What do you look for in a washer/dryer?

One from a different time when a washer got clothes clean.

Not one that uses a teaspoon of water to soothe environmental guilt.

Rant over.

My mother has been mostly pleased with the line topping Kenmore set from about eight years ago.

It’s “high efficiency” but before that trend got out of hand, just.

It has a multitude of settings, many of them gentle enough to move me to use it instead of hand washing so many items.

The washer has a rinse and spin option that allows me to spin out so much water that items can be dried flat.

Light and energy-saving. I bought my set new at Best Buy for $500 on sale.

Well, I looked for a washer/dryer pair that was beautiful in addition to being functional (I had redecorated my laundry room). But no one wants to hear that kind of crap.

There are seemingly hundreds of options at different price points these days, and I’d highly recommend you take a look at Consumer Reports or any “unbiased” rating service to get a full view of the feature lineup, reliability record, energy usage stats, etc., alongside the price point that you’re seeking.

I currently have a GE Profile front-loading washer/dryer with all the fancy bells and whistles. I love them—they’ve been in service four years with only one service call the first month to adjust something that was out of whack. You might not want or need that firepower.

The last time (and the time before that) that I went looking for a dryer, I looked for “used” and “in good condition”. I had purchased a used dryer in 2002 (for around $100) that lasted for about ten years before a couple of parts broke and I didn’t want the expense of fixing it. Last year I replaced it with another used dryer that cost a bit more (around $300), but is also a better design to begin with (metal lint screen as opposed to fabric, and a larger screen area, too), so I expect it to last for a very long time.

And the prices are nearly unbeatable. Find a used appliance store in your area that gives the machines a checkout before they sell them, so it’s not a crap shoot as it would be on Craigslist.com (but you can get some hella deals there, too).

My dad sells used appliances and he says GE is something to steer clear of (though that’s what I have). Whirlpool and Kenmore seem to be the best in his experience. Also, stay away from front-loading washers. They’re pretty, but they have a lot of problems.

We were given our set by our home builder as a gift. They look small, but they hold a whole lot. The washer has no agitator, which saves a lot of room. They’re also energy efficient.

This seems like a minor thing, but I promise – it’s important. My current dryer ($60 craigslist) buzzes when finished, then proceeds to buzz 7 more times (every few minutes) or until you shut it off and swear at it. So, you can’t simply ignore it. There is no way to adjust this. If/when I purchase another dryer, it will be be a guarantee that I will not have to live with this torture again.

If I had it to do again, I would go out looking for a reconditioned traditional brand-name top-loading washer with a real agitator instead of the damned high-ticket high-efficiency front-loading monster that I settled for when I saw all the castrated new top-loading models with their little agitator buds where a real shaft used to be.

Sticker shock wasn’t even as bad as model shock when we bought this thing two years ago. All we wanted was to replace what we had. We should have just paid $400 for the repair.

What’s more, its huge shiny black eye makes me feel like I’m being watched all the time. By an alien.

I hate the airplane noises it makes. I hate the vibrations. I hate the fact that I can’t set the controls independently; they come in sets. I hate that it can take twice as long as the standard 35-minute wash to do a poorer job. I hate the electronic controls. I hate the hulking size of it. I even hate the color. Have I left anything out?

I recently bought a pair of LGs at Best Buy that are loaded to the gills with bells and whistles. They’re great-looking, energy and water saving, quiet and LED-equipped, and they actually make doing laundry a pleasure rather than the chore it was with the stripped down clunkers that came with my house.

@Pachyderm_In_The_Room Laundry, fun? No machine could ever accomplish that. Divine intervention maybe…

You can do perfectly well with a $250 washer and a $200 dryer. All the electronic crap is just stuff you can break.

How many people in your family and how many loads/day or week?

For a washer, all you really need is temp settings (cold, warm, hot), load size (small, large) and agitation strength (none, regular, strong). You don’t need a million settings.

For a dryer, you need temp settings (no heat, low heat, and high heat) and a timer. Some of them have humidity sensors built in (stop when dry), – those are nice but not essential.

You can get a set like I have described for under $500 delivered. And a good name, too.

@tom_g open up the panel and cut the wire to the buzzer.

I bought a Kenmore Elite, washer and dryer, top loader without an agitator in 2006 I love it.
I didn’t want the front loader as 4 different people that own front loaders told me they have issues with mold around the rubber on the inside of the door. I don’t know if that was typical, but I didn’t want to deal with mold issues.

