I know there are a lot of brand/model recommendation threads, but this is more about cleaning ability of current washers in general. Specifically the high efficiency, top loaders that still have an agitator. Four year old Speed Queens just are not going to happen. Front loader washers are not convenient.

Do these new washers clean ok? Especially if you have some really dirty clothes or a big blanket etc?

I am at the point where my 22 year old Maytag LAT8626 is driving me nuts. I just replaced the counter-balance springs and snubber 2 years ago and now it looks like it needs them again. I've snugged them up another 1/4", but it does not seem to help really. I'd guess current springs are not the same as the original quality.

Sooner or later I know I have to move to these modern types. I really just want to know if they clean decent. I think we will go with the Bravos XL or current Speed Queen (TC5 or TR5) if we do buy some, with the agitator if we can still find them, so that part is decided.

This just feels like one of those changes where you always regret it and wish you still had the good old type.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Oz_Shadow,

When visiting my ex-mil I use hers. The soap seems like dishwasher-thickness stuff. The clothes never seem rinsed as well. My preference is the extra-large old school top-loader. Always with lots of water. Give the items lots of room.

Yes, I literally rewash clothes when getting back home.

Yes, they work fine.

Water passing through the fabric fibers is what causes the cleaning action.

Previously, you would fill up a tank of water and agitate the clothes through the water to get the water to pass through the fibers.

Now, instead of filling up a whole tank of water, the clothes are just agitated through a smaller amount of water. In the case of a front load HE washer, the clothes are lifted up and out of the water with each rotation, letting gravity help pull the water through the clothes.

The clothes fibers are wet, water passes through them. The clothes do not care of it is being agitated through 5 gallons of water or 50, so long as the detergent concentration is the same.

I have a new top loading LG with no agitator. It works great and doesn't use half the water of older units.

quote:

Originally posted by Woodman:
When visiting my ex-mil I use hers. The soap seems like dishwasher-thickness stuff. The clothes never seem rinsed as well. My preference is the extra-large old school top-loader. Always with lots of water. Give the items lots of room.

Yes, I literally rewash clothes when getting back home.

My clothes rinse out well, but I'm also careful not to use too much detergent. My understanding is that most people use far too much detergent, especially if your water is soft.

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
Four year old Speed Queens just are not going to happen.

You don't have to find a 4 year old Speed Queen. Speed Queen still makes a couple Classic models. You're correct in that they had discontinued their old style models ~4 years ago, but they ended up bringing a couple Classic models back ~2-3 years ago after the backlash from consumers who all still wanted an old style non-HE mechanically agitated Speed Queen.

I have the TC5 Classic washer, which I bought ~7 months ago, and is still in production. There's one ultra-HE cycle ("Normal"), in order for them to squeak in under the government requirements for water usage, which is measured in overall average usage. But all of the other settings are non-HE, and there's even a "Deep Fill" option that completely fills the basin with water, like basically all washers used to do as standard. And it still has a transmission-driven mechanical agitator.

It's literally the "4+ year old" kind of Speed Queen washer, just with a single ultra-HE setting tacked on to skirt around regulations. And even Speed Queen Customer Service says to basically never use the ultra-HE "Normal" cycle, unless you only have a small, lightly dirty load.

https://speedqueen.com/product...op-load-washers/tc5/

quote:

Originally posted by Woodman:
My preference is the extra-large old school top-loader. Always with lots of water. Give the items lots of room.

I thought my "Super Capacity" Maytag was just that. I just measured and researched and it is only 2.5 cubic feet. I guess a 3.5 cu ft heavy duty traditional or a 5 cu ft HE would be comparable to realistic capacity and cleaning ability?

7 years with Whirlpool Cabrio washer and dryer combo.

We have a soft water system.
We find that they either clean pretty well but not efficiently,
Or
Are efficient but don't clean all that well.

When I hit the powerball tonight,
My plans are to obtain three washers,
One non-agitator (Cabrio)
One agitator top loader
One front loader
For the laundry room.

Non agitator for delicates
Front loader for sheets, blankets, jeans, towels.

Agitator for t-shirts, sweat shirts , socks and wash cloths.

This" water saving, electrical saving" b.s. is for the birds

And
AND! What used to take 18 minutes , now takes 55 min. To an hour and 15 minutes.

quote:

Yes, they work fine.

