Laundry Equipment Conundrum

Posted on by quiltedl

I have to buy a washer and dryer for the new house. The last time I purchased a new laundry pair was in 2003 when I bought a Maytag Atlantis washer and dryer for the current house. My how things have changed in laundry land over the past decade:

Front loaders
HE top loaders
Traditional top loaders
And the wash basket size has really increased!

My new laundry room is a good size room with a door located on the second floor right next to the master bathroom. This rules out front loaders (best for concrete floor installation) and I have to make sure the new washer is quiet. I also have to be able to reach the bottom of the basket to retrieve wet clothes without needing a step stool. This means I’ll either stick with a traditional size washer (under 4.0 c.f.) or select a larger basket that is shallow and wide instead of narrow and deep.

I have narrowed it down to two contenders:
1) GE 7350 HE washer with 4.6 c.f. shallow/wide basket highly rated by Consumer Reports; OR
2) Speed Queen AWN542 traditional washer with 3.3 c.f. basket not so highly rated by Consumer Reports, but everyone seems to absolutely LOVE this old-school washing machine.

There are two people in my household. Right now, I have to drive 30 minutes to the nearest laundromat to wash oversize quilts and the king comforter. I could wash both in the GE washer. However, at the new house there are at least 5 laundromats within a 10 minute drive.

My chief concerns with the HE washers are (1) their ability to clean dirty clothes with such little water and (2) how long will they last before the computerized circuit board needs replacing? Most of the reviews for the GE washer were actually quite good; however, not cleaning and problems with the circuit board were the most often cited reasons for the low review. I only found 2 negative Speed Queen reviews and the inability to get clothes clean was NOT one of them.

Both laundry sets actually cost about the same. The Speed Queen washer actually costs more than the GE right now because HD has the GE washer on sale.

Any insights you’d like to share? I’m really not sure which way to go.