Great Washer

In October 2007 I consigned my 18-month old Whirlpool washer to the junk pile and went out and bought this gem of a machine. I have to admit that I didn't put hours and hours of research into this purchase, which is more than a little shameful given that my last washer was a flying fiasco, but a couple of friends recommended LG, this model got lots of good reviews online, and my local big box retailer had it on sale. So, one Friday night I fought for a parking space in my city's largest shopping mall, tracked down the ever-elusive sales associate, flashed my credit card, and arranged for delivery the following Tuesday.

After six months of regular use, I can honestly say that the biggest problem I've had with this machine so far was finding that sales associate. (Why retailers chose to staff stores as big as two warehouses with a handful of folks is beyond me, but that a topic for another review.) Installation was a snap, and within 10 minutes of the delivery truck pulling out of my driveway I was already running a tub cleaning cycle.

I'm very pleased with the number of washing options the machine gives me (sanitary, cotton/towels, normal, permanent press, delicate, hand wash, and speed wash), and when you couple that with the variety of water wash and rinse temperatures ("extra" hot/cold, hot/cold, warm/warm, warm/cold, cold/cold) as well as the spin speeds (five settings ranging from extra high to no spin at all), and I've found my washing options to be nearly limitless. All of the settings except for hand wash and quick cycle give a pre-wash option as well. And, there's an "extra rinse" cycle if you want to be very sure of getting all of the soap out of your clothes.

I've read other reviewers (on this site and elsewhere) who've been less than happy at the length of the wash time. True, a load washed on the normal setting with an extra rinse cycle takes 90 minutes to complete, and a load on delicate or hand wash (also with an extra rinse) takes 50 minutes. I don't find this to be an issue for a couple of reasons. First, I usually do laundry while I'm also doing other household chores like cleaning or cooking, but most importantly I've never had my grimy workout clothes or the kids' play clothes come out so clean. To my way of thinking no amount of detergent or laundry boosters can take the place of a nice, long wash cycle.

The other way I work around the long wash cycles is to use the delay start option. The machine lets you delay the start of any cycle up to 12 hours. I usually put a load in before bed that's ready for the dryer when I get up. (It works so quietly that even in our small house its operation doesn't wake anyone up.) I then put another load in that's done when I get home from work or the gym. I can then get a load or two knocked out in the evening. Doing it this way means that I can get through a two weeks' worth of laundry in two days without having to constantly babysit the washer.

Another great feature to this machine is the big drum. The factory specs list the capacity as 3.83, whatever that means. What I can tell you is that I can wash six bath towels and mats, or eight pairs of adult blue jeans, or 15 adult undershirts plus a dozen pairs of white socks, or three complete sets of queen sized bed clothes in one go. And by using the "extra" high spin cycle, nothing (even the towels) needs to spend more than 30 minutes in the dryer.

The best thing about this machine, however, is the sanitary cycle. This setting heats the wash cycle water to a germ-killing 160 degrees F and spends a good 120 minutes washing and rinsing clothes. This is a real consideration during the cold and flu season, if you have kids who seem to attract grime, or if you're like me and don't like to douse clothes (or the environment) with bleach and other harsh chemicals. Using the sanitary cycle, yellow stains that were previously in the armpits of my partner's undershirts have completely disappeared as have grease and other food stains from kitchen towels and table cloths. Two months ago, the six-year-old daughter gave her father a hug and inadvertently left a big, greasy stain in her father's favorite dress shirt from her chapped lip medication. With the old washer this would have meant the end of the shirt, but after two rounds on sanitary cycle with this machine I can't tell there was ever a greasy smear across the shoulder of the shirt.

Sure, it's not the cheapest machine on the market, but it's well, well worth every penny.