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Domestic Dilemmas

In a conspiracy of bad timing, we lost our washing machine to fatigue this weekend, and our dishwasher to poor design and the force of my foot (frustration, you see, for the wretched old Whirlpool’s inability to clean the Guinness residue out of my pint glasses; justifiable technocide, I believe).

Looking for recommendations and testimonials in support of replacement machines.

Thrall me with your acumen. Please.

93 Replies to “Domestic Dilemmas”

  1. Robb Allen says:

    Why not illegal labor. Senorita Conchita would gladly wash the ^&*# out of your dishes AND fold your whitey tighties for much less than the payments on a new Maytag.

    I mean, these little chicas will gladly do the jobs American machinery won’t!

  2. DWB says:

    Me, I’d fix them both and then bask in my manliness…..

    I do like the new front load washers though. They’re so “european”.

  3. Jim in KC says:

    They don’t know shit about cars, but here’s where Consumer Reports is your buddy. When we rebuilt our kitchen about eight years ago I researched dishwashers therein and ended up with an Amana, which has been loyal and faithful and cleans the hell out of stuff. In that time, it had one minor breakdown, a switch on the door latch failed necessitating a replacement. The new one was a bit different, indicating that they might have discovered the old one was problematic.

    Our last two washing machines have been Maytags, and we’ve had no problems at all with them. The latest one has a stainless tub, which is a cool feature if you’re buying a machine that’s likely to last. On a throwaway beater machine it would be frivolous.

  4. Jeff G. says:

    Not practical. I’d have to disable the security system I put in to keep brown people away from the property, and that involves tools and time.

    No. I’m interested in actual recommendations of machinery. Anybody with experience with Bosch dishwashers? How well does the “condensation drying” system work? Sounds moist, to me.

  5. Dan Collins says:

    Hieronymous Bosch dishwasher? Those motherfuckers are WEIRD.

  6. Jeff G. says:

    Sorry, that last was directed at Robb.

    Re: Maytag. Our last washer was a Maytag. They’ve been taken over by Whirlpool. Looking for specific brands and models.

    Anybody have any experience with the Frigidaire Affinity front load washer?

  7. brian says:

    A friend has a Bosch, loves it. Virtually silent. Also not cheap. I bought a Whirlpool for half what a Bosch costs, and although it can be heard, it works well enough. I’ve encountered no beery residue on MY glasses.

    Ditto on the washer – have a Whirlpool. It’s got 7 years on it and it’s still going strong. Although I fear that having recommended it to you mine will explode in a fury of sparks and suds to punish me.

  8. stiv says:

    For major appliances you cannot beat Sears. Ever.

  9. JD says:

    Jeff – Kitchen Aid models have been excellent for us, for several years. Ours in now the kind that has a cabinet panel over the exterior so it blends in, and I cannot find the model #. At any rate, we have had the kind with the stainless front, and the controls on top of the door. Additionally, we have the Kitchen Aid model of the dishwasher drawers in the basement, which I like, but the better half believes to be not so efficient.

  10. JD says:

    My neighbors have all Bosch applicances, and they are enamored of same. I suspect that has to do more with design rather than function.

  11. Robb Allen says:

    Not practical. I’d have to disable the security system I put in to keep brown people away from the property, and that involves tools and time.

    No wonder I could never jimmy your back door.

  12. SarahW says:

    Bosch – excellent. A high-end Kitchenaid is still a good buy. The Fisher Paykel dish-drawer has done well. A stainless interior is a must and and adjustable racks a plus. Miele is overpriced and will fail and repairs can be troublesome.

    What’s wrong with your dishwasher? Some minor adjustments could save the day, depending.

    For a washer, it’s hit or miss with the front loaders. He5t’s have a good track record and a good feature set. Bosch has had some difficulties with circuitry but is the only americanized (120v) washer that will do a profile wash (all the way from cold to hot in a single cycle). Stay away from the new Mieles. Bad value. And no machine has it all right now. What are your priorities? If high efficiency but lower price is desireable, Fisher-paykel plans to release a top-loading, low profile agitator washer new washer in days.

  13. Jeff G. says:

    Some of the KitchenAids rate as quiet as the Bosch. But I have heard of leaking problems with the KitchenAids — as well as pump failure. Bosch, meanwhile, scores very high in reliability, and has an aquaguard feature that will shut the machine off if a leak is detected.

