As many of you know already, our boarder has bought a home of his own and will be moving out in March. One of the things he'll be taking with him (other than his charming self, that is) is his washer and dryer.
We're looking at buying one, but have no idea what to get. I have some ideas of what I think I want, but no practical experience in buying a new one. We've never had to buy one before!
We're thinking that we are actually going to go all out and buy a brand new set. We have a decent amount of money to dedicate to this purchase, and some ideas of what we think we want, but I'd love to hear your input.
What kind of washer/dryer do you have? What do you like about it? What do you hate about it? Any fabulous experiences? Any nightmare ones? Lay it on me, and thanks in advance! :)
Photo Credit: Aussiegull
13 comments:
We have always had Kenmore, and I really like them. This last time we went with whirlpool and I am really not very happy with it. We have had to replace a couple of things and it is ALMOST 2 years old :( I believe Kenmore is made by whirlpool or vice versa, but I think Kenmore is a better product. They are sold only at Sears and they usually have some good deals. Talk to me at book club if you want more info. ~Nicole
I'm not much help, because I've been hand-washing and line-drying my family (of four)'s clothes for the last six months. Let us know if you like what you get, though. I do hope for a washer & dryer someday!
Mine are Kenmore. I've had my set nearly 14 years. The only problem I've had is that the thingy that tells the water when to stop filling came disconnected. That was probably 3 or 4 years ago. My husband ordered a new part and fixed it himself for about $40. Both washer and dryer work beautifully.
If I were buying something new today, I'd probably go for a front loader. (I currently have a top loader.) I realize they're supposed to be way more energy efficient, but that's not my reason. My sick kitty sometimes pees on pillows, and I can't wash them in my top loader because they get the machine all off balance, and at least one pillow floats, so it doesn't get washed properly. I have to take pillows to the laundromat for that reason. A front loader would allow me to wash them at home. As I know you're a fellow pet owner, I thought I'd throw that out there for you.
Be sure to check Consumer Reports. That's my go-to source for big purchases.
When we bought our washer and dryer we consulted Consumer Reports. We ended up buying a non-matching set so we could get exactly what we wanted.
We have a Frigidaire washer and a GE dryer and have had no problems with them for the past five years.
You might check and see if you local Sears has a dent and ding area.
I have a front loader for my washing machine. It's a Maytag Neptune and it's about 2 years old. I love it. It saves us so much on our water bill it's amazing. Prior to it I had a Kenmore for 12 years with only minor repairs that my father was able to fix for me.
I have a Kenmore dryer (14 years old) with only one repair in all that time and it was just within the last month needed a new element. It's an electric dryer.
Not sure if that helps but I hope so.
We have a set that doesn't match. I think one's a Kenmore and one's a Whirlpool, owned them less than a year and no major problems yet. We had less than a $1000 to spend. Since we bought the washer on clearance we were able to get a slightly nicer model. Overall, we didn't care if it had any special features our clothes are pretty easy care. Besides, I was so happy to get a washer and dryer after years of the laundrymat and line drying!
Oh! I would take in to consideration the placement of the lint trap on the dryer. I wanted one up top because I thought it would be easier. I forgot that in our house it would be cluttered which makes it a pain sometimes to pull out and clean.
About 12 years ago, we were given an old mustard yellow set my SIL had used for around 20 years, and we used that set for 8 years until we moved, at which time we gave it to that same SIL's daughter (who reports it's still working like a charm).
The house we rented while we were waiting to get into our current home had a brand new w/d set when we moved in, and the washer went off-kilter one day with a load of jeans, and burned out something critical inside that made it necessary to get a new replacement (as per our rental agreement). Grr.
Then we moved into our new home and were given a matching 2 year old set from a couple at church. That washer also broke down (with some sleeping bags improperly loaded) from going off-kilter.
About this same time, another SIL bought a fancy, expensive front loader, only to have something go wrong with the gasket and leak all over her laundry room floor...not something we wanted to risk in our new home with laminate flooring, so we set out washer shopping---again!
One thing that annoys me NO END is the 'planned obselescence' of todays washers and dryers...they just aren't made like they used to be.
So, we ended up at our local appliance dealer and bought an old (80's model) from their used appliance department. It's a standard white and black large capacity washer so it's not matchy-matchy in there, but hey, it's the laundry room...I'm usually the only one who sees it anyway (and besides, I can always spray paint it!)
It may not have all the bells and whistles of newer models, but give me sturdy reliabilty anyday. Did I mention it was only $145 and had been rehabbed before we got it? I fully expect it to last us for many years.
I shopped around online and bought the least expensive top loader I could find that had a special coating on the drum of the washing machine. I almost purchased one with a painted instead of coated drum, but worried about my clothes getting rusty.
I found the comments and ratings on the store websites helpful and haven't had any problems. Mine is an Inglis.
