I hate today's washing machines

[0b11011001]

Brushless motors offer a much longer life. No carbon brushes to wear out, no arcing on commutators and complete rotational control with a precision you cannot imagine with an ancient brushed motor. Would you buy a brushed 18V cordless drill in 2026? No chance.

High temperature cotton washes are most useful for bed linen and thoroughly sanitizing towels, sheets and anything where bacteria can live. Nothing beats a 95 degree wash on white towels, bathmats and sheets. I use 60 degrees C regularly for most general non-coloured cottons.

Load balance is a sophisticated system designed to reduce power consumption, minimalize bearing damage and prevent vibration and cabinet oscillation. When you see 12kg of various wash items perfectly distributed and spinning at 1400rpm on the spin cycle with no noise or vibration you'll be convinced. I can put a cup of coffee on the top of the machine and it doesn't move. Put that machine on the concrete slab downstairs and we cannot even hear it even if I set it to start at 4am and finish at 6am. Try that with a top loader- you'll wake up the neighbours too!

Top loaders are the equivalent of push-rod carburetor V8s. They work, but they are primitive, inefficient and lack sophistication. Go to any laundromat with modern gear- are they top loaders? Nope. Large front loaders.

I am not a germophobe. I am not worried about power consumption from my washer. My high efficiency HVAC system uses more energy than my top loading washer, as does my vacuum tube sound system.

We don’t have slab floors, or nearby neighbors. Two things I strongly dislike in home construction, slab construction and vinyl siding, but that is for another thread.

We live in the hills and woods. My handguns make more noise than the washer.

 

[0b11011001]

How do you know what type of top loaders I've used? Up til now, I have had a lot of top loaders in my life. Maytag, Whirlpool, GE, Kenmore to name some.

My clothes are a lot cleaner now with the front loader. Grass stains come out better, grease, whites look better too. That's what Popular Mechanics determined too so it's not just me that is seeing this stuff.

It sounds to me like you've never owned a front-loader. I've had both.

I don’t know what you used, but not all of them are created equal. I also don’t care what some magazine says. I am not the type that consults Consumer Reports, when I swant to buy an appliance, or anything else for that matter.

No I have not owned them. I don’t want one, but I have used them in laundromats, for very large items.

 

[MuchoReverbo]

 

[Telecolor 3007]

The menues are idiotic: that rotating selector is only for programs. For the rest, you need to press buttons. No problem with pushing the button just once, but let's say you want to select temperature or spin speed ... you need to push it more times, which is annyoing. And why I can't preselect a spinning speed if I want?; I don't like using more then 800 r.p.m. -I use 1,000 (1.000) r.p.m. only on the final spin. Make them more user friendly, if the tech had advanced.

 

[MuchoReverbo]

Here Benny Hill compares 4 different front-loaders...

 

[Mr Boochie]

After I got the new GE washer, I noticed that the pipes started banging, especially on the initial Auto-Load sensing stage. The installer put in new flexible stainless steel mesh lines from the faucet. So maybe the combo of a bigger washer and the firmer lines is causing something I never had with any washers before.

When I installed copper pipes, I placed air hammer reliefs in the pipes, by the hoses and sprinkler system. So, I've never had pipe banging issues.

Anyhow, bought a pair of these. I will put them in line with the washer and hope they work. Supposed to work on dishwashers, too.

 

[Bushikan]

I’ve been patiently waiting for someone just to come out and say what we’ve all been thinking and know in our heart of hearts and mind of minds:

Like amps and DACs—ALL washers are the SAME. It’s just soap and water and a little rub. Easier to understand than ones and zeros. Speed Queen, Whirlpool, Miele, Samsung, LG, gas, electric, propane, steam, turbine, squirrel, tube, solid state, hard-water, soft-water, or rock-muscle-and-washboard down-by-the-creek. Doesn’t matter if you spend $20 or $20K.

New topic.

Just in case it needed to be said: This ^^^ was posted—ironically—in jest.

 

[RickB]

I've read through this whole thread now, and one thing that was only briefly mentioned in one post was tub material.
Plastic and stainless have supplanted porcelain.
Why?
The first wash in a porcelain tub is the smoothest that tub is ever going to be; from then on it gets more and more like fine sandpaper.

I grew up in an appliance service owning family, I worked with my dad from the time I was eleven (1963) until health problems caused me to have to shut the business down in 2010. Of course during that time I did go off and do plenty of other jobs but came back to the family business in 1984 until the closing.

We were factory authorized service for many brands, and Speed Queen was one of them.

I went to Service School for SQ in Ripon. During the day of the school, they took two brand new washers off the production line, one with a porcelain tub and one with a stainless tub .
They washed several pairs of jeans all day long, one set in the SS tub, the others in the porcelain..
At the end of class, they dried the jeans in two separate dryers, and we compared the results.
The jeans washed in the porcelain tube were visibly more faded and more worn than the SS washed ones.

I noticed this when I rented a house in the eighties that came equipped with a Lady Kenmore washer in beautiful condition...it was old but worked well...I couldn't keep jeans for very long as the seams would wear and fray, and they just wore out quickly...
I rented another house and put together a Speed Queen SS tub washer from parts of rental return/repossessed units, and the fraying and wear problems went away.

