Personally, I don't have the need for the steam option, my husband wears a washable uniform to work, I wear jeans and T-shirts or sweatshirts. I have the HE5t - no steam.

If hubby or I had to wear fine clothing (not dry clean only) clothing to work, I could probably 'freshen' them by throwing them into the dryer with a damp washcloth.

We used it once on our washer, the clothes were now hot, damp and stinky.

We tried the dryer too, it does no better than if you toss a damp towel in with wrinkled clothes.

I wouldn't have gotten this option if I had a choice.

I really don't see the need or all the "hoopla" they make over this steam feature. When I worked in "Corporate America", I had a Roper dryer. Temp selections were High, medium, low, and an air fluff cycle on the timer. There was also a Auto dry cycle and a Timed dry cycle. One of the last loads I would do on wash day was my dress shirts and pants (had to wear them to the office)and often, they would sit in the dryer over night. I would just set the dryer on medium heat, Timed dry cycle for 20 mins (marked de-wrinkle)and that was it. Always got the wrinkles out, no steam, they were fine. For the life of me I can't see why anyone would really need this feature. But, what some see as "fluff" others see as a god send i guess.

I always ask people why they buy a "dryer" if they want their clothes wet in the end? They why a steam dryer? You put wet clothes in there and apply heat, won't that create enough steam? To me it's a joke. Steam washer? I doubt the pretreatment is eliminated. Ask them if they'll guarantee that in writing. Tell them you're recording their representation and note date and time. See how they backtrack.

I don't know anyone who uses it on a regular basis. I've seen a few buy them report on here but I don't hear anything positive about steam. I think it's a joke.

Even with wrinkled clothes, simply applying heat is more effective than moisture and heat in my opinion. If I have a wrinkled shirt or something I use the hair dryer for a minute or two. I don't dunk it in water and then dry it again. Dress pants get hit with the hair dryer too, but there's a time or two I've used the dryer and would not have applied steam to it. Like the poster said before I set it to 15-20 min and go pull it out after about 5-10 (before the cooldown) and all is fine.

If you truly want steam to remove wrinkles, I'd suggest a steam iron. That makes far more sense.

Seems like just another thing to break. No thanks.

hot water wash and in the dryer. Makes all the steam I need. And these are 15 year old Maytags!

Man, am I with the majority here! Just for the love of all that's holy give me a machine that's durable without a dozen bells and whistles to break or clog up on me.

I'm in the process of trying to decide on a replacement washer, and all I hear is # of cycles, steam, fancy LED's, customized cycles, & other "foo foo" as we call it at the office. Give me durability and serviceability any day. Tell me about the motor, what kind of bearings, what's in the transmission (if there is one). How do I open the cabinet, get at the belts, are the controls housed in such a way that heat & moisture won't get at them; is the solenoid rugged, how does the machine handle hard water.

I mean, seriously... does ANYONE use 24 different cycles (+ customizing options)? Like I said, I want to talk about the guts, and usually no one has the faintest notion.

Best to all, & happy new year,

Tom

Tom, there are a lot of options on our new LG set that I do use. I like the sanitizing cycle for sheets and towels, the allergiene cycle for pet blankets and towels, and on the dryer there are different settings that you can customize or change depending on the type of load. I can add minutes, raise or lower the temp, and the LED screen lets me know how much time is left on my cycles.

I do like my LG set with all these options, but it also has steam on both and I never would have bought it if I had the option of no steam. We bought the steam set from a Sears outlet store and finding a matching set is hit or miss, the set we bought was cheaper than the sale price at the regular Sears for a basic model set.

Like I mentioned above, we used the steam option once on each machine, I will most likely never use it again.

Thanks, Michelle, I think I can understand maybe 10 cylces or so. But hey, whatever - like I said, it's the hardware affecting durability and servicability that I want to talk about, and most people at the store just give you a stammering reply there.

My Maytag died after 6 years, which is atrocious IMHO. The bearings seized on the motor. No, you can't change them, it's a new motor and belt for $130, with me doing the work. I want to have some idea that if I dump a grand into a washing machine, I'm buying a good motor and drum and solenoid valves and hoses, not fancy firmware that ends up shorting out due to insuffcient control housings.

But at least I know I don't need steam! Thanks, all!

BTW I'm leaning towards a Bosch 500 (WFMC5301UC). Hoping the door mold issue is gone, and hoping someone knows something about them. Looks like either that or the LG TROMM, but I like the layout of the Bosch's controls and the way the door frame allows easier access to the drum. But I guess that's kind of wondering off-topic for this thread. I'm searching for info here and elsewhere, so thought I'd mention it.

We're building, so I've been researching all appliances. After reading all the reviews, posts, comments, complaints etc., I asked our appliance guy what he has and what he'd choose. He knows he'll have a sale, so it's just a matter of helping us decide which make and model. He said, hands down, one of the Samsungs. I asked about the steam feature and he pretty much said, "why bother -- you won't really need it." So I'm getting the 328, which doesn't have steam. I can't help with "hands on" information, but thought I'd let you know what I learned and what I decided.

I recently bought the Whirlpool Duet steam pair and have found the steam options useless. A damp towel in the dryer works just as well, if not better. Steam in the washer doesn't seem to do anything. (And the things both rock when in use, ugh).

We have beautiful red LGs. I have used the steam 2 times. Can't for the life of me figure out why the dryer even has steam. Love all the cycles on the LG washer and have actually used most of them, but steam... spend your extra money on something else.

In the year i have had my steam washer and dryer, i have used the steam option in my dryer once and in the washer twice. I would say i really didn't need it. :)

I just purchased the Samsungs with steam, but ONLY because my washer died and the steam Samsungs were available the next day. I don't think the cost was that much more, maybe $100 more for each (?) I haven't used the steam feature in either the washer or dryer yet. I might try to steam sweaters. I hate dry cleaning sweaters, and hand washing in not ideal, so steam might be nice. We'll see and I'll report back. I definitely would not have sought that feature had I a choice. Just one more thing to break and I dislike having to use a "Y" connector for the cold water valves to feed water to the dryer for steam because I use floodcheck hoses and since they are not as pliable as other hoses, the fit is really tight and unsightly. Anyway, for these reasons, I would have preferred to NOT have steam.

The color we wanted (light green) only came with steam and the cost wasn't any more due to a sale. I played with the steam once but don't and won't use it on a regular basis.