    On the other hand, Bosch uses a condensation dry — very Eco-friendly — but I’m not sure how efficient. KitchenAid has, on at least one of its models, TWO drying elements. It also has a hard food disposal, which means you don’t have to scrape dishes. Like a washing machine should work.

    Maytag makes the Jenn-Air brand; and at least one of the Kenmore’s is made by Bosch (though it doesn’t have the integrated control panel, which I like).

    What else is out there that you people like? Anybody have any problems with the KitchenAid?

  14. BumperStickerist says:

    Google three words: Samurai Appliance Repair

    Poke around the site and you’ll get recommendations for, recommendations against, major appliance purchases. You’ll also get field-level insights as to the changing quality of major product lines over time, easy repairs (I’ve fixed our dishwasher twice, delaying the inevitable, but – you know, not having to spend $400-$750).

    I also repaired my Kenmore clothes washer a couple of times when my wife overloaded the thing with towels and the thing wouldn’t spin or empty. Turns out she broke the plastic do-hickey that’s in the rubber thingie that connects to the whirring piece.

    He’s written step-by-step instructions that are dead simple to follow. The whole repair took 45 minutes the first time – about fifteen minutes the second time.

  15. Swamp Rabbit says:

    Kenmore (Sears), mine are at least 20yrs old, still like new.

  16. JD says:

    Never had a problem with any of ours. We did have an installation issue, but that was due to my workmanship as opposed to anything on their part. You have to be standing directly in front of it to hear it.

  17. Jeff G. says:

    Sarah —

    Yeah, we’re looking for High Efficiency front load (my wife doesn’t like the HE toploaders — I liked the Bravo, but she nixed it) with an internal heater. Leaning toward the Frigidaire Affinity (they just released the 8000 series). Looked at the Bosch, which uses less water and is quieter (and 100-200 RPM more, depending on the model), but it was also about $600 more. Our laundry room is off the kitchen, nowhere near the bedroom, so sound wasn’t so much a concern. On the dishwasher, quieter is better, but I think anything under 54db rates as a whisper.

    Dishwasher-wise, the one we have came with the house. It’s a mid-range black Whirlpool with the utensil basket on the door. It doesn’t dry well, it doesn’t clean well, and the silverware and glassware are almost always spotted and food caked.

    I have been going back and forth on the dishwasher between the KA and the Bosch. Looked at a closeout on last year’s LG (which looks a lot like the Bosch), but read terrible things about it. Thought about the Miele (which I’d read good things about), but I think it overpriced, and I’m glad to hear that maybe I made the right choice in discounting that.

    Not sure how the Power Scrub on the Bosch works. On the Kitchen Aid, you can see the 4 specific jets.

  18. Jeff G. says:

    BS —

    Went there. Our motor is dead. Would need to replace it. It’s an old agitator style machine, so not going to bother.

    He recommends a brand of HE topload washer that I like, but that is too pricey.

  19. Jim in KC says:

    My parents had a KitchenAid back in the day and it didn’t clean things all that well. Based on that, I’ve always considered KitchenAid to be a purveyor of so-so equipment at premium prices.

    Consumer Reports is like $4.00 for a temporary monthly membership to look up and read their latest reviews.

    Sears has everybody under the sun make appliances for them. The Consumer Reports reviews typically note on any given model who makes it.

  20. SarahW says:

    I have a Kitchen-Aid purchased about ten years ago – the first gen of stainless-steel interior KA’s. I did get a cherry-pit blockage about 2 years ago, but I could easily fix that myself and performance has been otherwise flawless. I toss large scraps into the trash, but don’t “pre-clean my dishes and they come out spotless. And, I prefer the element drying.
    HOWEVER, my machine preceded changes to pumps that you remarked on. The newest high end machines, I’m told, have resolved some of the pump problems of machines that came after mine, but please don’t take my word for it.

    As far as laundry goes, do you have a limited space? 1st or second floor installation? Is your washer near the hot water heater? (a factor for choice of a front loader, in particular – a heater being advisable if the washer is some distance from very hot water.

  21. LionDude says:

    Hey, Jeff.

