I'm very impressed with this washer.I previously owned a sears kenmore was a nice machine, it lasted 10 years before the electonics in it burnt up. It too was an aggitatorless model, high efficency type. Ten years ago this was one of the first of this type.
So when shopping for a new model I wanted to stick with a top load, aggitatorless, high efficency type. I was very impressed with a LG Blu-ray player I had bought, so keeping those features and the LG brand in mind I looked at thier models first.
This model had the features I wanted so I didn't even consider any other brands.
Installation was easy since I previously had hookups all in place. I didn't read much of the book. The quick install sheet mentions leveling and it was easy to see it was level. All you have to do is make sure the tub lines up with the opening. After hooking up the hoses and putting the drain hose in the drain tube, checking for levelness you're ready to go.
Before putting it in its final position close to the wall, I did one load of laundry to be sure there were no leaks from any hose or the drain. Then I moved it into it's final spot.
I gave it a good workout as I had four weeks of dirty clothing piled up, plus bed sheets and a new quilt I wanted to wash before first use. It was easy to figure out what buttons to push and get going. I only looked at the book to see what a red light was and that turned out to be the lid locked indicator. I did the first load normal and then some of the remaining loads using the cold wash only. The large capacity I might have been able to do fewer loads but I didn't want to overload it and wanted to test it out good first time around. All came out, as best I can tell perfect.
If you want to know about all the features, I suggest you check out the LG Website.
It's easy to get going.
Open lid
Pull out the slide out softener-detergent try and add those as needed
Push tray back in
Add bleach to a seperate spot if used
Add dirty clothing
Close Lid
Press On
Rotate dial to one of eleven load types (normal, colors, whites bedding/bulky, etc).
Push Cold Wash button
Push Fabric Softener button
Push Start
First it does laod sensing. I guess this determines how heavy the load is so it can adjust how much water to use.
It even locks the lid while in operation.
The lid is glass so you can watch your clothing spin around or it spray water on them.
There's a bunch of other buttons to modiy water temp, soil level and custom settings. But it is basically really simple and quick to get going.
The tub will lower during washing, so it won't hit the inside of the top area while spinning. It raises back up when finihsed.
A nice digital display tells you how much time is left and a set of lights tell you what cycle it is on.
At the end it plays a nice little happy tune, instead of that usual beep-beep-beep.
Features I liked or we're impressed with:
The the dial. It gives it an old time feel. Somehow just pushing buttons doesn't always seem right. The knob gives you tacticle feeling but instead of a rotating needle, it has lights that go on or off as you rotate past each setting.
The location of the detergent/softener try seems to be well placed, i think too it runs water through this so it gets all the detergent and softener out and keeps it clean.
Being able to see it work on the inside.
Cute music at end.
Without the aggitator this gives you room for large items. I enjoyed this on my other washer. Washing quilts or blankets is easy and it does a good job on this too.
It is mostly very quiet. With the direct drive motor I guess because of less moving parts. It will whine some during the final spin cycle especially when it slows down, but for the most part I could not hear much when it was running and my wash closet is in the master bathroom, so its not far away. I didn't hear any of that thump-thump you sometimes get even when doing a bulky item or large load. Even the last spin cycle the outside of the machine doesn't shake that much.
Plenty of tub space to wash bulky items.
Drawbacks
Hadn't found any yet really. I'm sure the glass is heavy duty and won't break easily, it might scratch. I live at the beach and sand gets on everything. This will scratch glass easily if you put something down on top of the glass and a grit is between the two. But being able to see the machine at work is worth that.
One final note:
I'm not sure what burnt up my old washers' electronics. It might have been old age or it might have been a power surge or lightening. I'm guess i'm lucky I got ten years out of it. So for this one I bought a twenty buck surge supressor to put on the wall socket and plugged the washer into to it. With everything now having a lot of electronics in it and it being a high ticket item, i think a little extra protection won't hurt.
Anyhoo, after listening to a bunch of HE nightmares and doing bookoo research and a few retarded salesmen later... Apparently there is no such thing as a good side loading HE washing machine. They all let off a mildew odor or do not wash good enough. Look at all the sites, Lowes, Home Depot, Best Buy, ABC Warehouse, Amazon, all the sideloading washing machines don't get any better than 3 stars max! So the decision was for a top loader. Now what brand do you get? Back to the reviews and that retarded salesmen!
According to the reviews on those websites I mentioned, Maytag & Whirlpool ranked down at the bottom of the gene pool. Whirlpool kind of shocked me because that was always one of my fav's. I went to Lowes and talked to thier appliance salesmen who just returned from a Whirlpool seminar and now believes that he is infoulable by god. He informed me that Whirlpool sideloader was the most perfect machine on earth and nothing else compares. When I ask why, it was because he came from a seminar. Wrong answer!
