New Washer and Dryer Question

[spierceisu]

Speed Queen keeps popping up as a good buy when I search for laundry appliances.
One thing I notice is that their capacity is lower than other brands. Looks like 3.2 cubic feet across the board for their main models.

Is that large enough to actually fit and wash large sheets, blankets, or quilts?

I read that the Speed Queen has a lower cubic ft, but it fills deeper with water, especially with the deep fill option, where other machines have more space but don't fill as deep with water. I compared with a whirlpool commercial washer that was bigger and the agitation was supposedly better, but the build quality did not seem as good as the speed queen.

 

[Farnsworth]

We got a samsung front load when we moved into this house and I'm counting down the days before it finally dies to go back to a top load. The bearing has already gone out once (4 years in). That was thankfully replaced under extended warranty. Now it is shaking violently again after 2 years with the replacement parts.

It doesn't clean well and it smells unless you leave the door open when not in use.

I am more interested in hearing more opinions on the top load without agitator. We had several clothes and sheets stretched and torn by the agitator before, so I was hoping the top load without was going to be a solution.

We bought a pair of Samsung's over 4 years ago and we really like them. Got them at NFM and they have always been quality machines.

edit they are LG's, not Samsung.

 

[g4ce]

Another vote here for Speed Queen. Researched washers and dryers back in 2014 when my wife's grandparents' washer and dry died. They were 30+ year old Maytags. Found Speed Queen to be the most reliable with simple operation that would be perfect for them. They love them. We bought our first house in 2016 and I bought a pair of Speed Queens. No issues in 4+ years for me.

 

[motorcy90]

we have had a Whirlpool Cabrio set now for 2 years. it does the job well enough on my work clothes being caked in grease and hydraulic fluid and what not sometimes.

 

[BryceC]

We just bought an Electrolux set which is absolutely amazing for me, simply because we had like the cheapest washer/dryer on the market prior to this.

 

[SpokaneCY]

Unrelated to the original question, but I have never heard a positive thing about front load washers. Have heard many negatives.

Had whirlpool top loader the last 2 years and hated it. Far too many unbalanced loads, too loud, never felt the clothes got as clean, and had more than a few articles of clothing end up in knots at the end of a cycle.

Back to an LG front loader and happy as a clam although my wife has trouble getting the clothes out from the very back of the washer.

After having front loaders for 12 of last 14 years, never had a mold or smell problem with ours and never did the periodic cleaning or maintenance per the manual. Always left the door open but did that with the top loader as well. We have lived in a very low humidity environment if that makes a difference.

 

[NodawayRiverClone]

Can't opine one way or the other on SQ.

Less than 2 years in on a Maytag top loader with agitator. Appears designed to copy the Fisher&Paykel we had for 10 years. Liked it but a pump failed and too pricey to fix. Maytag can do high speed spins and uses sensor for water level, just like F&P did. If one wants lots of water to wash with, SQ may be the choice. If not, the Maytag MVWB765FW3 may be a decent choice.

 

[Nader_uggghhh]

We left our door open when not in use and were diligent about running the washer cleaner you can buy and we still would get odors and build up in that plastic seal that just would not come off even with some scrubbing with vinegar.

We were mostly disappointed with what a crappy quality of product it was and seemed to have some design flaws as 1 of the repairs the service tech even mentioned the cause was a hose that was not routed well in the machine and was rubbing on the drum so eventually it wore through the hose and caused the malfunction. One thing after another seemed to go wrong with it and the frustrating part was it might take over a week for them to send someone out because you have to go through the warranty company your service contract is under then if they didn't have the part in stock you could be waiting several more days till they come back with it. It just got to the point we were tired of it never working right for long periods of time that we just replaced it the next time we had an issue with it and it was no longer covered under our warranty plan. Maybe we just got a lemon but the problems we had with it was enough for us to never want to try another front loader and have heard others share similar stories as ours too that feel the same.

That sounds like a nightmare, can't blame you for feeling that way. I'm always weary of new appliances so I buy everything from our local store. At least then I feel like I'll be treated well in the case of a lemon.

 

[iowa_wildcat]

We have a Whirlpool Cabrio without an agitator. It does NOT get heavily soiled or greasy clothes clean. It constantly goes out of balance and recycles when washing anything heavy. We would never, ever buy another.

 

[JMA1125]

My next washer will be a top loader with an agitator.

 

[spierceisu]

After doing some checking it is hard to find certain appliances in stock due to COVID. I called Nebraska Furniture Mart and the website says estimated delivery for the machine I want is 10/20 but when I called, the person on the phone said the dates are not anywhere close to accurate and some stuff is as long as 2 months out. They told me if I want to get it by the end of October I need to probably pick something that happens to be in stock. Damn! Checking around a few other places to see what I can get.

