Speed Queen

When we bought ours the sales guy suggested getting the SQ washer and then the most basic dryer in the store. It's a small shop and he also does some of the repairing if his tech is out. He wasn't impressed enough with the SQ dryers to recommend them at price premium they charge over a very basic Amana or GE. His honesty has kept us coming back for all our appliance purchases More on reddit.com

The only thing I’ve “missed” with my Speed Queen is not being told, “honestly, it would be cheaper to buy a new washer and dryer than try to repair this,” which was what I was told with my prior, non-SQ set. To me, the question of washer and dryer pros and cons has two parts though- brand and front or top load. I’ve taken my Speed Queen dryer apart and put it back together again with tools I already had on hand. I didn’t know what I was doing, and disassembled a bunch of things I didn’t need to but didn’t know better. When I figured out what I needed and went to the appliance parts warehouse, I asked the guys who worked there what washer and dryer they would own if they had children and lots of laundry. It was unanimous and they didn’t bat an eye - Speed Queen. They said they were just better made. When I asked the repair man who came out to fix my dishwasher what clothes washer and dryer he thought were the best - Speed Queen. In my experience, Speed Queens are tanks. Sturdy, straightforward, reparable tanks. As to the front or top-loading part: my washer uses more water than a front loader. It takes more water to fill a vertical tub than to fill only the bottom of a horizontal tub and toss it about. Depending on where you live, that additional water usage could be a significant factor. And, if you think about the act of washing clothes on a washboard, or any other “old fashioned” method, you are counting on a combination of friction and soap to bond with and dislodge the dirt/oil/grime and carry it away when the garment is rinsed. The friction of clothes tumbling against each other, with detergent, is the attempt at replication of that mechanism with an electric machine. That friction that dislodges dirt also wears the fibers of clothing fabric. An agitator causes more of that friction. Whether that is a positive or negative thing is a matter of perspective, I think. For me, I prefer the increased friction. Something else I prefer about my top loading washer is the ability to soak something like a duvet or quilt overnight. All of the duvet is completely immersed in water, and whatever detergent I’ve added, all night long. I wash the king-sized quilt from my bed in my top-loading Speed Queen every week. If I leave the laundry room and realize I forgot to wash the hand towel from the bathroom, and then find where I dropped a dirty sock on my way down the stairs, I can grab both, go back to the laundry room, raise the lid, and toss them in. I don’t have to wait for another load, or drain this load, add them in, and restart the cycle. And, maybe most important to me, what you “miss” when you get a top loading washer is the maintenance and risk that comes with the front-loading seal. I don’t have to think about my washer smelling musty or my seal growing mold. But more than that, I don’t have to worry about a seal failing and flooding my house with that many gallons of water. The seals on front loaders are better now, and there aren’t as many issues as there were at first, but there is still far greater risk that the seal on the door of a front loading washer will fail and dump gallons and gallons of water on the floor than that some hole is going to open up in the steel tub of my top loader and cause major damage to my flooring, subfloor, drywall, and trim. Laundromats are made for that sort of event; my house is not. I’d much rather have a top loader. So for me, I haven’t missed a thing by switching to a top-loading Speed Queen. But I think it comes down to what factors are most significant to any given person. More on reddit.com

I’ve had the TC5 for about a month now. It is hands down the best washer I’ve ever owned. We had a “fancy” Samsung with all the bells and whistles and that cool grey color. My wife thought I was crazy when I spent $1400 on a smaller washer with no cool features. She now no longer thinks I’m crazy. Our clothes are actually getting clean, and they smell so much better! More on reddit.com

Unless you are buying a German manufactured condensation type dryer or you want a special clothes steaming feature there is no reason to spend big on something for drying your clothes. Almost all electric dryers are identical. They have the same heating elements, the same urethane rollers and bearings, the same stamped steel doors and the same simple electronics. If you pay for a Speed Queen electric dryer it will match your washing machine. Thats about it since their model is also the same as the others but with a branded cabinet. Your dryer won't be full of heavy water or have to spin and extract clothing at high speeds on a regular basis. It just needs to tumble damp clothes and blow air through a heating element and lint screen. It is not where you need to spend your money and it is more important to have a high quality washer. This isn't to say that all electric dryers are the same quality. There are many problems a poorly designed dryer can have. Clogging itself with lint, failing bearings, rust, chipped paint on the internal drum. Many things can go wrong. Don't cheap out but be aware that a traditional electric dryer is doing a lot less and has a simpler design than a high quality washing machine. Going for something overkill is unnecesary. Your clothes won't be any dryer and I don't think I've ever seen a dryer that didn't work. Usually when a dryer "dies" it takes a repairman all of twenty minutes to scrape the lint out and make sure nothing is burned. Maybe the heating element is warped and is causing an electrical short through the case. If a dryer is squeaking it might need a new roller wheel or bearing. They do so little that it takes decades for their simple parts to wear out. Your washer and dryer do different things. It actually makes more sense for them to look different than it does to buy a matching set because of an irrational desire for the appearance of luxury. Real luxury would be if both machines were the best at what they do individually. Pairing a Speed Queen with a condensation dryer would be a wonderful play to both their strengths. I highly recommend this video by ThinGuide on YouTube that explains how condensation and other dryer types work. You'll quickly see how inefficient the traditional electric vent dryer is and how much quicker the more technologically advanced models produced by Miele and Bosch can be. I'll summarize though. With a condensation dryer thermal energy is conserved and recirculated instead of being vented outdoors. Water is efficiently extracted and exits through a drain. This means that you can dry more with the same amount of electricity. More on reddit.com