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Speed Queen. We bought the commercial grade. No real bells and whistles. I think it has 25 yr warranty on it. Reviews are off the chart.
You want to look at Speed Queen. Just old school dials, made in the USA, and built to last for a 2 decades. Not sold at your big box stores though.
This. I tried the new fangled front loaders that use no water and they are very hard on fabric. Returned and went with the old school top loading speed queens. They use a ton of water and are not energy efficient but they just work. I believe they are actually 5 year bumper to bumper warranty.
Looks like they've updated the look a little in the past couple of years. I went with the electronic push buttons over the knobs but mine were not as fancy looking as those. Looks like all the same settings though. I wash every day clothing on heavy duty with a second rinse to get all soap out. If you go normal / eco it's just a spray rinse. Most machines nowadays don't give you that full rinse option.
Thanks. It looks like the true commercial units are pretty rare. Closest distributor to me is Nashville about 2.5 hours away. I think I'll lean more toward the home models with the 7 year warranty.
Thanks Getz. They have a "platinum level" distributor for the home models a couple of miles from me. I'll check them out. Thanks for the help here.
Yeah, definitely have upgraded since I got mine a couple years ago. The other reason I liked Speed Queen is that it was smaller than front loading units, allowing my doors to close.
Kenmore used to be good. Now it's more of a crapshoot I think. Remember, Kenmore is just a Sears brand name they slap.on appliances made by different manufacturers. For example I have a Kenmore Elite fridge. It's made by LG. Some Kenmore washers are made by Whirlpool I believe. I have had really bad luck with appliances in general Samsung fridge and dishwasher were crap. Last Kenmore Elite fridge was also a lemon after only a couple years. Went back to the same well though with replacement, slightly different model but also made by LG. Hoping for better luck.
Just needed a minor repair on my 15+ year old Kenmore fridge (ice maker).... Appliance guy was almost not willing to work on it until I told him it was Whirlpool model. He is staunchly opposed to LG and Samsung for fridges.
Probably because you bought it 10+ years ago. Kenmore puts their name on all sorts of junk now days. Our Kenmore "Elite" dishwasher went a whole month before plastic parts started breaking off of it.
mold and mildew build up. We inherited top notch Samsung front loader when we bought. No matter how much we wiped it down and left door propped open, it had mildew smell.
Be prepared to replace that LG very soon. The life span of most appliances is about 10 years, if you're lucky.
Got it - yes, we have that too - I spray with bleach and some other cleaners from time to time and while it doesn’t go away it isn’t so bad as to offset the benefit we get. We have 6 people in the house so having a large frontloader has been a godsend for me and my wife.
Last month I helped my dad move out the old Maytag washer & dryer my P's have had since they moved into their house when I was in 4th grade -- 29 years ago. The washer was still going strong but the dryer died.
Speed Queen was forced to redesign their machines due to government regulations. It sucked but they were required to do so. The machines are really not that more rough on clothes than any other machine, even the front loaders. There are plenty of reports of people having major issues with clothes getting twisted and ripped in front loaders.
The washers are about $900 and up. The dryers are typically less expensive though.
Thanks @Hawkeye21 What are your thoughts on the new models of Speed Queens? Would you still recommend that to customers?
When we closed our appliance store Speed Queen was just switching over to the new design and I was able take one home before they came out at a reduce cost in order to try it out. I've been very happy with mine and it's been over 4 years now. The current models I am not as familiar with but I'm assuming they are similar to what I have now. When we closed our store one of my employees started his own appliance store and I know he sells more Speed Queens than anything else. He also sells GE. He was our service man for over 20 years so he knows what machines are good and what are crap.
Thanks. The wirecutter article promoting how much long time fans hate the new models was interesting. https://thewirecutter.com/blog/speed-queen-washer/ Although the author does seem a little giddy to find people who've changed their opinion on Speed Queen. I'll try to weigh it out.
I was the third generation of our appliance store. My grandpa use to sell the old Maytag ringer washers when he was running it. My dad sold the avocado green and harvest gold color Maytag washers and the transition into the front loaders. As great as the front loaders were at first our customers eventually just wanted their old Maytag top loaders back. People got tired of the repairs, the mold and smells. They were more maintenance. Like I said earlier our customer base is mostly agricultural and they get dirty, very dirty. Front loaders just couldn't cut it.
I recommend the Speed Queen. It's a heavy duty machine. I know their new models are different than what I have now and what I use to sell but they still have a quality product. They are made in Wisconsin and they have the best warranty. You're going to want that warranty if you're using it that much. Try to buy it from someone local if you can find a dealer.
Ha! I wound up not getting a new one. I got so discouraged reading the back and forth stuff on Speed Queen and how it was once awesome and now not and the whole phenomena over how people are in love with them on line which was surely borne out here. I wound up sticking with what we have and it's been ok.
We had an LG front loader before moving from TX to MN (and decided to leave w/ the house) and absolutely loved it. They cleaned the absolute crap out of clothes. Literally (cloth diapers) and figuratively. Only had it a few years but had no problems/complaints.
