My washing machine is calling it ka-poots....and being a cd'ing mama...I want the BEST washing machine for my needs. What do you all recommend? Where did you get it?

THANKS!!!

Chrisitna

Great question!! I'm looking too! Where in the midwest are you?

St. Louis....but we have to come to Chicago soon to go the the Spanish consulate..sometime in April probably. My dh has to renew his passport.

Where in St. Looney?? We use to live in U-city.

AHHH...U-city...you did live with the enlightened, didn't you? I would love to live in that part of town. We live in South county, off of Telegraph rd. My parents live down this way, its ok, sleepy bedroom community, but very low crime.

I need one too, though I have gotten pretty good at turning the knob with pliers. :rolleyes:

And I am smack dab in the middle of you two. -- Peoria

I have a Kenmore (from sears) front-loading washer. I LOVE it! It tumbles your clothes instead of having the agitator. I've washed diapers in it (had it about 5 years) and they do fine. They use less water and soap and aren't as hard on your clothes as the traditional top-loading models. PLUS it can be stacked with your drier (we bought the pair together) don't know if you can stack your existing drier or not. The price is comparable a fancier top-loader with the same features. It also is big enough to wash comforters/quilts etc.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=APPL&pid=02644102000

I am totallly in love with my washer (ask mama2many!). I got a Fisher and Paykel. It is called the ecosmart machine. It uses jetplane technology while being very gentle on clothing as well as the environment. It looks like a top-loader, but acts like a front loader. Instead of using the agitator, detergent goes in there. It has a large capacity and uses less soap than other machines. You can program it to do the type of load you want, including soak, delay start, extra rinse, wools, and more.

It is absolutely fantastic! and I can't wait until my dryer breaks so that I can replace it with the match to my washer.:D

ooooooo....sounds cool....where did you get it? Can you link me?

www.abtelectronics.com (http://www.abtelectronics.com) hope that helps -

I love my washer...but it doesn't do diapers. I have the Kenmore HE3. I have tried a bunch of different combinations to get the diapers clean and none of them worked. For clothing though, it works great!

Jennifer - We also had the HE3t and now have the Whirlpook Duet (same machine but had an issue with Sears so sent the Kenmore back) and my diapers come out great! I do a rinse and spin to just rinse out the pee then I do a shorter cold regular wash with a bit of detergent. I then do a "Whitest Whites" cycle on hot with no detergent and that's it! Nice clean dipes. I'm sure I can do a rinse then the whitest whites cycle only but this works well and it's not like I'm using a lot of water! :)

So to answer the original question, I love the Kenmore HE3t or the Whirlpool Duet. The Kenmore that's linked above is a great machine (Frigidaire makes it and has their own version) but that small opening would have driven me nuts!! :0) I love the big door on my machine and can wash ANYTHING in it!!

Ann

I'd go to Sears and buy a model that doesn't have all that electronic crap on it. That just makes it expensive to fix. Mechanical things are cheap to replace compared to electronics.

I just can't imagine paying big bucks for a washer or dryer. All it is, is a tub that holds clothes and a part that aggitates the clothes. The dryer just has a heating element and belt to turn the drum.

We bought a used dryer and washer for $50 each, 8 years ago. We've replace a belt (less than $10), replaced a bearing ($8) and replaced some switch on the dryer door (around $10) and the heating element on the dryer (about $30). The parts are so cheap.

If you or your DH can use a screwdriver and socket then you have it made. You can put all that extra money into your savings and use it for an emergency or for bills.

Gracie, the difference is that while a used washing machine will work fine, hopefully...a new energy star rated machine will save money over the long run and your energy bills, water, gas, etc wil drop from the more efficient machine.

I have a new washing machine and an old used dryer. My new washing machine is so good that when the clothes are done in thee, they come out damp as opposed to wet - which is supposed to save money when you run them through the dryer.

My old used dryer takes twice as long to dry, even though my washer leaves the clothes only damp. It frequently takes me 100 min to dry a single load of clothes. It's not due to a clog in the tubing or the lint filter, because those are cleaned and checked on a regular basis.

So, I contend that a newer machine will work more efficiently, thus saving money in the future (and it's better for our environment!).
But of course, what works for you is the way to go for you, and what works for me - is what's best for me.

You know what else I forgot to say about our HE3? It is the most sock-eatingist thing I have ever seen! This last load, I found 8 socks under the rubber seal in the machine.

hmmm. you mean washing machines really do eat socks??? occasionally we do have some disappear, but that is due to children and dh, not the machine!

Originally posted by tikva18
hmmm. you mean washing machines really do eat socks??? occasionally we do have some disappear, but that is due to children and dh, not the machine!

Yes!!! The HE3 is a sock-eater. The big gasket type thing that forms the seal so water doesn't leak out hides sockes. I saw the end of a sock sticking out so I pulled it up...there were a bunch of cloth napkins, hankies and socks hidden in the thing. It could be that I overfill the machine though. :rolleyes:
So, now, I check under the seal after every load to make sure no socks or other small items got stuck under there.

I love my brand new Kitchen Aid Washer and dryer set.

The washer has extra wash and rinse cycles. It's got smart wash, where you can set it to use exactly the right water temp.

It's got super capacity which is perfect for my comforter or all my sheets and my blanket at once!

I LOVE my machine!

edited to add: and mine has detergent, bleach and fabric softener cups so that that stuff gets added slowly.