Thursday, May 10, 2007

LG Washer and Dryer: A Review

On Monday, I called my husband at work and told him that the dryer died. We need a new washer and dryer sooner rather than later was the consensus. A few weeks ago I had warned him this might happen. The washer wasn't ringing all the water out and putting sopping clothes into an old dryer must have been stressful. After ten years of service, the washer and dryer, true soul-mates, died within days of one another.

So sad. For my bank account.

After slogging through reviews, I found epinions most helpful, (as an aside, who on earth has time to write reviews about their home products, oh, right...) here was the conclusion: No to anything Maytag and all other brands receive mixed reviews except for these new snazzy, front-loading contraptions that use a fraction of the energy, water, detergent but cost a lot more. Ugh. Must phone the hubby again. I don't like these phone calls. I find myself sounding like a David Oreck infomercial and my husband hates to be "sold". So I sell him anyway and he agrees.

Here's what I gleaned about washers and dryers:

  1. Make sure they both have stainless steel drums. Ceramic drums can chip and then rust.
  2. Make sure the dryer senses the dryness of the clothes. That saves energy.
  3. Don't pay extra for dryer features. They're bogus ways to jack up the price.
Off to Home Depot with armed with a little bid of knowledge and a lot of three kiddos. We buy this washer and this dryer. And dang blast it all, today online, there's a 10% of sale. Crud! Speaking of crud, the washer just whipped through one load of moldy towels (they've been sitting around for a week). It was whisper quiet. The clothes come out smelling and looking good.

The dyer was loud when I first put the towels in the drum. They banged everytime it turned--not loud, but louder than I hoped. This got better as the clothes got dryer. I am still a tad disappointed because my main criterion after size was sound. Between the washer and dryer, dish washer and refrigerator, there's a lot of ambiant sound in my kitchen and I like it quiet. Still, the dryer is quieter than the old one.

First load size:
  • Five oversized towels
  • Ten hand towels
  • Five wash clothes
I used Method detergent and softener, bleach and a Method dryer sheet, curious to know how everything would smell and feel if I went all out with wash products. Soft, clean and fluffy, like the commercials--model towels came out of the dryer.

The most exciting part? It was all so simple, a child could do it. And children will be doing it. Today. I tell you how that works, too. If they can use a search engine on the internet, they can wash their clothes at ages 8 and 10.

Oops, I forgot: My husband decided to try the dryer just to make sure it was really broken. He turned it on last night and he said, "See? Still working!" The words were half-way out of his mouth when the dryer made an exploding sound and knocked out. Bam! Nothin. The whole family sat at the dinner table laughing and he was laughing, too. "Well, I guess it's really broken." He said this as he pulled the plug gingerly out of the wall. Actually, I was happy for the little explosion. Had it still worked, I wold have been a tad upset about spending nearly $2,000 on a washer and dryer.

4 comments:

MaxedOutMama said...

? You wrote "No to anything Maytag", but the links go to Maytag?

Yikes! $2,000!!!

Anonymous said...

FYI ... I swear by Maytag. Had a Maytag dryer that lasted 21 years before giving out. The washer is going on 23 years and still going strong. Had a Maytag dishwasher that lasted 16 years. Pretty good track record.
SCarr

Melissa Clouthier said...

Sorry about the links! I thought they went to the specific page. Evidently, not.

I know. Lots of people love Maytags, no offense to Maytag. Perhaps their manufacturing was better twenty years ago. The day ours busted my husband shared the story with patients and got loads of "don't buy Maytags" advice.

Chalmers said...

Awesome! We will be bringing our laundry next time we come down to mooch the new pool!