Which washing machine is the best?#

Let’s start by getting the bad news out of the way - the reason that this isn’t an already answered question is because there isn’t an easy answer. How do you define “best”? Do you mean that washes the most laundry per hour? That cleans laundry in the shortest amount of time? Do you mean the best for the laundry of a 25 year old accountant who lives alone, or for the laundry of an auto mechanic with infant twins? Do you mean most energy efficient? Do you mean the washer that cleans most reliably with the least amount of fiddling with cycle settings, or the machine that cleans many load types well even though it requires careful setup and initiation? Do you mean cheapest good washer? Do you mean most reliable washer?

Confounding matters is the fact that (IMO) we’re in a bit of a dark time with regards to consumer appliances in the United States. The DOE energy and water use standards for washers and dryers put a bunch of constraints an appliance makers that make it hard to make machines that “just work”. And the market tension between the demands for lost cost and high functionality machines further complicates the picture.

The Best Machine Is (Initially) The One You Have#

(This section is a work in progress.)

The best place to start is figuring out how to get a good wash from the machine you have now.

You’ll need a good flashlight and a thermometer. (If you are very adventurous you may decide you want a temperature logger that can produce a graph a temperatures over time during the wash cycle. I have had good luck with the Lascar EL-USB-1-Pro.)

Here are the things you need to figure out about your machine to know if you’re using it to it’s fullest capabilities:

• Temperature management.
• Cycle durations.
• Drum dynamics.
  • Cascading space and percussive cleaning.
  • Roll rates for difference load sizes and fabric contents.
• Rinse performance.

But What If I Really Need to Buy a Machine Right Now?#

• If you want the simplest to operate machine possible you may find that you prefer a top loading machine. These machines don’t have internal heaters so your max wash temp is dicated by your water heater settings (and whatever energy saving shennanigans the machine implements). Most residental water heaters are set to 43C to 52C for safety, so you probably can’t get a true hot 60C wash from these machines. IMO you should consider top loader machines with an impeller, a deep fill option, and a soak cycle option. You’ll need the agitation and the soak cycle time extension to help compensate for the lower wash temperatures… especially for tough loads. Speed Queen certainly has a fanbase, but I haven’t used one so I don’t have opinions to share.
• If you want to optimize for a machine that can be configured to handle more and different laundry scenarios but that requires more investment in learning how to get it to do what you want, you should probably look for a front loader machine with an internal heater and large direct-drive drum. I currently have two LG WM5800 machines, and while they are FAR from perfect I think they sit reasonably well at the intersection of cheap, good, and reliable. That said, they do have an unfortunate learning curve. Hopefully my writings on these machines can help you with that.