    Just bought an LG (model WM0642HW) front loader HE washer at Home Depot. They have it for $799 plus a 10% discount until the 5th (?) and with all the other rebates we’ll get (Bay Area, CA) from our power company and water utilities company, plus another $50 gift card from Home Depot, it works out to about $500, if my calculations are correct. Now, we literally just bought it yesterday (9/3) and it hasn’t been delivered so I can’t give you a review just yet. I do believe Consumer Reports gave it a “Best Buy” mark. I’ll confirm later today.

    Hope this helps. Good luck.

  22. Jeff G. says:

    Washer is first floor. Hot water not a problem. The internal heater for the sanitize cycle is something we’re interested in because of little boy germs and little boy toilet training “accidents.”

  23. SarahW says:

    I see your bride wants the internal heater – which she’s quite correct, is ideal.
    The Bosch probably has the best heater of all the American-current front loading machines. The Affinity’s first gen heater was underpowered and available ONLY on the sanitary cycle. I am not certain, but I think its still the case that the heater operates only on that cycle.

    The Bosch heater, by contrast, would work in a number of cycles to perfectly regulate temperature, warm or hot, throughout the cycle. This matters more than in a top loader, because these front loaders use a good deal less water, and maintaining optimal temperatures in some front loaders is problematic in some situations.
    The ability to do a profile wash sets it apart from most front loaders. Starting at cold and gradually stepping the temperature up to hot or extra hot, removes mixed stains without setting them, most effectively. T
    The HE5t has a stain-treat option that will step a wash from warm to hot, the next best thing.

  24. Cowboy says:

    Jeff:

    Just bought a Sears Kenmore dishwasher & it’s been great. One word of advice, though if you should choose this avenue–avoid the service agreement like a plague.

    More importantly, though, what the hell are you doing washing your Guiness glass in a dishwasher? You never, and I mean never, use any kind of soap on your Guiness glass. Rinse it in very hot water only.

    Silly man.

  25. keninnorcal says:

    We recently bought the Bosch Nexxt 500 Series front-load washer…love it. Didn’t hurt we were able to catch it on sale, free delivery, and a rebate from the state for HE.

    Diswashers–we have a GE which I’m ready to pull a Richard Pryor on and put a bullet through it. GE also makes another type of dishwasher (can’t remember right off hand), neither of which will we even consider when I do plug it in the motherboard.

  26. MLD says:

    Recent kitchen remodel netted an ASKO dishwasher. applianceadvisor.com described it as “scary quiet”. It is. Cleans very well and you can set it to superheat the water to kill anything that might be lingering on the dishes…

    Kenmore washer quit after 15 years, so we replaced it and the matching almond colored dryer with Siemens front loaders. Same as Bosch, but slightly better looking. Both have worked very well and are quiet. You will want to make sure any front loader is set up properly and/or the floor is solid underneath. Those high rpms can set up a resonance that makes you think there’s an earthquake coming. The Bosch/Siemens are about the only W/D set actually made in the USA (although they are Euro designed…) Go to Best Buy and ask them to match what ever deal Home Depot is offering if you open an account with them. You’ll get 12 months same as cash, and as a side benefit, you can check out the computers, games, and other stuff while you’re waiting for the Mrs. to fill out the paperwork.

  27. We’ve had nothing but bad luck with Kenmore. A freezer we bought when our first child was born died by the time she was walking. It was out of warranty, but we shamed Sears into replacing it free. The refrigerator is breaking down, and apart, piece by piece. See here for info on which companies are really behind which name brands. Maybe I just drew a crappy assembly line for my purchases.

  28. Jeff G. says:

    What’s wrong with the service agreement, Cowboy?

    LD —

    Looked at the LG — like the direct drive system. Still considering.

    Sarah —

    The latest Affinity models say that the integral heater boosts and regulates temps throughout the cycle. Whatever that means.

  29. psychologizer says:

    I have a GE. It’s loud, smells weird, washes dishes, and that little swirly logo of military-industrial hegemony is just what I needed to make my kitchen pop.

    Your best bet for a man-sized wad of washing machine is — seriously, now — an old used AEG. They were the best, and crazy door-to-door expensive back in the day. Mine is British, I think. Or gay. Tough call. It weighs very slightly less than the Moon. The new ones are plastic junk.

    Or just buy something that sounds German. They’re serious about cleansing.