Remember that if you buy something with knobs and dials rather than electronic keypads, it will be easier and cheaper to fix if it breaks.
I line dry all of my clothes, so I can't help very much with dryer recommendations.
Good luck!
I have been using a Bosch front loader for over 25 years. I guess even they do not make such sturdy machines anymore but if Bosch is available in the US, you may want to check it out. I never had a dryer. I use a drying rack.
I also have a Maytag Neptune, but an older model (MAH5500B, 5 or 6 years old). They were still working the kinks out, so mine has a problem with the gasket around the door getting mildewy - we leave the door open all the time so we don't have to worry about it. Our laundry is in the basement so it's not a concern, I just thought I'd toss it out there as an oddity.
Before the Neptune we had an ancient top loader that worked wonderfully, and an even more ancient dryer. We gave those away because the new washer & dryer were free, and we didn't want to be in the lurch when the dinosaurs finally failed.
Overall, I really like the new high efficiency front loading washer.
Upsides: It has a high speed spin cycle, which really gets the clothes dry and cuts down on hanging or dryer time. It has both a gentle and a hand wash cycle, and my clothes still look great after 2 years of using these settings. It has a million extra settings, like delay wash, stain cycle, pre-soak, and on and on. We switched from Tide to All, which is a little cheaper and easier to lug the tiny "small and mighty" bottles.
Downsides: Smaller loads than our previous washer. I do not know if the old one was a Heavy Duty washer, or if front loaders are always smaller? I don't like crouching down to get the laundry out; I wish it was on a pedestal. High efficiency soap is specially formulated to suds less, so you can't just use regular laundry detergent. The previous owners did, and the suds did get out of hand/onto the metal and there is some corrosion around the detergent dispenser.
We remodeled our kitchen 2 years ago and decided to buy our appliances at Sears. They run sales very frequently, so if you're willing to wait a month or two there's a good chance you'll get a deal. We did try CostCo and Sam's club first, but they didn't have the features we wanted in our kitchen (and shopping for several appliances makes it harder to get everything in one place). I think they're your best bet if you want a good deal, want your washer and dryer very soon and are flexible on features.
Back to Sears: You may do well in opening a store credit card for the purchase, if they will take an extra 10%off or the like. We used a different card because they weren't offering an account opening bonus at the time (or it didn't stack with the sale, or some such) and instead only got 1.5% back through that card. On a large purchase, it still adds up!
We have had good luck with Whirlpool. The washer that I had before this one was on it's last leg when we stopped at a yard sale a couple of years ago. There was a matching set Whirlpool washer & dryer for $100.00. It wasn't very old, the couple had split up and the husband wanted to get rid of them. Since I line dry all of our clothes (except towels) or dry them on drying racks in the winter with the heat from the wood stove, I was only interested in the washer. The guy didn't want to split them up and I was the only one who had shown any interest in them so he offered them both to me for $75.00. I bought them and then sold our old dryer. I realize that deals like that don't come along every day but we are very happy with whirlpool. Lisa 68/69 is right about computerized appliances. My daughter had a brand new one washer that quit working and it had to be reprogrammed. Thankfully, it was under warranty. Rita
We moved in 9 yrs ago and had the washer/dryer left here. Both broke 2 yrs ago but were Kenmore and gave us wonderful use. We are a family of 5 and I have a very long wired racked across about 8' of laundry room wall that I hang clothes from (on hangers) to dry. But towels, socks, etc. always need to dry too (bedding.).
We found we were doing way too many loads a day and I went to a Kenmore Oasis Elite which is (2 yrs ago at least) the largest top loader w/out an agitator you can get. The front loader had mixed reviews on water getting into the ring that suctions it closed and causing a mildew smell (now I know today they have drains on that). Also, the pedestals alone were $250 ea which added $500 to the estimate when we looked at those. (I didn't see myself on the floor getting laundry out - this is a daily task for me so I wanted the easiest set up I could find)
If it is just two of you I would go for a more traditional, less pricey set. Kenmore and Maytag have been long favorites of mine and the washer/dryer that were here were over 20 yrs old so they did last a nice amount of time.
What I love about my Oasis set is the water only fills when you have clothes in (it weighs them) and senses the amount - therefore, no guilt for washing 2 items on emergency or half loads, it spins them very well but still wet (not like people say they come out almost dry), the dyer auto senses the amount of wetness and turns off when done and the refresh system lets you throw in your nice clothes would never dry (for fear of shrinking), after line drying, and "refresh" with steam to get out wrinkles. It takes 10 min for that cycle. They were NOT cheap...and the warrranties are a must (all digital) so I better get 20-25 yrs min. out of these!
best of luck shopping!
You could enter to win a free Maytag set.
https://www.loadsofwinners.com/
Post a Comment