 

[Mr Boochie]

I noticed this when I rented a house in the eighties that came equipped with a Lady Kenmore washer in beautiful condition...it was old but worked well...I couldn't keep jeans for very long as the seams would wear and fray, and they just wore out quickly...
I rented another house and put together a Speed Queen SS tub washer from parts of rental return/repossessed units, and the fraying and wear problems went away.

Thanks! I never knew this.

I haven't seen a porcelain-coated tub washer in a very long time. Maybe since my Mom's old GE.

 

[0b11011001]

I would also venture to say that SS and certainly plastic is much less expensive to manufacture than porcelain, whether it was harder on clothes, or not.

As for jeans. I will wear a pair of jeans for a week before washing them. I did the same thing with the tactical pants I wore while working as a deputy sheriff. The people I came in contact with, were far nastier than those pants on day 5.

 

[Mr Boochie]

I would also venture to say that SS and certainly plastic is much less expensive to manufacture than porcelain, whether it was harder on clothes, or not.

Prolly stainless tub is lighter weight. Porcelain coating is heavy. So, a smaller, less expensive motor could be used to spin the tub.

 

[Bushikan]

…
As for jeans. I will wear a pair of jeans for a week before washing them. I did the same thing with the tactical pants I wore while working as a deputy sheriff. The people I came in contact with, were far nastier than those pants on day 5.

“Whiskey Jim, come out with your hands up!—Or, as the Lord is my witness, I’m gonna rub your nose on the crotch of my jeans!”

 

[0b11011001]

“Whiskey Jim, come out with your hands up!—Or, as the Lord is my witness, I’m gonna rub your nose on the crotch of my jeans!”

Our ballistic vest outer cover was designed like a shirt with pockets. We wore a polo shirt under it. The vest liner rarely got washed and it smelled like bad ass. So it would have been worse than the pants.

 

[RickB]

Current Trends in Washing Machine Tubs​

While American Standard is known for its porcelain-coated bathtubs, the use of porcelain in washing machine tubs has declined. Many modern washing machines now feature:

• Materials Used:
  • Stainless steel
  • Plastic

This shift is due to cost, weight, and manufacturing efficiency. Porcelain tubs are less common in new models, with manufacturers opting for materials that offer better performance and lower production costs.

 

[Mr Boochie]

The air hammer arrestor works 100%.

 

[Telecolor 3007]

Porcelained (in fact enameled) tubs where used by some Europeanen manufacturers who make/made front loading washing machines. "Miele" and some Italian ones (b.t.w., "Miele" is a German company, but in Italian miele = honey, trough the pronuncig is different). Enamel is good. Since is some kind of glass it's more resistent to different chemicals. But beeing some kind of glass, it's more easy to crack - like when joing the 2 sides of the tub. Also, the enameling must be done good, otherwhise you can get cracks and corrosion of the tub - happened on the Romanian made ones.
I don't like plastic ones, because plastic is porous and that ain't good for the health. But I have a plastic tub one in the flat (apartament)...
Looked on some stores. All washing machines seem the same. Probably some have extra-functions, but allmost all look the same.
I wish it was a load balance canceling button. To cancel it to a certain degree.
And why I can't select water loading? O.k., the majority of the old front loaders just had full load - half load. But why I can't? Automatic wheighting of the clothes is not as perfect as they say and I want to select my water level. I want an automated front loading washing machine, but with more manual control.

 

[Mr Boochie]

I think the washer got jealous of all the attention I was paying to the plumbing (must be a female washer), because it stopped doing the final SPIN cycle today. There were no imbalances, no plugged sink, nothing that would cause the machine to stop.

For those with this machine, pull the plug for at least 30 seconds (5-10 seconds doesn't work), then plug it back in, open and close the door 7 (yes SEVEN) times, do the hokey-pokey — put your right foot in, put your right foot out, and shake it all about — and all is well again!

 

[MuchoReverbo]

I have a friend who works in the Whirlpool plant in Clyde, OH and he tells me it is the largest washing machine factory in America and all the Whirlpools sold in the USA are made in the USA. Whirlpool has some overseas plants too but they are for their foreign market.

 

[Copanel]

It had been a month since I noted that the washing machine—manufactured in 2010—hadn't had any issues, when a few days ago my wife mentioned it seemed to be making noise during the spin cycle. I found the bearings and the seal to be worn out. I bought SKF bearings and ordered an original oil seal, with the total cost equivalent to 30 USD. I did the work myself with the help of two assistants.

 

[MuchoReverbo]

From the internet.....

How long should an Electrolux washing machine last?

An Electrolux washing machine should last between 10 and 14 years with regular use and proper care. Their front-load models perform slightly above average for modern residential laundry appliances, though individual life expectancy depends heavily on maintenance and daily workload.

Key Lifespan Factors

• Usage Frequency: Running multiple loads daily reduces overall durability compared to standard 3 to 4 loads per week.
• Maintenance Habits: Monthly cleaning cycles and leaving the door cracked prevent mold, mildew, and premature seal breakdown.
• Detergent Type: Using high-efficiency (HE) soap in correct, small amounts stops residue buildup from damaging internal components.
• Balance and Loading: Avoiding overloaded drums keeps the drum bearings and shock absorbers from wearing out early.

Warning Signs of Wear

• Excessive Noise: Loud roaring or squealing points to failing drum bearings.
• Vibration: Banging during the spin cycle indicates worn suspension springs or an unbalanced floor.
• Leaks: Pooling water near the base usually means a damaged door boot seal or cracked internal hose.