  30. TheGeezer says:

    What else is out there that you people like? Anybody have any problems with the KitchenAid?

    We have one for 11 years. It was a little pricey due to its stainless interior, but it’s been flawless.

  31. Merovign says:

    craigslist, free section.

    You can get a new one every week if you have to.

    :)

  32. Old Texas Turkey says:

    Have had bad experiences with GE, including their up-market line (Monogram) – my understanding is they also make the Kenmore line for Sears. We looked at Miele, Bosch and other upmarket Euro brands and once we trapped ourselves into that budget of thinking – very easy to do, imo – we wound up with a Viking dish washer, which also brought in a new range, refirdge/freezer (BECAUSE OF THE COORDINATION), damn. In consolation, perhaps my wifes ability to spend all my money has resulted in a few more union jobs in Mississippi and one or more less drunken red-necked rethuglican voters.

    Whirlpool washer/dryer – top loaders, still more effecient than the new supposedly eco-friendly front loaders. 6 years and still going strong – with 3 little ones – they are running laundry 4 days of the week.

  33. Obstreperous Infidel says:

    Wow, funny stuff. We are looking for the exact same appliances. But, I’m not a fag, so my wife is handling this stuff. hehehehe…JK, but for me the timing of this post is fortuitous. A lot of good suggestions and advice. For clothes washers we’ve been eying(sp?) the LG 3.5 cf front end loader or the Whirlpool 3.7 cf front end loader. As for dishwashers, either the GE 24″ or the Frigidaire 24″ stainless. Nothing can be noisier than the old one that we have already. It has been taking a turn for the worse lately, and I suspect it is on it’s last days.

  34. KCM says:

    I haven’t switched yet, but many clients and friends swear by the Whirlpool Duet front loading washer (and its twin sold by Sears under the Kenmore Elite brand).

  35. Go with LG, my (now ex-) wife used to sell them, so we studied up on them real good. They aren’t cheap though :(

  36. B Moe says:

    “More importantly, though, what the hell are you doing washing your Guiness glass in a dishwasher? You never, and I mean never, use any kind of soap on your Guiness glass. Rinse it in very hot water only.”

    Word. Soap should never be used on anything good beer is to be in contact with. Or coffee, either, if you are serious about it.

  37. Old Texas Turkey says:

    oh and to the point – the Viking works very well – or so i’m told.

  38. Jeff G. says:

    I read a few reviews on the Frigidaire Stainless dishwasher (Gallery series). Apparently they catch fire.

    Might want to avoid that.

  39. Cowboy says:

    Jeff:

    My ex-MIL worked in appliances at Sears, and she said that almost all of the profit made by selling a washer, dryer, etc. is wrapped up in service agreements. They’re very expensive, and depending on where you live, most service calls on appliances like that can be handled by an appliance repairman for MUCH less that the cost of the service agreement.

    …and philosophically, they just bug me. Why should I shell out $500.00 to ensure that my $2800 dishwasher will continue to work maintenance free for five years?

  40. SarahW says:

    RED ALERT, Jeff.

    The latest pdf with wiring diagram and operating instructions still seems to indicate the washer has not been updated or upgraded with regard to the internal heater operation. It still apparently functions only in the sanitary cycle. The washer does have ATC to regulate incoming water temperature in most other cycles, but the heater does not operate in any of those cycles.

    If you go for the Affinity, make sure you satisfy yourself that you are buying what you think you would like to have… Frigidaire.com will reply to your product questions, and the diagrams and operating instructions I looked at are here.

  41. nk says:

    Sears’s Kitchenaid dishwasher (which may actually be a Whirlpool or Bosch) at about $600.00 and Maytag washing machine at about $500.00 are more than good enough for a family of three and ours are distinctly improved over our previous Whirlpool and Maytag.

  42. Obstreperous Infidel says:

    “I read a few reviews on the Frigidaire Stainless dishwasher (Gallery series). Apparently they catch fire.

    Might want to avoid that.”

    Yikes. But, I have been called the devil before, so who knows, I may get into that. Thanks for the tip.

  43. JD says:

    We have had no problems with the LG washer and dryer, and the better half likes the platform/box for storage that it sets on.

    I am still smarting over the appliances. 54″ fridges and 60″ dual fuel ranges get kind of salty.

