clothes. I have the dryer but it’s used only for bulky items.

I hope these are keepers.

Air drying is the secret to a long life for most clothes, especially cotton stuff and definitely synthetics.

[NYCfixie]

FWIW, I’m a huge believer in air drying most of my clothes. I have a drying rack and virtually everything but the largest items are air dried. That lint in the lint filter? That’s your clothes, one fiber at a time.

Save energy and your clothes. I have the dryer but it’s used only for bulky items.

Air drying is the secret to a long life for most clothes, especially cotton stuff and definitely synthetics.

This is what my wife and I do. Sheets, towels, (cotton) underwear, and (cotton) socks go in the dryer but anything else gets air dried. It is annoying in an apartment because we have several clothes drying racks and also stuff hanging in the shower/tub area for at least a day but it is so much better on clothes.

[Drew]

Part of the noise issue with washers may be due to low frequency vibration, which travels farther and can be conducted through joints and studs.

One cheap way to try and mitigate the noise is to damp the vibration. These rubber/cork sandwiches are the standard, and used in many large HVAC systems. You want that sandwich design because the different materials resonate at different frequencies with the effect being cancellation or absorption. Besides the huge spring suspensions in rooftop systems, I've seen these blocks in use. Cheap, but get the ones with cork centers and not MDF.

Hmmmm... good idea with the vibes reduction. Ironically, if the washer is off balance, it shakes my desk and chair... on the other side of the house. I'll get a couple sets of these and they'll go in with the New Units. Will report back. Muchas Gracias

A/V pads installed. I ordered a set with cork centers on the river Amazon. Looked at the big box hardware places as well as our two mom n pops... all were well stocked with the MDF flavor but none had the wine flavor.

I do notice that the washer wiggle jiggles a little more on the A/V pads. That said, the floor wiggle jiggles a LOT less and the noise is definitely reduced.

Two thumbs up, would buy again. $20 for eight of them - four for washer and four for dryer.

Thank you, @Peter Polack !

This place rules.

[Peter Polack]

A/V pads installed...This place rules.

Woo hoo! Thanks for the update!

[bironi]

And don't use fabric softener. The special sauce in that stuff is derived from lipids (sometimes animal fat) that will turn rancid and stink to high heaven. Blecch.



Have you tried Benefect (https://benefect.com/) to beat back the mold? It's botanical, non-toxic, and smells nice, because its active ingredient is thyme oil. It's also more effective against mold than bleach, I learned about it from professional mold remediation contractors. Harder on mold, and way easier on people and materials (like that expensive rubber door seal). It's Canadian!

I'm now experimenting with the Benefect product.
I suspect this will work well as a regular maintenance routine, but it takes the bleach to do the job on the overlooked buildup.
I'll go with another round of the bleach on a problem spot, then use the Benefect routinely.
Looking at the bigger picture, there were class action law suits against the manufacturers of these front load machines that were incubators for mold.
I believe the consumers lost, but I never saw a follow up.
Thanks again for the recommendation.

[froze]

About 9 years ago we bought the top-of-the-line model of Samjunk washer and dryer. The washer failed twice under warranty, they refused to replace it, just repair it, then it failed three times outside of the warranty in a 3-year period, the first two times it cost $150 each time, and the final time it failed it was going to cost $600? So I scrapped it and bought a Speed Queen since Maytag and other former top-of-the-line washers are no longer any good. We got the S Q TR7 washer model, and so far after 5 years it's been perfect, but 5 years is not a long enough time to make a judgment as to whether or not it's any good; our previous Maytags before the Samjunk lasted us 30 years and then we left them in a house we sold because the buyers wanted them. There was a class action lawsuit against Samjunk for the washer, but since I trashed it I'm no longer eligible for any sort of monetary compensation for it.

The Samjunk dryer has also broken, but only once, which cost $150 as well, but the motor now sounds rough.

When we bought the Samjunk washer and dryer we also bought a Samjunk dutch door fridge, that piece of crap I have to manually defrost it about every 2 to 3 months, or else the fridge part will freeze up behind the rear panel and the fans will scrap against the ice, plus the ice maker and water dispenser will freeze up. There is a class action lawsuit on all Samjunk fridges, not just the one I have. This pile of junk cost us $2,700, if it fails completely it's going into my shed till the lawsuit is settled!

