I just purchased SQ manual control W/D for my new house. since we still have not moved in I haven't used them yet. I can tell you I did a lot of research on them prior and the reason I chose manual controls is you have more control and I felt there was less to go wrong than with digital.

With the manual controls I read you can fill the drum more if you want/need to rather than have the itty bitty amount of water all machines are being required to have now. also heard that due to even more stringent government restrictions for next year there is a rumor that they will have to discontinue the manual control versions. The shop where I purchased ours said the manual ones are the most popular (by far)!!!

I bought the digital control model last November. At that time, there was a very good rebate on the digital ($120) that brought the price way down. No problems, no complaints, very happy.

ok- this may be a silly question. but where are you finding powder detergent? I've checked 2 or 3 different grocery stores that I shop at and all 3 only carry liquid

I just bought powdered Tide with Bleach and Cheer powder at Wal-Mart. I also get Ariel and Foca powder at Wal-Mart. My store has two or three other powdered detergents but I don't remember which ones. I think Menard's has one or two powders but not the Tide w/ Bleach or Cheer.

Edited to update: I was just back in WMT today & they have Gain, Surf, Arm &Hammer, Fab & Roma in powders. (I had a box of Fab powder that I had gotten at a rummage sale. It's pretty much worthless as far as cleaning goes, IMO.) Menard's has only one powder--Tide but they don't stock the Tide that I use, Tide W/ Bleach.

Our stores don't sell powdered laundry detergent either--which is one reason we used liquid for so long.

I order on-line from Target, Amazon or sometimes, Walmart. Tide, Cheer, All are available to buy with the on-line stores listed. You may know of other on-line retailers

One exception over here is our local Mexican market. They sell powder Mexican Ariel. Not to be confused with powder Ariel you can buy at Walmart in store. That's made for the American marketplace. It's not a bad detergent. It just doesn't have phosphates and for us at least, the scent is overpowering.

On a recent trip to a dented can type of grocery store; Grocery Outlet, they had true Mexican Ariel for sale in the largest bags I've seen. I bought 25lbs worth of Mexican Ariel there recently. I was shocked to see it there since I've not seen it outside of Mexican/Hispanic grocery stores. Thus, the unexpected stock-up purchase I made.

thanks- was hoping I wouldn't have to order online, but will look into it

I bought the manual dial top loader SQ about 3 yrs. ago and it has been used a lot doing very soiled, stained loads and is chirping along just fine. I did a lot of research before buying it and the reviews of previous purchasers convinced to me.

Plus I did not want another digital which has a much shorter lifespan and more repairs.

I would highly recommend Speed Queen.

I had a SQ, manual dial.

I always had TL'ers until a year ago, but my issue was having hot enough water. I boiled huge soup pots to add to the hot fill Lol. Plenty of folks here worried about my old carcass carrying all this heavy boiling water, but 3 folks went above and beyond... our wonderful Larsi, Roc, and Alex just would no longer tolorate my life long laundry practices so they made sure I had a FL with a heater. Dont get me wrong clothes can be cleaned in a TL, but certain things require hot water like sheets...my hot water tank could not be set above 125 although sometimes I changed it to 130, kids ya know....I could NEVER give up my extra hot washes now and go back to boiling water LOL. I will say though that if my Duet worked like the others of the same model number I wouldn't be so pleased, I just happened to get one that's not exactly broke, but unique. ...and I LOVE it. Haha

We have a front load speed queen with dial. We don't care to have a bunch of bells and whistle. Ours is 7 years old. I sure this darn washer will last forever. I don't care for it. Not because it is a speed queen, but because it is a front loader. It needs for water! If I could I would get the same thing only in a top loader.

Three cheers for the top loader manual Speed Queen. Have owned it for about 2 years and it's a workhorse.

"mamapinky0: I always had FL'ers until a year ago, ..."

I think you meant to say TL, not FL. :-)

Leah Fleming, some SQ frontloaders with a dial control for cycle selection are in fact electronic ... in which case the dial is not a timer, it's a selector for a computer board. The clue is whether the dial starts at beginning of the selected cycle and progresses toward Off. If so, then it's a mechanical timer. If you set a cycle on the dial, press a separate start button, and the dial does not move for duration of the cycle, then it's electronic.

Dadoes, oops, Thank You I fixed it.

