In my experience, simple, old fashioned top loaders, even cheaper ones, last longer with little to no trouble compared to front loaders with features requiring many sensors in addition to the expensive front door gaskets failing. Both get the average wash clean.

On top of that we've had issues with front-loading washers making clothes smelly if you don't pull them out very soon after it finishes. With my top loader I can do leave wet clothes in there half the day and they won't smell.

Yes. They're mechanically simpler and more resistant to damage from overloading and vibration. They work on a completely different principle too. And agitate the clothes while top loading washers rely on the clothes falling down from the top of the drum and smashing the clothes on the bottom to provide the same type of action.

One major difference though is in efficiency. Top loading washers choir much more water to operate than side loading. It's actually an interest of side loading washers to have less water and soap that doesn't suds. If so, where to produce suds? It provides a cushion and significantly decreases the effectiveness of washing because clothes can't fall down and smash other clothes as hard, reducing the cleaning effect. That's where the HE detergents come from: they have reduced suds.

Look at top load Speed Queen washers. They are the same ones that laundry mats use so they are built like a tank.

I've had my top loader for 22 years now. They are also easy to repair if needed. I replaced the little plastic dog ears once for about 3 dollars. And the belt on the dryer went but didn't take much to fix.

Front-loading washers have more issues with mold for some reason.

When not in use you just leave the door cracked. Mine is probably 8 years old with no mold issues

Front loader all the way here. They are much more gentle on clothing while still getting them nice and clean. To me there is no point in the washing machine being indestructible if it tears up your stuff in the process! And to be honest, our last Bosch lasted much longer than the toploader it replaced. (I'm sure it is still going strong, but we moved ten years later so I have no data beyond that.)

They also use a ton less water, less soap, and less electricity. Yes, you need to leave the door open between washes, but I did that on top loaders too.

>Speed Queen Classic Clean™

This indicates the agitator moves separately from the tub. The only top load model that has this specification is the TC5.

>Speed Queen Perfect Wash™

This is the description of the other 3 models of top loaders SQ sells. The agitator is fixed to the tub so there's reduced agitation action.

How did I find this out? Lorain Furniture & Appliance YT channel. This is the video review of the TC5 model we bought and have enjoyed for the past few years. Old school model as hell. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk2P5_7g_jg

DYK that Maytag washers don't do full hot water washes? They use blended with cold in "Hot" mode, which results in lukewarm washing.

How's the detergent drawer doing? Ours grew pink stuff in the corners so we took to pulling the drawer out to allow the hole to dry. We also left the washer door fully open when not in use. I still felt the need to run the 'clean' cycle monthly, but that may have been because I used too much detergent. These things need like a teaspoon and that's it.

Front Loader all the way.

Key points -

• leave the door on them open when they are not in use/after washing
• Don't leave wet laundry in them for more than half a day
• They use less water and get your clothes dryer
• they require less detergent per load
• Don't use fabric softener in them, vinegar in the prewash works just as well
• easier to load and unload
• stackable to save floor space

There is no metric for better, so your question raises more questions.

Speed Queens are BIFL. The TC5 top loader cleans better than their other top loaders.

Maytag 575 and the associated dryer are BIFL.

Bold statement: a dryer is a dryer with them being simplistic and this is one item you can "cheap out" on, if your OCD allows you to have an unmatched set.

Knock on wood, front loaders clean better than top loaders...people debate this though. I was proved wrong on this issue once by someone nice here. And if clean is a goal, research detergents....the king, to my knowledge, is Persil which is what we use.

When we were looking at buying a stacked washer and dryer set a few years ago, the salesman at one of the stores we went to told us that most people use too much detergent in front loaders and that is what actually leads to the smells and mold that most people experience. The detergent manufacturers want you to buy MORE detergent, so they don't really tell you that all you really need is the amount to fill a shot glass to get your clothes clean. Maybe give that a try and see how your clothes and washer do. ;)

You should check the filter and exhaust vent on your dryer to make sure it's not clogged.