I have heard issues with LG products as well.

For you old timers, LG does not mean Life is Good, it means Lucky Goldstar, LG is the old Goldstar brand that use to sell bottom-end electronics and appliances in America, they changed the name to LG because people would not buy an expensive Goldstar product, so Goldstar went away and LG came into being.

Samjunk is the old Sanyo company, another low-end brand that had their brand tarnished due to poorly made products like Goldstar, so they too changed their name.

[froze]

Edit: I think it's important to know, when we had the Maytag washer and dryer we had 2 kids, so 4 people that had clothes etc to be washed and dried, and those Maytags lasted 30 years. By the time those Maytags were 25 years old the kids had left the house, which means that the Samjunk washer and dryer are only being used less than half as much as the old Maytags were being used. So that poor longevity and reliability of the Samjunk was with lighter use! Had we had the Samjunk when the kids were in the house they would have lasted only a year and a half!

If you buy a different product then the Speed Queen you need to seriously consider the extended warranty. The SQ is not cheap, and it could be out of the price range for some of you, so if you buy some other brand get the longest extended warranty you can get. I would for sure stay away from Samjunk, and I've heard of complaints about LG. For you old timers you need to know that Samjung is the old Sanyo company; and LG does not mean Life is Good, it means Lucky Goldstar, known in America has simply Goldstar; both Sanyo and Goldstar had poor reputations here, they haven't changed from what I can see, just fancy'd up the looks. I would suggest Whirlpool or GE, they seem to be doing better than the old luxury brands like Kitchenaid and Maytag; if you want something less expensive than SQ, and get the extended warranty. My SQ 7 came with a 7 year warranty, so no extended warranty was needed, but that was a promotion they were running, the standard warranty is 5 years; they do make a less expensive SQ those I think have 3 year warranties, not sure how much the units costs.

[thollandpe]

Samjunk is the old Sanyo company, another low-end brand that had their brand tarnished due to poorly made products like Goldstar, so they too changed their name.

Samsung and Sanyo are different companies based in different countries. Panasonic bought Sanyo, but there is still Sanyo-branded stuff in the marketplace.

I know their solar cells and heat pumps. While Samsung makes these too, the product lines and distribution are different.

[Saab2000]

I have had issues lately of my SQ front loader being unbalanced in the spin cycle. This causes the machine to shift across the floor. I’m hoping it was just due to smaller loads or something but it’s happened several times of late.

[Rich Beaudoin]

Speed Queen owner for around 10 years (kids have been out of house for the last few) and never had any issues with the washer or dryer. But like stated above, the unit does move/migrate on the floor a bit which doesn’t bother me and which my wife doesn’t even notice.
I convinced my wife to buy these because they have no digital/electronic parts to fail.
You can guess my opinion about electronics in bikes…

[Saab2000]

Speed Queen owner for around 10 years (kids have been out of house for the last few) and never had any issues with the washer or dryer. But like stated above, the unit does move/migrate on the floor a bit which doesn’t bother me and which my wife doesn’t even notice.
I convinced my wife to buy these because they have no digital/electronic parts to fail.
You can guess my opinion about electronics in bikes…

I purchased mine in 2019, shortly after I moved into my house. I live alone so I wash far less than a family might and only air dry most of my items, so the dryer gets used relatively little. The washer a bit more because as a rider I need to keep from getting too rank.

I am not a fan of how when unbalanced it knocks and moves around. I'm more worried about the machine damaging itself than that I need to move it back to its spot.

Mine has touch controls rather than actual mechanical dials or switches or push buttons, but so far I've had no issues.

Mine have 10-year warranties, which was a special that was being run at the time, so I'm not too worried about it. I'm more annoyed with the fact that the door is open all the time and therefore in the way in the hallway between my garage and my kitchen.

[Drew]

My only gripe with the Units so far: one would think the same person would design the keypad for the washer and the dryer. But this is wrong... so dumb. Almost as dumb as the telephone number pad and the keyboard number pad being inverted from each other. So dumb.

They work great. First world problem for sure. But it's annoying. To me. My wife thinks I'm crazy. She probably correct.

keypads.jpg