So I looked at Amazon & Best Buy and I noticed the LG and looked into it. Amazon only had about 4 or 5 reviews at the moment but they averaged 5 stars and Best Buy had 29 reviews averaging 4.5 stars which isn't to shabby. We are not wealthy so I need bang for my buck! what can I say? Now the price on Amazon looked pretty appealing but the $150.00 for shipping didn't! This is where Home Depot comes in.
I went to Home Depot who not only matched Best Buy's sale ad but also took off an additional 10% plus free delivery. In the end I picked up in the upper 7's and no shipping fee which was about 200 plus cheaper than I was expecting worse case.
As for performance, well I read the 2 star review with the guy complaining about scratches. Who gives a turkey?!?! A scratched machine will wash your clothes just as well! Anyhoo, I am a maintenance man in a press shop. Everyday I get covered head to toe in grease and oil and all kinds of nasty! This machine cleans just as well if not better than my old Whirlpool and it uses almost half the water! Any HE Machine that can clean my uniform like that is good in my book!
This thing weighs your clothes and adds water in accordance to the weight. Then it automatically flushes water through the detergent tray. After that it dances around for a minute, I think its doing the twist! Then it spins one way and then the other the whole while it is recirculating the existing water that it originally started with. I found it so entertaining at first I had to ditch my big screen for the washing machine! And the dam thing has a window, so you gotta watch.
But I do have to add that if you have the old style washing machine, you basically have to throw out everything you know about washing the laundry and relearn how to do it in HE. Follow the instructions and there will be no problems! All I can say is, ya gotta try this thing, you'll love it!
Buy LG WT5001CW 4.5 cu. Ft. Top Load Washer - White Now
What kind (front or top load) and what brand of washer to buy? After spending about $5,500 on two top loaders (GE and LG) and two front loaders ( Frigidaire and Samsung) over the last six years, I believe I am qualified to make some assertions. The tests that Consumer Reports does on washers are nothing more than pre-arranged outcome studies, designed to push sales of Department of Energy approved washers. This is not entirely bad, as everyone wants to save money and help the environment. In fairness, Consumer Reports does a valuable service, but for some products, the tests are creatively constructed to achieve an objective, which in this case, is pushing front load washing machines.My first washer was a very old GE top loader. It used a substantial amount of water and power, but served admirably. The next unit was a Frigidaire front loader that was quite efficient, but did not wash clothes as well as the GE top loader it replaced. The Frigidaire suffered a catastophic failure, which was not due to any fault of the machine, but rather, operator error, in that it was badly overloaded. The machine did do well considering the small amount of power and water it used.
This then was replaced by a Samsung front loader that was quiet, efficient, well thought out, user friendly, had very low vibration, but did not wash clothes very well. This machine smelled bad, despite following the manufacturers directions, though that did help somewhat. The smell is pretty much a fact of life for any front load washer, but the manual does tell how to reduce it. This machine used very little water and scant power considering it's capacity, but like I said, it did not wash clothes that well. A year and a half after purchase, it stopped draining. I am mechanically inclined, so I cleaned the trap on the lower front of the machine, but this did not help. The pump was still working (I could hear it) so I opened up the back and checked the hoses for clogs. This led to a messy and RIDICULOUSLY DIFFICULT operation, but the clog was cleared, and the machine worked again, though I am not sure if the pump is working 100%. The trap was not very dirty, and I am careful to check clothing before washing. I cut myself badly in working on this (I feel for the repairmen out there) and I was so disappointed in what happened, that I went out and bought an LG top loader (after MUCH research.) This unit has a huge capacity, and though it does use more water (a little more) and more power (a little more,) it is an Energy Star appliance. It uses just enough water to do what it was purchased to do, and the difference in the wash quality is OBVIOUS. Ohh, but this is not the approved front loader design being pushed on us. Well, to put it another way, I can wash TWO king size comforters in this thing IN ONE LOAD, and they come out CLEAN, whereas my previous front loader (less capacity) required two loads to do the same two comforters, which came out not nearly as clean! It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that I will be spending LESS time and money doing one big load in this machine, than doing two smaller loads in the previous machine. I'm NOT interested in wasting water and electricity, I AM interested in a washing machine that cleans clothes. This machine is the one for me -I'm happy.
The Samsung front loader would have been great if the drain pump system were better, and if it used a proper amount of water, but it does not. If you do some research (as I did) you will find that there are a multitude of other people out there, that are fed up with washing machines that wash poorly, AND cost a fortune. Admittedly, time will tell if the LG durability and reliability are as good as I expect they will be. There are those that would say that I do not know what I am talking about, but then, I believe I earned the right to say that I do. My mother (a laundry expert) would agree! Make a wise choice.