  44. JD says:

    Obstreperous Infidel – BJ is the devil. You are Belzebub.

  45. BJTexs says:

    JD:

    I am called by many names…most of which are printable in mixed company.

    Besides, lighten up. We’re all Bozos on this bus after all. :-)

  46. JD says:

    BJ – Any of these sound familiar ? LOL

    Beelzebub, Evil One, Lucifer, Mephistopheles, Satan, archfiend, beast, diablo, dybbuk, enfant terrible, hellion, imp, knave?

  47. BJTexs says:

    JD:

    You forgot Snarky McSnookum Rosetree Otterfarts.

    You can call me “Snook.” :-)

  48. a4g says:

    I’ve had an LG 2277 (about $1000.00 from the Home Depot) front load washer for four months. I checked a lot of sites for gripes and repair problems, and the LG seemed to be the machine that had the features and efficiency we wanted without many reliability issues. With 5 kids, we do an absolute minimum of four loads a day, and the machine has taken the extreme duty in stride. Big capacity, sanitary cycle (great for getting cat crap out of comforters–don’t ask), and very quiet. The liquid HE detergent from Costco works great and is fairly cheap per load.

    When researching the machine, one caveat I kept encountering re the LG front loaders is that you have to keep the interior gasket dry or it may develop mold over time. Takes nothing more than a quick swipe with a rag after each load, although we’ve been leaving the door open for an hour or so after the wash just to let the machine dry out (which may be overkill). Still, no problems to report at this time.

  49. Old Texas Turkey says:

    real men wash their lone cast iron skillet by the riverbed.

    then again real men subsist only on beans and coffee.

  50. Al Maviva says:

    Well, George Bush uses silverware, plates, bowls, dishes, and glassware. Ergo they are all evil, so me & the ms. have taken to eating our sprouts, tofu, and delightful Kobe beef (only $49.95/pound at Freshfoods this week) off the floor in order to avoid using those evil trappings of the corrupt Bush syndicate. We wash up using a firehose, or letting our children – Asquith and Crispin – lick the floor clean. That way Halliburton – which probably has a piece of the lucrative eating utensil market – is not enriched.

    I highly recommend it.

  51. Alice H says:

    We bought a Kenmore about a year and a half ago. The salesgal raved about it, said she cleans dishes in it with food that’s crusted on that she digs out of her son’s room all the time. It worked great for a while, now for some reason our glasses constantly have food specks all over them and anything that’s the least bit crusted on stays on. We’ve tried the high-temp wash and the SmartWash. We’ve tried using a dishwasher cleaner and changing the dishwasher detergent, with no improvement.

  52. Alice H says:

    It is quiet, though.

  53. Jeff G. says:

    The latest pdf with wiring diagram and operating instructions still seems to indicate the washer has not been updated or upgraded with regard to the internal heater operation. It still apparently functions only in the sanitary cycle. The washer does have ATC to regulate incoming water temperature in most other cycles, but the heater does not operate in any of those cycles.

    How will this affect the cleanliness of clothes in general?

    Treat me as the novice I am. Hell, I don’t separate colors when my wife’s not looking…

  54. I have a brand-new Frigidaire Gallery, it sounds like a 747 taking off. It replaced a 2000 year-old Kitchenaid that worked great at the same volume, but the little cart things got rusty and started screwing up the glasses. It cost as much to replace them as it did to buy the new one. Should have gone with my gut and replaced the part.

    We’ve had the giant Kenmore Washer and dryer for about twelve years now, doing about three loads per day, boutght at a Sears scratch ‘n dent for about 200 smackers. Broke a belt on the washer once and they sent some reeeeeeealy interesting guy out to fix it. He did, then he had sex with the willow tree out front and I had to cut it down.

    Anything GE makes is disposable, buy it for rental property and newlyweds you hate.

    You’re lucky anyway, my AC went and my water heater is going, all because my wife just bought us a new car.

  55. happyfeet says:

    I would look to buy an American one. I just would. It was inculcated when I was little.

  56. happyfeet says:

    Now that I think about it, a LOT of decisions I make don’t require a very large amount of thought. Thanks Dad.

  57. McGehee says:

    Meh. We have an LG front-loader washer as part of a stacked pair. Makes for a more roomy laundry … room. We’ve had it for nine and a half months now, I guess, and it hasn’t eaten but so many socks yet. Nor have any of our cats disappeared.

