Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Funky Frontloader- Help!

A new house brings lots of new purchases.

And lots of new patience.
Lots of new purchases can't be purchased all at once because there's not lots of money left in the bank. 

Boo.

So I'm trying.
Really hard.
To enjoy the empty spaces.
To know that it will come in time.
To not settle. 
But it's hard.

One big purchase I don't want to wait any longer for is 
a washer and dryer. 
Currently we don't have any. 
 I am bringing my laundry over to my parents' at Tuesday night dinners.
It's zero fun.
I'm over it. 

Here's the dilemma....
I'm torn if we should get a front loader or not. 
We had one at one of our other places and I wasn't a fan of the funky smell and mildew that settled into the ring.
I've heard that you need to leave the door cracked and it will be okay.
Good to know.
But is it worth it??

I like that they're HE, use less water, less detergent.
I like that I get more storage and have room on top. 

But I don't like the smell.

I've also seen new top loaders without the agitators and heard good things about those. 
I'd like the ability to have oversized loads and I like that these new ones offer that too.


At the place we were just at we just had a simple, older washer and dryer and had no problems. 
Is it worth spending the money for these special ones??
It's a big difference in price so I want to be confident in our decision. 

What do you have?
Do you love it?
Suggestions??
Pros?
Cons?

Thanks!! 

7 comments:

Unknown said...

the main difference between the top loader and front is the number of times the clothes spin. the more they spin the cleaner they get. the front loader spins more. We have one and just always leave the door cracked

Unknown said...

We (finally!) just got a really great set off Craigslist last month ... and I am in love! Now, it could just be the fact that I have lugged dirty clothes to the laundromat for the past four years - but I don't think so, because I am a pretty particular person.

Ours is a front loader, been used already for four years, and was thankfully taken care of meticulously. We decided to get a used version because we weren't quite sure what we wanted for when the time comes to get brand new ones, and because we only have an electric dryer hookup. (Still renting, not sure what future home will have and didn't want to spoil big money.) Plus! We paid so little on Craigslist, come a few years ... we can turn around and sell it for the same price we bought it for! (Score!)

When we got it, it had a funky smell - so I sprinkled in a bunch of baking soda (into actual washer), loaded the "detergent" compartment up with vinegar ... and let the magic happen. I did that once, followed by a normal wash with clothes, then left the door open (and the detergent compartment open) for an hour or two. Everything was all dry and super clean! Minimal smell. Did the vinegar/baking soda two more times and I've pretty much got the "funky" out! :-) And that's with a used washer. Yours would be brand new.

I will say, when we used to go to the laundromat ... I always washed in the old-school top loaders. I don't know why, I just liked them and was used to them. However, I got a lot more bang for my buck when I used the H.E. ones (and I bet the laundromat did too!)

If you're good about leaving the door open on the H.E. version, go for it. I dig mine so far - and leaving the door open is now just second nature. Couple of hours later, it's all dry. :-)

Hope that helps!

Hilary said...

My husband & I purchased a front loader a year ago. We had a stack-able and needed something the same size, so we bought smaller bodied front loaders and stacked them. We LOVE them. I read the same thing about the smell, but we keep our door open 100% of the time when it isn't being used. We live in humid SC, with an AC unit that's 25 years old (in other words, our house is ALWAYS humid) and we haven't had the slightest problem with mold/mildew/smell aside from my husband's stinky gym clothes! We were given a sample of washer washing detergent to use if yours develops the smell, but in a year, we haven't had to use it. I love ours! We bought ours from Home Depot, and they were only $1200 with tax.

Dancing Sweet Pea said...

I love our front load washer and dryer. We have had them for a year and a half and have had zero odour issues. I keep a roll of paper towel in the bottom drawer and wipe the ring at the bottom only where the water builds up after my last load of the day. Honestly it takes all of five seconds. And I leave the door open as well. So far this seems to work like a charm!

Refrigerator Memories said...

We have the top loader with no agitator. We bought it almost five years ago and have not had a single problem with it. It works great and is HE.

Amanda Justice said...

I LOVE my front loaders... I do leave the door open a crack, I was told that in the beginning and I have never had problems with smells. Mine are HE and my dryer does the whole steam thing and well I just love the various options they offer (I was even able to wash my wedding dress in it on a steam cycle with no problem). Also, when we were back home with my parents for the last year they had regular top loader with agitator, and omg I missed my front loaders. Front loaders can fit so much, and clean so well! Good luck with all the choices, we just moved into our place last week and are going through the same types of choices, fun but stressful at the same time ;)

buying runescape gold said...

Front loaders can fit a great deal, along with clean so well! Dolphins, good luck all the choices, we simply shifted directly into our location the other day and so are checking same types of choices, entertaining but nerve-racking at the same time -)
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