Need to experiment with it a bit. Our washer died about 6 months ago. My wife bought a new Maytag. Certainly different!
I found that my dark pants and t-shirts had some kind of white stain on them. She had the washer on single rinse. Set the knob to double rinse and all is good.

As mentioned, it does take a bit longer.....

With a med to large load, especially jeans and heavy items, I use the "Bulky" setting on our Maytag washer. It fills the tub about 3/4 full and acts much like the older machines in the wash cycle. I also select extra rinse. It cleans as well as any washer we've had. Normal loads of underwear, light shirts etc go on normal and the tub just gets and inch or two of water but it's spraying lots of water throughout the cycle. Again I select extra rinse. It works well but it only saves about 5 minutes of run time over the bulky setting. I guess it saves water, which with only two adults in the household is, not a big concern.

Also, I'm amazed and how well the machine automatically balances the load by activating a series of stops and starts. Rarely does it need intervention to balance.

My Maytag Neptunes from 2001 worked fine. My Whirlpool front loaders I bought in 2018 work fine. I tend to use less detergent, like halfway up to the line on the lid/cup or less because I don't have a ton of clothes in each load. Whites/colors/jeans separately for one person is not a ton of clothes. And I use Arm & Hammer HE scent free detergent. If there is any insufficient rinsing I haven't noticed. But then I don't have clothes that are dirty from things like doing construction work, car repairs, or lots of yard work. Mostly just dirty from wearing them, and occasional food spills or things like that.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Yes, they work fine.

Water passing through the fabric fibers is what causes the cleaning action.

Previously, you would fill up a tank of water and agitate the clothes through the water to get the water to pass through the fibers.

Now, instead of filling up a whole tank of water, the clothes are just agitated through a smaller amount of water. In the case of a front load HE washer, the clothes are lifted up and out of the water with each rotation, letting gravity help pull the water through the clothes.

The clothes fibers are wet, water passes through them. The clothes do not care of it is being agitated through 5 gallons of water or 50, so long as the detergent concentration is the same.

My construction work cloths would beg to differ with you. On an unexpected overnight stay at a friends house I decided to use her 'high efficiency' washer. My work duds not only didn't come clean they stunk, with sweat rings still on my shirts. A rewash with additional buckets of hot water reduced efficiency but I didn't smell like Free Waterfall Jr. at work. Lesson learned. Also don't buy the rubbish cold water gets your cloths as clean as hot water. It's propaganda.

We like our top load Cabrio without agitator. Works fine for us but neither of us have dirty jobs so typically no greasy ground in dirt situations.

HE front loaders work better than HE top loaders.

2 ~ 4 tablespoons of HE "soap" is all you use.

Since the "soap" is enzyme, it's not so good on grease, so pre-treat grease/oil.

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
I have a new top loading LG with no agitator. It works great and doesn't use half the water of older units.

We have the same, except it's 2 years old. It cleans as well as any other washer we've had over the years. We do our blankets and comforters in a laundromat with commercial washers though.

Jim

Yes they clean dirt. No, they do not sanitize. We found only LG with an H in the serial number really used hot tap water. On all other machines the "hot" settings were just semi-warm.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Anush,

We have front loading Maytag washer/dryer bought in 2018. I am continually pleased with everything about them, but especially how gentle they are on the clothes. The washer extracts more water from the clothes than our old washers; and the dryer gets things dry without being really hot.

I have Whirlpool top loaders HE and they work great. Yes you use less soap because you're using less water. The Front loaders wash even better, but clothes come out great and better than old school. I wouldn't even consider a Speed Queen with a 3.5 cubic foot washer, whereas mine is just under 5 cubic feet.

Yes, but with the following caveats:

I use Persil liquid which Consumer's Reports consistently rates #1 or #2 whenever they do head to head testing

I pour my Persil to the fill line (i.e. it's measured)

I switch the soil level from "normal" to "heavy"

I typically use the extra rinse feature (i.e. 2 rinses) to insure no residual detergent

I use vinegar instead of fabric softener. Been doing this for at least 7 years since a Sigforum thread got me to try it. No fats and scents clogging up the fabric (i.e. it's cleaner, none of my towels are water proof, and fire retardant clothing remains fire retardant), gets the yellow out (e.g. pit stains) and prevents yellowing of white shirts, and it's extremely economical at ~$3 per gallon which is 30 to 50 loads. The dryer gets out 100% of the vinegar smell.

BTW, my front loader is a 2016

---

Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

Don’t get a front loader.

I just replaced a high efficiency washer, it was a POS.