Everyone gave me such great advice last summer on buying a new dishwasher! I thought I would ask for some advice on buying a new washer and dryer.
My mom is 90 years old, lives with me and has for 25 years. The washer & dryer we have are her "babies" and they are in the basement. They moved in when she did - so they are getting up there in age. I will soon be 60 and have issues with my back and arms. I have talked to 2 contractors and am waiting on estimates for turning my smallest bedroom into a laundry room. I will also be getting a new upright deep freezer and getting rid of the old chest freezer in the basement that is also over 30 years old. I can't reach into the bottom of the thing and we don't need one that big.
I am "vertically challenged" or in other words under 5 feet tall… so I stopped in to Sears to try reaching into top loading washers and I could not reach the bottom of them. I would need some sort of reaching tool to get out socks or such at the bottom, or a platform to stand on in front of the washer. I think that would be really awkward, and a possible falling /tripping hazard.
Front loaders seemed to be the best option. Especially if they were on the pedestals that are available for them, it was pretty easy for me to reach into them.
However, a friend said that I should "not even consider" a front load washer because it would do nothing but break down and leak everywhere. But, it sure did look like the best option, given the physical issues I am dealing with.
Then --- I see all these options!!! Goodness gracious! Steam, pre-clean, sanitize - geez! The number of options on the washers and dryers was overwhelming. The sales lady that was helping me at Sears happened to be an older lady and she said she doesn't even know what they do. Said she doesn't know why they put all that stuff on there, no one uses them.
My Mom has done the laundry for us since she moved in with me. She "doesn't trust me" with her washer and dryer. Her washer has one of those agitator spindle things in the middle and if you don't get it loaded just right, it's off balance. I think the one in hers is actually bent because it makes a terrible noise when it is in use, has for years. I don't know who she thinks did my laundry before she moved in, all the years I lived here
but it makes her happy to take care of her washer and dryer. I hate her washer, so I have let her do it - but she is just to old to be doing it anymore. It is just not safe for her to be going up and down the steps with laundry at her age. We need to get it moved up stairs, get a new set that works better and more energy efficient. Our clothes have not been coming clean in a long time, but I am not sure if that is because of my mom's not being able to remember (she may not be adding detergent - or may be adding it more than once) … or perhaps the washer is so clogged up with hard water deposits from all the years of really hard water that it does not do a proper rinse any more. I know it takes her hours and hours to dry one load of laundry. Still - she is fighting me tooth and nail on this because the old washer and dryer still work and she sees no reason to get new ones. I see her go up and down the steps and all I see is a broken hip waiting to happen…...
Given that Mom is of the age she is -- it's entirely possible that I would need to be doing a lot of bed linens or other "soiled"… ahem…. laundry in the future.
She has a double bed, and I have a queen bed. It is just the two of us here, though, so there is not a lot of laundry that we do on a regular basis. Not like a big family would.
I am not sure what size to look at, or what options.
Maybe I **should** look at a top load and see about having the contractor build a platform for me to stand on to use the washer so I can reach down into it? Are the top load really that much better than a front load?
Thanks SO much for any advice!!! I can read reviews all day long, but it does not replace advice from people who garden, have pets and who I can type back and forth to and ask questions!!!
Juli