Summary: After not having a clothes washer for over a month we purchased the duet washer. So I did alot of laundry in a short amount of time. I had read some of the 'problems' folks had experienced and knew what to expect if they happened. And I will address those later. However the overwhelming majority of folks loved the machine and the ones that didn't, hated it within a few weeks. The only real draw back that I saw was the price. I am a real frugal person and I think that the extra cost is justified. This washer will save me future costs incurred with doing laundry. The major costs of laundry are water, heating the water, soap, wear and tear of the clothes when washing the clothes, and the electicity expense of drying the clothes.
WATER
If you have to pay for water this will use much less water than top loaders. Since it uses less water, less water is heated. Saving water costs and the gas/electricity cost to heat the water.
SOAP
Though the washer uses the special HE soap that is more expensive, you don't have to use a whole lot of it and I thought the extra expense was minimal. I have heard that regular soap is OK to use as long as you don't use much since it suds up more than the HE soap. My kids get their clothes real dirty so I have been buying the HE soap.
WEAR AND TEAR OF CLOTHES
Since this washer tumbles clothes there is not alot of friction against the washer in the tub. What I mean is that in a top loader I would sometimes get clothes stuck around the agitator post, clothes would be twisted, and just srubbing away against the other clothes in the washer. My clothes would get rips from just washing them. In this washer the clothes are tumbled gently creating less friction against the machine and other clothes. You can actually see how the clothes are washed.
DRYING THE CLOTHES
You may ask how does a washer help in the expense of drying clothes? This machine spins so fast and partially drys the clothes reducing the drying time in the dryer. Another savings.
OTHER CONCERNS
Other people have voiced concerns over the washer gaining a moldy smell, water being in the detergent compartment, and one complaint about bleach being retained and ruining clothes. I washed clothes every day and never experienced ta moldy smell and I left the door shut all the time. However if I only did laundry once a week I will leave the door open all night for one night and then shut it the next morning. This washer creates a water tight seal when shut so it needs to dry when not used for a couple of days. Another person complained that water was in the detergent dispenser. If you read the manual it states that the dispenser is rinsed after every load to keep it clean and remove any trace of detergent, softener, or bleach. I love this feature. Yes there is residual water in the dispenser that will slightly dilute your water softener or detergent, hoever it will be diluted in the wash anyway. I did several bleach loads and never experienced any bleach spots on any clothes. You do have to make sure that the bleach goes into the bleach dispenser not the detergent dispenser. The detergent dispenser immediately begins to dispense the detergent slowly into the tub.
THE CONTROLS
At first glance it looks like the controls to a spaceship but upon using the controls a few times it makes perfect sense. Every load can be adjusted to determine a custom length of wash time, extra rinses, temperature, or to add a garment after the door has been locked. Of course most loads of laundry will not need tweaking and the standard normal wash will suffice. One nice feature is the whitest/whites load where bleach is used, the washer will run extra rinse time to make sure any residual bleach is removed from the clothes. Great when you are doing a load of white tshirts and dirty socks. The best part is knowing to the minute how long the load will take, since there is a digital display of the length of the load.
CAPACITY
This washer is large, in fact extra large since there is no agitator in the middle of the tub. I bought 5 yards of denim and washed it all with room to spare. That denim was 15x6 feet in size. Next I will be washing large comforters and sleeping bags. Something I could never accomplish with a traditional top loading washer.
INSTALLATION
My 11 year old daughter installed the washer under my supervision. All the installation except leveling the machine. She got frustrated doing that. However be sure to take the extra time to get the machine level, else it may not wash correctly or spin the clothes as dry as possible. My sister experience this problem, but it was corrected when the washer was leveled.
Is a frugal Mom of six kids happy with her purchase of an expensive front loading washer? Yes, this machine will save me time today while doing laundry and may actually be cost effective when compared to doing laundry with a top loader and the extra expenses of water and electricity.
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