    I could give you the model number but that would require that I get up.

  58. T. Edwards says:

    Last 2 expensive Kitchenaids were pieces of crap, and required frequent servicing. Just replaced them with a Frigidare FDB2415LFS from Lowes. Only 400 bucks, so I bought the 5 yr. warranty for $80. I figure it costs less tha 2 service calls. Regardless, it cleans better than any of the fancy-ass Kitchenaids did. Just my 2 thoughts

  59. mojo says:

    Y’all got a machine fer washin’ up stuff?

    Goll-dang!

  60. T. Edwards says:

    BTW, Mom-in-law dislikes the Bosch at the ranch. Works great, but holds little.

  61. SarahW says:

    Jeff – to condense as much as possible, a heater that maintains optimal temperatures throughout a cleaning cycle is possible in a machine with a heater. In many situations this can result in improved cleaning performance. Front loaders use less water, and the temperature tends to drop off as the cycle progresses, and a cold drum can make this happen even faster. The ATC does not usually compensate for a cold washer. And a machine that can start from dead cold and gradually heat to the sani setting, or some point in between, is more effective at removing mixed stains (mud, or clay vs body soil or stains like blood. The heater makes shorter and less aggressive cycles possible. The Affinity heater is limited to a single cycle, and is less powerful than the Bosch.

    The Duet/He5t has some stepped cleaning cycles, the latter has a “stain treat” button that turns several cycles into stepped cycles, and the heater maintains temperatures in many of the hotter cycles… – the higher-end Bosch’s can start from cold and go up to the max temperature, and the heater is used is almost every cycle to maintain a near-optimal temperature.

    If the heater is not frequently employed, biogunk tends to build up in the machine, whatever brand it is.
    Some newer iterations of various front-loaders include a heated clean-out cycle to clean a machine used for colder washes.

    Word of warning – if you get a front-loader, the long cycles and minimal water used make bleeding of colors into the wash more likely, so I’m looking forward to some talking pink underwear to make its debut here, in the not-too-distant future.

  62. FA says:

    Miele is the BMW of dishwashers. They’re great and run so quietly, you barely know they’re spinning their grubby little kraut spindles at 200 RPMs. Bosch is for power tools. Miele is for things with a cord. Course you need to make Andrew Sullivan money to afford one.

  63. TomB says:

    Good Christ look at yourselves!!!

    Sitting around like little old ladies talking about freaking dishwashers. What’s next, live blogging the next Lifetime Movie of the Week?

    Bah.

    I’m going back to Ace’s and waste me some hobos.

  64. Miele makes great printing presses, too. Krauts and machines just go together. Grew up in a house with eight kids, however, and the KitchenAid never died in 18+ years. I’m not sure I’d have one now.

    Got a Whirlpool now. I abuse it terribly, never rinse the dishes thoroughly, etc. Everything comes out clean. Or I need new glasses. Could be that, too.

  65. Ric Locke says:

    Dishwashers: have you ever heard the word “erosion”?

    Water being pumped at high pressure and volume wears stuff away. This is why a new dishwasher cleans and an older one doesn’t — neither the orifices in the sprayers nor the impeller in the pump are the shape they were when new, so the streams aren’t forceful enough.

    The moral of this story is: Do it the American Way. Buy something reasonably inexpensive and plan on replacing it. Four $400 dishwashers in succession will clean more dishes than one $1600 one in the same time period. You do need to stand over the plumber and make sure the installation is such that replacement doesn’t require removing the roof from the house first.

    For washing machines and dryers, my preference is Craigslist and similar “brands”. People move all the time and abandon medium- to high-end machines for $100-200. Invest in a hand truck for schlepping the thing around, and there are used-appliance people all over who will be happy to take the dead one off your hands when it croaks (just don’t buy anything from them; individual sales only). Do NOT buy a used dishwasher (see above).

    As for sanitizing, down at the bottom of the “Soaps and Detergents” aisle at the market, among the old-fashioned dowdy unfashionable stuff, you will find a product called “bleach”. You can use a lot of it for the price of a computerized constant-temperature horizontal-axis washer. The secret to making a dryer work is to know how to take it apart and vacuum the dust-bunnies out. If you don’t do that once in a while it won’t work well, however much it costs, and if you do it regularly a cheap one works perfectly. All it is is a heater, a blower, and a tumbling drum.

