We got this washer for our apartment, to replace a compact
top-loader by Kenmore. I was wary of getting a front-loader
because I had never had one before.

It was a wonderful decision. We have had it for three months
and have used it at least 100 times (lots of kids!). We use
the Sears powder HE detergent, which works very well. The
clothes gets squeaky clean and smell great/fresh. When we have
done bleach loads those also work very well.

Note - if you have a load of whites that needs a lot of Cl
bleach for whatever reason, you can also add bleach to the
soap dispensing compartment in addition to the "bleach"
compartment - it will run into your clothes and may streak
them, but it will be fine if it is a load of e.g. diapers,
anyway.

Normally, we use 1.2 or so of the detergent powder cup (the
HE kind!!) plus use the same cup to measure borax (or other
"booster"). Put all that in the detergent section. We
have not used fabric softener. Remember that you should
match type (powder or liquid) between your booster (or
non-Cl bleach) and your detergent.

The cycle does take a long time, i.e. about 1.5 hours (even
though it claims 71 minutes) for the regular, heavy soil,
with "extra rinse". However, the greater capacity - and you
can fill up the machine without worrying that things will
pop up out of the water - makes up for the cycle time. It
lasts about as long as our apartment electric dryer, anyway.

I also love that you can set it with the timer and forget
it, and e.g. wake up to clean laundry without having to
run the washer when you go to bed.

I think the chime sounds nice to let you know when the
wash is done; my husband gets annoyed and doesn't turn it
on when he does the loads. I do wonder about the fact that
there is no lint screen to clean.

Note that very full loads may come out a bit wrinkly, but
the stuff is fine after the dryer. The only two issues we
have had, and they are minor, is that sometimes the door
seems to take longer than one minute to unlock after a cycle,
and we do occasionally get the "suds" warning - then just
restart as a rinse/spin cycle. I think this has happened
maybe twice out of the 100 loads we've done.

Some people complain about the loud spin, but it does not
bother us. Our downstairs neighbors do hear it, but are
not bothered except in the middle of the night ;)

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 650