First class clothing care.

Like most people, I imagine, my wife and I rarely think about replacing the things that work. For 10 years we had given not a single thought to replacing our trusty washer, a fairly standard top-loading Maytag, which had served us faithfully without a hiccup. Then one day it began smoking, squealing and dropping small bits of rubber as it slowly walked around the room on spin cycle. The thought of subjecting our clothing to what unknown residue may hide in a coin operated machine sent us on a desperate quest to find a good washer, and fast. We downloaded user manuals and studied. We spent hours in stores talking to sales people and comparing features. We scoured the Internet looking for any useful information to help us make the right decision. We finally decided on the LG model WM2487HRM, a front-loading machine with an extra large 4 cubic foot drum and a beautiful cherry red enamel finish. It has 9 wash programs that can be customized with an extra wash cycle, an extra rinse cycle, various water temperatures, and different spin speeds. It also has an LED display that shows the time remaining until the wash is done, a 1000 watt water heater, a steam generator and the ability to sense the amount of clothes in the drum and calculate required water volume and wash time. The features that, for us, set this model apart from other washers in it’s class, besides the afore mentioned steam generator and high-capacity tub, are a 'direct-drive' system that connects the motor to the drum with no belt, which should increase the washers durability while decreasing noise and vibration, and LG’s reputation for quality products and customer service.

Now, after using it for a few months, I feel comfortable speaking about what my wife and I believe would be some of the more important qualities and drawbacks of this washer for someone considering it for a purchase.

The machine’s documentation claims that a very solid surface is needed for stability, and we found this to be very true. The floor joists in our laundry room are 2”x6”, spaced 16” with an 8’ span, and have proven themselves not stable enough to guarantee smooth and quiet operation. The occasional off-balance load will find some flex in the floor and shake, rattle and roll. Much playing with the adjustable feet has been done to reduce vibration, but it still isn’t perfect. I don’t think this is a fault in the washer design, but it must be considered when deciding what kind of washer to purchase, as fast-spinning front-loaders likely all share this trait. A washer of this style may be unacceptable for someone living in a mobile home, unless modern mobile home floors are built much better than they were just a few years ago.

Once put into action, the effectiveness of the machine is quite apparent. I ran some clean clothes through a rinse cycle, while adjusting the feet during setup, and got a lot of suds; obviously our last washer wasn’t rinsing as well as we would have liked. All of our clothes feel much cleaner, and our whites are brighter now with no bleach than they were when run through our old washer with bleach. This may have to do with the washer’s claimed 158-degree wash temperature at its hottest setting.

Efficiency seems to be an attribute as well. The washer received an Energy Star rating that is better than most of it’s competitors, which may help to keep the electricity bill low, and after the last spin cycle the clothes are almost dry, decreasing the work the dryer must do, probably reducing the bill still further. I have no way to directly measure water consumption, but the drum never seems to have much water in it, and we do laundry and take showers at the same time without any hot water shortages. The large drum will also fit what we previously thought of as 2 loads, potentially reducing the number of loads required to complete the total laundry duties, although this benefit is only noticed when there are large loads to put in it. The drum's high capacity allows for the washing of blankets as well, which saves some of the time and money that would otherwise be spent at a Laundromat.

Another feature that might be considered cost-effective is the gentle handling of clothes, when compared to a washer with an agitator, which should increase their life span.

Financial issues aside, there are conveniences that can make doing laundry much less of a chore, such as an audible signal when the program is complete, permitting the launderer to shift his/her attention to another task, a tub light, and the load sensing ability. Our favorite is the load sensing ability. There is no need to estimate the amount of water required and the exact duration of the wash; the washer calculates these amounts on its own by weighing the load and sensing the water level during the wash and rinse cycles.

The most unique feature is the steam option, which, in regards to wrinkles, works exactly as advertised. We have used the steam to “freshen up” wrinkled clothing that is to be worn, and to smooth out dry-clean only items that have been worn for very short periods of time and are to be hung up without cleaning. To see if the steam has any effect on the cleaning during normal wash programs would require some extensive experimentation, which is something we have not yet done, but the benefits we have seen have convinced us that steam will be an important consideration in the washer designs of the future.

As a side note, it is reported that if the door of a front-loader is not left open a little when the washer is not in use, the door seal will mildew and impart an undesirable odor on the laundry. This could be a nuisance if there is much foot traffic in the laundry room.

We paid approximately $1200 for this washer at Home Depot, a significant sum, and by far the most we have ever paid for an indoor appliance, but we believe it is a good investment. It does much more than we knew a washer could do before we began our quest, and it does it well. LG sells a similar model, in a spectacular blue, with a slightly higher spin speed and an LCD display, but it is $300 more and we could not see how these small upgrades could justify such a large increase in price. No other manufacturer offers a machine with such an excellent combination of features at any price, and we could not find a cheaper model that did not sacrifice so many features that it was in an entirely different class.

There are many factors to be contemplated when making decisions involving expensive items that have an impact on the quality of people’s lives, and I would not presume to know of anyone else’s priorities. If; however, a person were planning to buy a washing machine, and thinks the potential problems I have mentioned are of little consequence, and the benefits are worth paying for, I would wholeheartedly recommend the LG WM2487HRM for serious consideration.