 

[mywayorcyway]

After doing some checking it is hard to find certain appliances in stock due to COVID. I called Nebraska Furniture Mart and the website says estimated delivery for the machine I want is 10/20 but when I called, the person on the phone said the dates are not anywhere close to accurate and some stuff is as long as 2 months out. They told me if I want to get it by the end of October I need to probably pick something that happens to be in stock. Damn! Checking around a few other places to see what I can get.

Local appliance shop near my parents said they hadn't gotten any new stock in three months. That was a month or two ago.

 

[IceCyIce]

I had a repair guy out to fix my washer couple months ago. I asked him what the best and worst machines are based on reliability - what he works on the most and least.

Answer - Best is Maytag/Whirlpool. Worst by far was samsung and LG.

Samsung should not be making appliances. based on my personal experience

 

[spierceisu]

I had a repair guy out to fix my washer couple months ago. I asked him what the best and worst machines are based on reliability - what he works on the most and least.

Answer - Best is Maytag/Whirlpool. Worst by far was samsung and LG.

Samsung should not be making appliances. based on my personal experience

I had an LG washer and dryer combo machine that my wife had in an apartment before we got married. We had a problem with it and I found out that pretty much nobody works on LG and Samsung machines. The service person that I finally found told me it is because it is hard to get parts for them. The reason for this is because the repair place has to buy parts in large quantities from Samsung and LG.

I ended up finding a floor model set of Speed Queen TC series machines from a small appliance place. They price matched the lowest I found (NFM and Werner Stellian) and gave me an additional $50 off per machine since they were floor models. I am not as worried about a floor model since they have never been ran and they looked flawless. I am happy I did. I guess time will tell how I really feel about them since I won't be able to use them for a month when I move into my new house. I was starting to worry that I was going to be buying a machine that I didn't really want just to have a washer and dryer due to short supply.

 

[hiltonisheaven]

We wanted to replace a Maytag with another Maytag/Whirlpool but didn’t want to wait several weeks for new stock. We chose to go with an LG instead of waiting and we HATE it. Deep set Wrinkles on even lowest spin speed and soiled clothes don’t get clean even with a 1-hour cycle.

 

[Cycsk]

We bought different brands of washer and dryer. Never found a set from a manufacturer that had all we wanted. Not sure we have ever noticed that they aren't a "set."

 

[ArgentCy]

I had an LG washer and dryer combo machine that my wife had in an apartment before we got married. We had a problem with it and I found out that pretty much nobody works on LG and Samsung machines. The service person that I finally found told me it is because it is hard to get parts for them. The reason for this is because the repair place has to buy parts in large quantities from Samsung and LG.

I ended up finding a floor model set of Speed Queen TC series machines from a small appliance place. They price matched the lowest I found (NFM and Werner Stellian) and gave me an additional $50 off per machine since they were floor models. I am not as worried about a floor model since they have never been ran and they looked flawless. I am happy I did. I guess time will tell how I really feel about them since I won't be able to use them for a month when I move into my new house. I was starting to worry that I was going to be buying a machine that I didn't really want just to have a washer and dryer due to short supply.

Yeah, this was what we found as well. Samsung, I believe, thought they could not only make a POS machine but then wanted to corner the repairs on them as well. The first thing that went wrong on ours was the drain pump fell off (they knew it was a problem because it had a new spot already). I eventually found a repair guy from over an hour away but got him to ship us a new pump. I had to rewire one of the main branches but got it working. Until the next thing broke. They was a terrible strategy that may work in a city for a little while but never, ever, work in a rural area.

 

[Cyclone06]

So our dryer took a crap over the weekend, and my wife is secretly happy about it and the thought of replacing it and the washer. Can anyone tell me not to go with SpeedQueen? We will not be doing front load.

 

[Gunnerclone]

I don’t have a brand dog in this fight but we have a set that has WiFi and it alerts you on your phone how much time is left and when they are done. Really great for a multi story house so you don’t waste your knees going up and down 3 floors only to either have to go back up or down or sit in the basement and wait around.

 

[spierceisu]

So far we love our Speed Queen set (only 2 months old so take that with a grain of salt). Our clothes smell better and come cleaner than our Whirlpool front loaders. You can also do a load of laundry much faster. Our old washer would do a load in 1hr-1hr30min depending on settings. Our new machine does it in less than half the time. The dryer also gets clothes dryer and does it faster.