Read Best Reviews of LG WT5001CW 4.5 cu. Ft. Top Load Washer - White Here
Purchased the LG WT5001CW because of its load capacity, washing features and had a falling apart with my 8 year old Kenmore front loading machine (smell and several pump breakdown problems...tired of calling the repairman and taking apart my appliance on my Friday nights). With the LG, I've been very happy with most of the washing options. Unfortunately, there is no delicate cycle. I thought I could just use the "wool cycle" and use the "low spin" to get delicate wash results. WRONG. Apparently, this washer loves to spin, and spin at very high rpms! I have found little difference between extra high, high, med and low spin (even no spin will spin your clothes during the wash cycle. It only omits spinning at the very end).While my clothes are coming out very clean, I'm very worried about how long they will last. I'm frightened to wash sweaters or anything that I really value and can't replace. It aggressively washes towels, tshirts, jeans just great. But, on more delicate fabrics and sweaters it is just as aggressive in its washing and will spin them into infinity. I'm hoping this is a flaw to my machine and that a repairman might be able to adjust this. But how sad to have to call a repairman on a brand new machine. Unacceptable!
Great load capacity, water levels are great, soap dispensing and fabric softner dispenses as it should, hot water isn't really "hot" just warm, clothes are clean and almost dry when cycles are done, does wrinkle them a bit, fairly quiet (it's no mouse, our front loader was quieter but for a top loader, this machine is easier on the ears and noise level in the home than most), it's pretty to look at, has a charming beep/song when done. My children love to watch it wash and are hoping I will resort to hand washing my delicate items in the bathtub so they can keep the beautiful, space spinner.
I love the top loader...but LG, why can't I have a top loader with it all? I wanted this machine to be the one I told my friends and family I couldn't live without. If someone has found such a top loader, please share so I can return this "not quite" and finish my ever growing piles of laundry.
P.S. I have been trying to contact costumer support with questions about this washer, with no luck. Can't seem to get them by email. When I call, I can usually get a live person to take my name and number and then I am put on hold for an hour and 20 minutes with no response. They haven't even called me back either. With no costumer service, I guess I'll just count myself lucky that I purchased this washer from a store with a 30 day return policy. Back to the store and washer buying.
Want LG WT5001CW 4.5 cu. Ft. Top Load Washer - White Discount?
My 5 star rating is for the washer only! See below for my issues with Price Pros.This thing is fantastic! This washer handles more laundry in a load than anything I have ever seen and gets 'em CLEAN! It is also SUPER quiet.
For those who are trying to decide on a washer based on reviews, we know it is tough and we did lots of research too. You won't go wrong with this one.
Because of my wife's allergies, we do LARGE loads of bedding a lot, including comforters and sheets for king size beds. We've had no issues whatsoever with damaging the laundry as I saw in some other reviews. The washer moves those big things around in there and cleans 'em all over. (Yep, I pretty much watched the first couple of washes all the way through to see how a washer without an agitator works...I'm weird that way) The washer does spin really fast, but this helps everything get cleaner and dry faster. If you have delicate clothes, there are settings for that and they work as expected. I recommend putting your laundry in the dryer soon after it is done washing to help prevent wrinkles, but this is no different than any other washer I have used (Top quality Whirlpool, Roper, and Maytags in the past).
Pros:
Best washer we could find in the reviews and it is living up to it's good reputation.
Gets clothes and all laundry REALLY clean.
Super quiet.
Handles humungous loads
Uses tons less water than our old machines
Cons:
Price Pros are Awful! Price...OK Pros...No way. Buy it from someone else.
My review of Price Pros:
1. Shipping was DAYS late and they did not unpack or place the unit (as was done with the dryer we ordered at the same time from another company).
2. We think they shipped bad product on purpose.
3. They made ZERO effort to make their problems right.
We had just moved to a rural area where we really needed it on time. There was cosmetic damage to the unit, but NOTHING wrong with the packaging. When I contacted Price Pros about this, they asked for pictures of the packaging (so THEY could make a claim to the shipping company). I did not have pictures for them, because the packaging was not in any way damaged (yes, I was there for the delivery and did inspect it thoroughly) and you obviously have to take the packaging off to get at the washer. They made no attempt whatsoever to make the problem right for us. We decided to keep the washer, instead of returning it, because by the time we got it, we needed it vey badly and the damage was only cosmetic. Hopefully others can learn from our mistake in buying from Price Pros Don't do it!
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