We've had both front load and top load and we much prefer the top load. When we moved into our current home, there was no washer and dryer, so we had to buy a set. We opted to go with a top loader without an agitator this time. We couldn't be happier with it. We can wash any size load - from a few things (which we don't do very often because we don't want to waste water) to huge comforters and quilts. Ours has a pull out drawer to pour your detergent into or drop in a detergent pack. It also has a drawer to pour softener into (a lot of these machines without agitators don't include a softener dispenser so you have to use something like a Downy ball). The key to getting clothes cleaner in one of these types of machines is to ball your clothes up as you put them in. Don't just layer your clothes. Balling them up creates the agitation that you're missing. ;)

With a front loader, we always had that funky smell... we even left the door open when not in use so the gasket could dry out. Also, since we have cats, we always had to clean out that big door gasket because it would collect a big wad of nasty wet hair and goop. The detergent drawer ALWAYS got moldy too. How does a machine that is constantly dirty and moldy get clothes clean? Ewwwww!!!!

As for dryers... the ones that matched the front load washers that we had (two different models and brands) didn't seem to dry very well either. No matter what time and/or temperature we set them to, the clothes were ALWAYS damp and had to be restarted. The ones that have matched all of the top load washers we've had over the years have always done well. We always liked having a pull down door to drop clothes onto from the washer or pull clothes out of the dryer onto because it was handy and the openings were bigger, but space didn't allow that with our current set.

My advice is to go to a good appliance store and talk to the salespeople... and have a good idea of what features are important to you in your machines. They'll be able to tell you good and bad things about all of them. Like the set we have now... the salesman let us know that it doesn't stay locked during the entire cycle like a lot of models do, so tossing something in late is a little quicker and easier. And, the last set we had (it was a stacked unit in a closet) didn't show how long was left in the cycle and didn't have a chime to let us know it was done, which always bothered us, so the salesman showed us models that included those options.

Yeah, I fear that a single pod of detergent is still too much for the ~3 gallons of water used by a front loader during the wash cycle.

Repair guy said a good test for over-soaping is to take clean towels and run them thru a rinse cycle, with no detergent. Soap bubbles in the rinse means you have soap left over in your towels and need to reduce the amount of detergent you are using. Yeah, I failed that test! ;)

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Look at older ones specifically, not the new kind.

I have a rotary line and while it definitely won't last me for life, it will extend the life of my dryer.

When my dryer stopped heating last year, I ordered a $20 set of commonly expiring replacement parts from Amazon, and probably swapped them all out, or at least a few of them even though only one of them fixed the problem. Can't really remember.

I'm not going to recommend the dryer, it was chosen by my ex and I'm sure it will need new parts every few years because it's all buttons and beeps.

I've had front loaders and I don't care for them. I never molded the washer but I was careful to always prop it open. Still, a top loader is more versatile. In terms of longevity of textiles, sometimes soaking in very hot sodium hydrosulfite soda ash solution can suddenly be the thing that removes a stubborn stain from a synthetic sweater without removing its color, or removing color & stains from a cotton quilt leaving it a lovely different color entirely with no stains at all.

The fewer computer-ish things, the less there is to break.

Thank you. And yeah I agree, I am buying a set with the least possible stupid sensors/fancy beepers etc. Its been incredibly annoying because before I moved in with my husband I always lived in an apartment or condo with some old, plain, white washer and dryer that was probably from the 90s and never had a single problem with them. Then I move in with him and he has this front loader, fancy red set with all these buttons and sensors and beeps and they’ve been nothing but problems. Way too hot, dries for way too long, sensors broken, bad smell in the washer, bad smell in the dryer, very wet laundry etc etc etc. it’s been a nightmare tbh. Never buying a “fancy” washer/dryer ever in my life.

