Find something with the least electronics and sensors that you can find. Everything is pretty much junk compared to something pre-2005 ish. They all look nice but they don't last. I just keep replacing parts that wear out on my late 90/early2000 model Maytag Atlantis washer and dryer. Parts are cheap.
New-ish Maytag washing machine from 2018 is already dead
- Thread starter KGMtech
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Maytags were at one time one of the best on the market now like everything else just garbage. I found the new Mayags since 2000 last with my useage about 4 years trouble free and with some minor repairs a few years longer, Speed Queens for me have about double the life span..
How are miele washers ?
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They are excellent! @UncleDave has a full clutch of Miele appliances and they are fantastic.
Dish or clothes - answer is the same, absolutely fantastic.
Have two houses full of pretty much everything they make.
In December I bought a Speed Queen TC5 to replace the GE top loader I bought new around 2012. I wanted a simple machine, since my parents experienced problems with their fairly new Maytag Neptune top loader around 20 years ago. It had all the electronic bells and whistles. The GE started to not drain or failed to fully complete its cycles. The plastic paddles had all also broken off the agitator. The Speed Queen lives up to its name with a fast wash cycle. I appreciate the fact that it’s built in my home state. No problems so far and it seems very well-constructed. I also like that they are built in my home state.
Which model? TC or TR or both?
I bought the TC a year ago and it is great.
I heard the TR is somewhat weaker agitation compare to TC.
TC is their old school model with rotating tub and turn dial as supposed to touch button.
Old school mechanical dial. I bought it new in 2016. It's been in 3 homes. You can twist the load size dial to the right and hold it which will fill the machine until you let go.
This pic below is from a 2017 post I made. That laundry detergent has long been discontinued.
I'm on year 8 on my speed queen zero issues. Simple old school machine with dials fills water to the top and load finished in under 25 minutes
Years don't really mean much. Cycles are a much more meaningful life measurement.
Top loads are pretty low performing machines, no internal heaters, slow spin speeds, lots of water for full loads. Stepping back to these is like getting into a 70's smog sedan. At best they'll clean "ok" using tons of soap and water, good ones can last, at worst and most of them are total garbage. Top loaders without agitators dont clean well, and those with agitators clean better, but beat up your stuff - a new work polo is basically wasted after 1 wash a week for a year.
Front loaders without a heater are of marginal usefulness, but are much better with water and soap and gentler on your clothes.
Front loaders with internal heaters, high spin speeds- 1600, and 100% SS drums (plastic ladles in drums are sub optimal) are where it's at. I can get 5 years out of a work polo in this kind of machine.
Top loads are pretty low performing machines, no internal heaters, slow spin speeds, lots of water for full loads. Stepping back to these is like getting into a 70's smog sedan. At best they'll clean "ok" using tons of soap and water, good ones can last, at worst and most of them are total garbage. Top loaders without agitators dont clean well, and those with agitators clean better, but beat up your stuff - a new work polo is basically wasted after 1 wash a week for a year.
Front loaders without a heater are of marginal usefulness, but are much better with water and soap and gentler on your clothes.
Front loaders with internal heaters, high spin speeds- 1600, and 100% SS drums (plastic ladles in drums are sub optimal) are where it's at. I can get 5 years out of a work polo in this kind of machine.
All this is true, but the other down side to modern front loading washers is that it take 2 or 3 times as long to wash the same amount of laundry. My top loader is finished washing a load in 12 to 15 minutes. Also, every front loader I've ever used at the Airbnb's we've stayed at had a funky smell.
Both downsides you mention are calling cards of cheap machines- the kind you typically find in an AIRBNB.
High end front loaders have a 20 min quick wash mode, although 8-5 minutes longer in the wash - the faster speed spin spends about than half the time in the dryer so it wins the overall time to finish comfortably.
High end front loaders with internal heaters don't smell because they kill all the bacteria that cause the smell along with vaporizing the "leftovers" from your teenagers socks and undwear, and several day old washcloths and towels as well as greasy kitchen rags.
Maytag hasn't been Maytag since 2006, when Whirlpool bought the company, shut down the Iowa HQ, the plants, and moved things to Michigan.
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We have Maytags that are 10 years old - starting with 5 people + 3 pets … Hardly a day not on - Never touched by a tech …
Huebsch is the name of the company that handles out uniforms at work... I didn't know they took them back to the mother ship and washed them in their own brand of appliances!
But more on topic: our 5 year old Maytag MVWC656FW1 top loader gets used and abused every single day and never blinks an eye. The wife runs a dog grooming business from the house so the machine washes heavy loads of towels on the daily. The machine gets overloaded constantly (I know, I know) but it just continues to run and does a darn good job of cleaning.
But more on topic: our 5 year old Maytag MVWC656FW1 top loader gets used and abused every single day and never blinks an eye. The wife runs a dog grooming business from the house so the machine washes heavy loads of towels on the daily. The machine gets overloaded constantly (I know, I know) but it just continues to run and does a darn good job of cleaning.
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Interesting to hear they offer services, Huebsch would be a great platform to run a laundromat from - or an airbnb.
My wife ran a mobil grooming business for about 7 years, and leaned heavily on our Miele 1215 which lasted just about 15K cycles running this business and raising a family with two teenage boys and house with a pool.
The animal towels got their dedicated load every day at 140F to kill off whatever nasties came from the animals. The dryer never did give up and is in my garage under a blanket.
Curious - what do you use to disinfect the animal loads? Im guessing you are using bleach.
The hair tended to come off in the dryer and we had to have the vents cleaned at least once a year.
I wish I knew, but I'm not terribly involved with the business. I just fix lawn mowers and come home for chow time.
Knowing my lady, it's only the best of the best. She's very particular about the way things are run and the cleanliness of the salon.
Mrs. Uncle Dave and I share both pink and blue work (outside of cars, toys, and engine work) to a large extent looking at the whole of the house, businesses and property as just work.
Mrs Accent likely uses bleach. It's fairly cheap and works and has been keeping American households clean and sanitary for decades. Dowsides are - its poisonous, has to be purchased in relatively heavy gallon form and becomes another consumable to add to the weekly/ bi weekly run to the store more garbage, recycling, space consumed. It's also hard on textiles shortening their lives.
The up front cost option of a machine capable of sustaining 60C was well worth it when I did the math. For sure it cost a bit more in electricity but it was way cheaper than bleach. 140 seems to be the magic number for dissolving away agricultural resins, mucks and goo of all types in general.
Once you've owned a high performance washing machine it's hard to go backwards.
