Very good machine

I purchased this washer 5/21/08. I wanted use it for awhile before I wrote a review. After many loads of laundry, I have found this machine to be reliable and efficient. Because we had been without a machine for awhile, the new one ran nearly non-stop for a few days. We normally run one to three loads a day. HE soap is recommended for this machine and we use a liquid, though the manual doesn't state whether liquid or powder is better.

We installed the machine ourselves and noted that it must be perfectly level to avoid shaking. The manual is very clear on this. Any shaking will increase the noise and vibrate the floor.

I really like the many cleaning options on this machine. It has five main settings: Cotton/Towels, Normal, Perm.Press, Delicates and Hand Wash. There are five water temp settings: Hot/Cold, Warm/Warm, Warm/cold, Cold/Cold and Tap Cold/Cold. There is a delay cycle (which I haven't used yet), extra rinse and a water plus option. The water plus option is recommended for heavy or really dirty loads and with three kids, I tend to use this often. You can also control the spin speed from No-spin to Extra High. The Extra high setting is great for shortening the drying time on towels and blankets as it really wrings out the water. Other options include a Pre-wash and Stain cycle for dirtier loads. A Quick cycle option runs for 28 minutes. The longest cycle I have run was for 1 hour and 56 min and that was using the Stain Cycle along with Water plus and Extra rinse.

This LG has Tub Clean cycle to avoid the dreaded smell that HE machines are prone to. I use this cycle once a month with an Affresh tablet. The manual recommends keeping the door open when not in use to avoid smell. This is a bit of a pain if you have a narrow and high traffic utility room. Someone always walks by the machine and shuts the door because it is in the way. The manual also recommends wiping the door seal after each load. That is a bit inconvenient and I only wipe the seal on the last load of the day. I leave the door open at night when possible. I haven't had problems with odor in the machine to date.

The machine has a pump filter located on the lower front of the machine that will catch coins and larger items that may damage the pump. This filter needs to be cleaned twice a month. I went through three pumps with my previous machine, so I find this catch all pretty handy.

This particular machine does not wash huge loads and will not wash large comforters. The one time I tried to wash a comforter, I kept getting the UE (unbalanced load) error code. I have washed light weight queen size blankets with no problems.

The manual is easy to understand and there is a handy laminated card that you can attach to the side of the machine for quick reference. This card shows operating instructions, minor troubleshooting and a list of error codes.

One irritation (at least for me)is the highly sensitive buttons on the front. You can easily hit the stop cycle button if you brush past the machine. This happens often due to my already mentioned narrow utility room.

After re-reading other reviews, I thought I would add that the machine does not make a tremendous amount of noise IMO. It is not as quiet as the sales associate stated, but it is certainly not annoying to me. It is much quieter than my previous machine.

I would recommend this machine to anyone looking for an efficient front loader.