It’s because your washer is dirty, you may(or may not because it’s pretty gross) want to clean it

Results may very. I wanted to love the front loaders too. I had no problems with mold smells and quickly figured out how little soap I needed. It was great for comforters, towels and jeans but all other clothing wore out far more quickly with the front loaders. It was most obvious with husbands work clothes (dress shirt and pants). His shirt colors and cuffs (sleeves) would get frayed within a year to fifteen months. His dress pants wore out and faded super quickly - just don't remember how fast. I had one new shirt get knotted up with one of his shirts and ruined it after I wore it twice. I don't mix heavy items with regular weight items: so a load of dress shirt and pants - was wearing out faster with front loader than a top loader. I tried all sorts of loading strategies and different wash cycles to attempt to get the front load washer to stop beating up and wearing out my clothes so fast but in the end, I had to concede defeat and go back to a top loader. The only inconvenience is washing bulky comforters has to be done at the laundry mat. We live in an area with ample water supply, the water isn't cheap but neither are the clothes. If you like buying a new wardrobe on an annual basis, then go for a front loader. Ugh - I just remembered it ripped a comforter once and split the entire side of a washable pillow. I don't miss the 2 to 3 hour wash cycles either.

Those pods are such a rip off too!

I have a shitty hotpoint set in my apartment. I know that thing is probably over 10 years right now with probably 0 maintenance. Not saying there aren’t better options. But I haven’t had an issue with it in 3 years while my family has had all of their fancy washers fail.

Previously I had fancy front loading washer and matching dryer with all kinds of features that I'd never need. Within two years both had sensor and gasket problems that I ended up dumping money into fixing. When the problems returned after a year and a half, I put my money into a cheap roper washer and hotpoint dryer, both have performed flawlessly for 7 years since then. The washer might use marginally more water, but I use it to water my yard.

Once I have to buy my own, I’m just goi by to see what laundromats are using. They’ll either have a good warranty or good lifespan. I don’t need any of the fancy shit.

I will switch back to top load only when I find one with a built in heater. Front loaders heat the water up to 150F (sanitizing cycle) and eliminate the use for bleach. Whites are super white with a little bit of detergent and Oxyclean.

If you don't care about that and are comfortable with as far as your water heater will go, then any cheap top loader will outlast any fancy FL.

When we moved, I left my cheap 10 year old top loader behind and excitedly bought an LG front loader. I hated that front loader with a blinding passion, but couldn't bring myself to replace a nearly new machine. I eventually replaced it with a used top loader I got for free. I didn't feel right selling it, so I donated it to a family that didn't have one. The front loader did NOT get clothes clean, probably due to not enough water (even with the extra water setting). There was barely a little puddle in the bottom. Imagine washing a sinkload of dirty pots and pans in an inch of sink water and you get the idea. So I had to soak the clothes first, but problem is you can't soak clothes in a front washer. I got a big 5 gallon bucket just for that purpose. I had to fill the 5 gallon bucket, add a little Oxyclean and laundry detergent, add the clothes and manually agitate them a little, soak the clothes for 30 minutes, then lug the heavy bucket to the washer and awkwardly pour them in to the front loader. It was ridiculous, I felt like a washer woman from 100 years ago. If you start the door and then want to add a couple items, you have to wait for the washer to drain out a little water before the door unlocks, then after you add the clothes, it refills again. Front loaders look stupid with the door hanging open all the time. The u-shaped seal had an insufficient "lip" to keep water out and collected a puddle of water in the bottom of the seal after every wash. The inside of the seal was always disgusting--wet, moldy, hairy and slimy. (I ALWAYS left the door completely open, did not use fabric softener, and used less detergent than called for.) When the musty smell got too bad, I would dry the inside of the seal then stuff bleach-soaked rags in there, and go back in every hour or so and wipe down the seal with the rags, then rinse and resoak the rags (OUTSIDE with a hose and bucket, since we are on septic and I can't put a bunch of bleach in the septic), repeating the whole process until the seal was clean. It was absolutely ridiculous! I'd never get another front loader.

Oh man that’s basically exactly how I feel about our front loader lol. Never again.