    Learn the Rule of 80 for consumer products: of the price on the floor, 40% goes to the retailer and 40% to the distributor, leaving 20% for materials, design, and manufacturing. The numbers may change fractionally — it isn’t true of food in the grocery store, for instance — but the proportions stay roughly the same. Let somebody else take the big hit.

    Regards,
    Ric

  66. SarahW says:

    That’s ok, TomB, you will come crawling back when you need to get the corpus callosum and other hobo effluvium out of your doctors.

  67. SarahW says:

    “Dockers” – that is. Although the first sentence might end up working as well.

  68. SarahW says:

    Ric, you might be a man, if you would put bleach on your clothing.

  69. Jeffersonian says:

    We remodeled the kitchen about five years ago and got all KitchenAid…with the exception of the dishwasher, where we went Bosch. I’ve had one repair call on it (for a design problem that has apparently been fixed), and we love it. It is so quiet that one has to be next to it to hear it running. Highly recommended.

    We also replaced the washer and dryer a few months ago with LG Tromm front-loaders. My wife is thrilled with them – very quiet, very low water usage and the clothes come out of the washer almost dry…our washer is the bottleneck now, where we used to have to run loads of towels three full cycles in the dryer to get them to the point you’d even want to fold them.

  70. Kevin says:

    Whirlpool Quiet Partner II, ~$500. Awesome. You can get it’s cheaper partner at Lowes, but I’d get the Sears one.

  71. happyfeet says:

    I think Ric comes as close to white goods enthrallment as it’s going to get. I think it’s cool that the vacuum can help the washing machine work better, even if they have fundamentally different ideologies.

  72. happyfeet says:

    Oh – the dryer, not the washing machine.

  73. phreshone says:

    Hint – – – if you get a front loader (which are great – I have the entry level frigidaire) – due to more internal electronics, put it on a surge protector, just like a computer – i’ve had two motor controller boards short out

  74. TomB says:

    Sarah, I’ve had more corpus callosa than you’ve had hot lunches.

    Come to think of it, I’ve had corpus callosum for hot lunches.

    ……

    But I’m not here, I’m at Ace’s

  75. J. Peden says:

    Largely OT, back before Gore gave us the Internet, I bought from the catalogue the top-of-the-line Sears gas stove, with a continuous, easy clean surface which extended down into the burner wells like a bowl, sans bottom. The problem was that the circuar burner grates were held in place only by one little nubbin on each grate which fit into a small hole on the stove’s surface. So the grate ended up functioning like a plate in a bowl – at the lightest provocation the grate would tilt down into the burner well bowl.

    This produced a very serious hazzard. So after a number of months of just being stupifyingly mystified by this defect, I called the Repair Line, and a guy tried to fix it, but to no avail.

    So I called the Sears Hot Line, explained the hazzard, especially to children and Sears’ pocketbook, and after about a minute, they just asked me why, indeed, would I be calling them for this problem? I responded that I had no idea what the Hot Line was for if not for something like this and allowed that I certainly was not giong to call them if, say, my house caught on fire.

    I asked them if this stove was designed in Bangladesh, and they responded to the effect that, well, people were in fact eating out more in the U.S. now. Ok.

    Finally I got to Management and threatened to drive the stove through the local Sears’ showroom window, or at least inform the Consumer Protection Agency or the Press, if something wasn’t done – about the model itself.

    But Management was very reasonable and replaced my stove with the next model down-from-top, which had very secure grates – they were actually rectangular and couldn’t be disloged without picking them straight up.

    Then after a while, I started getting emergency recall notices concerning the faulty first model – 3 such notices, in fact.

    But how that thing ever even got onto the market to begin with is still a mystery to me – or not.

  76. Karl says:

    Thrall me with your acumen.

    75 comments and no one — no one — has Jeff getting wheeled around the store on a gurney wearing a goalie mask?

    Where has the hyper-masculinity gone!?

  77. ccs says:

    Bought my wife a Whirlpool Duet about 6 years ago and haven’t ahd a problem. She loads 6-8 pair of jeans and a weeks worth of bath towels (the really big ones) in and it goes to town. If you don’t get it leveled it will sound like a freight train coming through.

