Laundry Magic - Are the New Steam Washers Cleaning Up?

For many years there has only really been one choice to make in the laundry room, top or front loader? But now there's a new kid on the laundry block- while still a front loading washer, the steam washer from trusted brands like LG washer and Kenmore is becoming more readily available and regarded. Will this mean and end to your local dry cleaners?

I've rounded up the good points and bad points of the 3 main types of washers available on the market.

There are lots of benefits to a front loader when comparing it to a top loading machine. With a lower water and electricity consumption plus the ability to fit easily into smaller laundry spaces, the front loader is already ticking lots of boxes. However, if bending or kneeling is difficult for you, stay with a top-loading machine as you'll need to kneel or bend to load the clothes as well as remove the wet load from a front-loading washer.

Even though front loaders are a smaller machine than a top loader they surprisingly hold much the same amount of laundry, around fifteen pounds. Depending on how much washing you do in your household will determine the size of washer and its capacity that you select. If it's just for yourself then a smaller machine with a load limit of ten pounds is sufficient but if you have a large family then obviously you'll need to be looking at larger models.

Tests have shown that a mid size, front loading LG washer will on average consume fifteen gallons of water per load, compare that to a top loading model which used 29 gallons . That's almost half the water used for the same size load in a front loader. The difference is so vast because the top loader needs so much water to cover the laundry in the drum whereas a front loading machine needs much less as the drum is positioned horizontally and as it turns, gravity assists in ensuring all the clothes get dropped back into the water.

Since there's no agitator in a front-loading machine, there's a lot more room for dirty clothes - and larger loads means fewer loads. It's also gentler on your clothes to wash them without an agitator.

Front loaders are more energy efficient than top loaders, using far less electricity. Independent tests show us that a top loader will use twice the amount of electricity that the same size capacity front loading washer will use. Faster spin cycles possible with front loaders also means they remove more water from the clothes and so save more energy on drying if you use a dryer.

Top loading machines are generally a lot less dear to buy than the equivalent sized front loading machine. If you are on a budget you will be able to pick up a top loader for around 500 hundred dollars or under but should you choose to purchase a top loading machine you will make savings long term on your power bill.

For a quicker wash time a top loading washing machine is the answer. They generally only take half the time of a front loader, mainly due to the agitator being more efficient as a method of cleaning, although as previously stated, the agitator is also harsher on your clothes. It's not possible to open the door of a front loading washer once the wash has begun whereas with a top loading washer you can simply pop the lid open and add that stray sock you dropped on the way to the laundry room.

However, with the new steam machines, it is possible to open the front door on some models to add clothing by using a pause function, as there is no water to run out of the machine in steam mode. I got the chance to test a load of laundry in an LG Washer and the steam mode did do a much better job of getting marks out of dirty clothes than on just the regular wash mode, you do have to check though that the items you are laundering can withstand the steam temperature. Also, steam washers have a much less water consumption per load compared to regular washers. As with most new innovations, early adopters tend to have to bear the brunt of the cost, you probably won't find a steam enabled washer for less than $1100 at the moment but they should, as with most things, come down in price with time.