LOL, @livelaughlove21. Maybe a better word would have been “tolerable.”

@chyna Huh. My sister had the same issue with mold on her front loader.

The rubber seal on the front loader is definitely an issue. I wipe it dry with a towel after use and leave the door ajar. We also set a small fan inside the thing to help it air-dry.

My mother used to wash clothes like this, literally putting them through the wringer, and hang them outside on the clothesline to dry. I remember how excited she was when she got her first “automatic” washer and dryer. Now we’ve regressed to a level of fussy inconvenience with these big lunks that need special treatment while doing a poorer job.

I hate my front load water saving high efficiency washer. Supposedly, some are better than others. They get moldy and I do everything right, all that everything is a pain in the ass. Also, after a bleach load bleach is left behind and you can really screw up your next load.

I want a top load where I can control the water, that has a delicate or hand wash cycle, along with the typical permanent press and cotton cycles.

I also agree with @tom about the buzzer, it has to be able to be turned off. I want that in a microwave also, but that is another topic.

Top loader washing machine.

Mostly because I like to dye fabric, and you can’t do that in a front-loader, for obvious reasons, and also because I like the option of hand-washing something, and then putting it in the washer for just a spin cycle to get rid of the water. Hand-wringing clothes and fabric is murder on my carpal tunnel.

If the dryer is hot and spinning, I’m happy.

Q: What do you look for in a washer/dryer?

A: My laundry.

I like a large tub, so that I can do more laundry at one time. My wife loves the Maytag washer we found on Craigslist.

I’m using a Roper set that I purchased in about 1993. Still going strong, although I had to put a belt on the dryer once. They still sell parts for them, if that tells you anything. Few bells or whistles…they just wash and dry my clothes.

The woman at the parts store where I bought the dryer belt said never, never buy front load washer. She said business has been brisk since they became popular. Doesn’t really bother me…I don’t think Roper even makes front load, and that’s what my next set will be.

I make very sure to only buy top loaders with the old-fashioned agitators. My present one is from Sears and works just fine. Hot, warm, cold; full, medium, small load; permanent press, cotton, pre-wash and delicates.

The dryer is equally straight-forward, although it is front-loading. I can turn the buzzer off and empty it with my post-knee-surgery grabbers. Timer and temperature choices. A few automatic sensor tricks that I ignore.

@tom_g Hear Hear!

@Jeruba I had just such a washing machine when my daughter was born in 1986, it was fine but my parents decided to buy us a second-hand automatic machine, one of the early ones with a concrete block in the bottom to prevent it moving around too much when spinning. I must add that this machine lasted for years and years before needing replacement. Before the old wringer machine, we lived without electricity for 5 years and I washed outside in concrete twin tubs and used a handoperated wringer, I enjoyed getting my hands and the hot water, especially in the middle of winter.

@Adagio Just this week, I’m experiencing the joys and pains of cold-weather laundry again. It’s delightful to handle things soaked in hot water – until they’ve been hanging for five minutes. Then they chill me to the bone!

I bought a LG washer-dryer combo due to limited space. It’s just so convenient, economical, and uses less power and water. The best thing I liked about it is during washing, rinsing and spinning, the washing machine is virtually noiseless. I still remember, my old IFB washing machine, while spinning it used to move due to excessive vibration, it literally used to walk on the floor. I used to call it a Walking machine!!

If my apt has the set up I go for craigslist I am usually only in a place for year. Back on cl or to a friend.

But my sis just got a top loader with no agitator. She loves it. she has a preteen son in baseball and coach and mechanic for a hubby plus a new pup. It replaced a modern front load. Which had problem with the seals.

The mold shouldn’t be an issue unless you live in an aggressively humid place as far as I know. We live in a dry clime and a vinegar or bleach self clean rinse is sufficient to keep the mold down.

My mom always gets front loaders. But she replaces them often. I know because she calls us to carry it down the stairs. I remember the longest lasting ones had cement blocks in the bottom of them. We cursed the things but we did have to move them less often. Front loaders no matter the brand seem to have seal issues these days.

I would stay away from digital if you do like digital get the models with the ability to indepentantly control temp spin etc.

I know little about brands.

@SecondHandStoke has it right. I have a 22 year old whirlpool and it is both quiet and it actually cleans clothes. These new “energy efficient” models are a sham because you end up having to run them 2 or three times to get results (not efficient). Go and find one 2nd hand from the early 90’s, that is the sweet spot IMHO.