    The dishwasher is a Caloric of indeterminate age and still runs great although not the quietest. We have really hard water and have to run a cleaner *bomb* through every 6-8 months but it is no fault of the dishwasher. Did I mention we have really hard water.

  78. Monica says:

    Check out the Fisher & Paykel washing machines:

    http://www.fisherpaykel.com/laundry/?productUid=8C4273EB-94C9-5AFE-584EC34AFBF281A0

    We love ours.

    Some benefits of the machine include (all of this can be found if you follow the link):

    – uses only 24% of the energy of a traditional washer
    – you don’t have to dry your clothes as long because the motor in this washer spins the washing tub so fast that it gets rid of all the excess water (when the machine is running at this speed the machine’s lid is locked – you have to actually stop the cycle in order to open it at this point)
    – the machine controls are electric – no knobs
    – there are no belts, brakes, pulleys, clutches or gearboxes – so they never go out or fail

  79. Jeff G. says:

    Thanks, Monica. We did look at those, but my wife said she’d have trouble reaching down into the dryer.

  80. happyfeet says:

    Is there going to be any closure? What did you pick?

  81. geoffb says:

    We have had 2 dishwashers so far. Both fairly low end. One a Whirlpool and now a GE that is 8 years old. Both clean fine as long as we used Electrosol tablet detergent. Buy the one that will best load the dishes you generally use is my recommendation.

    I agree that the best and safest thing to help dryers work is to vacuum them out periodically including the vent line. The main part I’ve ever had go out in a dryer is the support bearing (there are different types) for the drum. Not usually hard to replace. We run the washer every day one or two loads and the dryer runs for several hours a day. Dishwasher once a day. Parts were usually available locally and if not this place (http://www.repairclinic.com/)had what ever I needed.

  82. happyfeet says:

    Buy the one that will best load the dishes you generally use is my recommendation.

    That’s so smart. I can’t believe no one mentioned that all day.

  83. geoffb says:

    Of course I figured that out after buying this last one.

  84. clearing up says:

    These days the only safe bet is to make sure that you can slide the washing machine out fast and change its hoses easily. Or, in the case of dishwashers, the same thing. Easy in, easy wiring and drain and water connects — because all these stinkers are going to break on you and the quicker the downtime, the easy your life is.

    Sticking with decent warranties myself for these reasons. And I CAN beat Sears, with a big stick and frequently. Junk.

  85. Noah D says:

    For whatever dishwasher you get, go to WalMart and pick up a bottle of Lemi-Shine. Better yet, buy it in bulk online. Put a couple of tablespoons of it in…in…that part of the dishwasher that dispenses the soap later, behind the little door, y’know?

    Night and day on my ancient KitchenAid POS; things actually come out clean.

  86. razorbacker says:

    When you say “we” lost our dishwasher and washing machine I can only assume that you are speaking of yourself and some as yet unnamed male companion.

    Otherwise you would do as men do and let your woman take care of it. Since she’s the one who’ll be using it and all.

  87. JD says:

    Oh, and by the way, though many things are far more conveniently purchased online, and often for better prices, purchasing large appliances online was a nightmare, in my experience. We purchased a 54″ fridge and a 60″ range online. We paid to have them delivered and installed as well. The initial delivery, 2 weeks late, or the fridge consisted of leaving a 976 pound fridge in the middle of my driveway. It took 5 guys 2 hours to maneuver it into its place inside our home. Then, after 3 more weeks of daily unanswered calls to the customer service center, the 1000+ pound range was left in the exact same spot. Now, I remind you that I paid a premium to have these delivered and installed. Again, it took 5 guys considerable time and effort to get it to its place. The dishwasher we ordered 4 months ago has yet to arrive, and we have long since purchased the above Kitchen Aid from a local store.

    In short, the cost savings and lack of sales tax did not come close to making up for the phone calls, poor service, broken promises, and physical labor that ensued.

    Hopefully, the BBB will eventually help us get this resolved. Local brick&mortar for big things though.

  88. Thanks! says:

    […] Thanks also to those of you who provided your advice and guidance with respect to my sudden major appliance needs. Looks like I’ll be going with the Frigidaire Affinity washer / dryer combo — a less […]

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