Love my manual control top loading SQ. Didn't feel the need to go digital. I find the mechanical controls suit me, and there is no "motherboard" in them to go awry or blink at me. I have an aversion to LED lights in every blessed thing in my house! Besides, you find as you age, that LED readouts are more difficult to see. The dials are easy to read. Also, the mechanical controls are easier to fix, should that ever need to happen. Although I doubt it will. They are heavy duty and tough machines. Simple to use, they work great and produce clean and clean-smelling laundry. :) Old school cool!

The washer and dryer finish at the same time, which I love. They really are SPEEDy. LOL

I find powdered Arm and Hammer pods at our local grocery store, but I also use liquids in them with great results.

Good luck!

I agree with rredpenn. I've had a top loading manual SQ washer and dryer for a year and a half and am in love. They are sturdy, reliable, simple machines that don't make stupid "decisions" for me the way digital machines do.

We have a SQ top loader with digital dials. Bought last November to replace our 20 year old Whirlpool when it died (never needed a single repair in its long, abused and hard-used life, btw). So far, so good with the new Queen. She's not glamorous, but she really gets the job done. Our clothes are much much cleaner (we garden a lot). We considered the manual dial version, but it seemed like the digital controls offered a few more options (I think), like a third rinse, which comes in handy when clothes are especially muddy or dirty. Spin cycle is quite strong. The only small (and I mean small) downside is that you cannot fill the tub with clothes while the water is running. When you lift the lid, the water stops. Supposedly, there's a hack for this, but it's not a big deal, and I've learned to adjust to it.

Finally, regarding powdered detergent...the fellow who sold us the SQ (he's owned an appliance store in our town for 40+ years, and is quite knowledgeable) definitely said no liquid detergent. Liquids contain wax that eventually clog and destroy washing machines. Have had no problem finding powdered detergent at Costco and even Lowes.

Gotta put a load in now. Good luck with your SQ, and welcome to the cult!

I'm in the minority -- I have the SQ unitized front loaders with the tiny footprint. Perfect for small spaces, but a little pricy. Huge capacity and really clean clothes. Love them.

gleaner3 Powdered detergent is not an option for me. Is the powder what SQ recommends? I sure hope not because I have my heart set on a SQ and need to use a liquid detergent.

My appliance repair man suggests using vinegar in place of softeners in any machine of any brand. Says it keeps the parts from gunking up. He loves SQ.

My question is about liquid laundry detergents. Can they be used in a SQ TL? Will a SQ TL last many years with a liquid laundry detergent?

I don't use softeners in my wash. I use Bounce sheets in my dryer.

Do I have to use powdered detergent in an analog SQ TL to get it to work for many years?

Hi gables007: I checked the user's manual and there's nothing in there that says you need to use powdered detergents. The recommendation to use powder was from my appliance guy. The washer, in fact, has a dispenser for liquid fabric softener which, I suspect, also contains wax. Also, keep in mind that these machines are used in commercial laundry mats, and where people use all sorts of different detergents. Regarding the longevity of the machine...who knows these days? Whether we use powdered or liquid detergent, all appliances are built to fail eventually. All I can say is that the SQ seems to be a very sturdy machine and it really does a great job getting clothes super clean without a lot of fuss. Hope this helps.

I think the liquids that are transparent don't have the wax, if that helps.

From the horse's mouth:

Speed Queen: How to Choose the Right Detergent

Speed Queen says to use whichever detergent, liquid or powder, that works best for you.

Forgot to say that I used mostly liquid detergent in my SQ for the first 5-6 years that I owned it. During the last year, I have switched to powder detergent for most (90+%) of my loads.

(IMO) There should be no issue with using either liquid or powder detergent in ANY washer ... other than the angle that liquids are more likely than powders to interact adversely with chronic cold-water usage and/or local water conditions and cause smutz ... and that, of course is individual to each situation, discovered by trial-and-error.

I clean my machines annually (end of summer season) with hot water and a toothbrush in all the places I can reach. Then I run a wash cycle with hot water and vinegar to get it squeaky clean. Then, I leave it open to dry completely out.

We use liquid softeners (just a bit, and always watered down) and liquid or powder detergent. Whatever is on sale. I like to change detergents every so often so I don't get used to the scents. LOL

I've read FL washers have more issues with mildew and needing to be cleaned more than TL washers? True?

I don't use liquid softeners, just dryer sheets.

BTW, I had a great Whirlpool TL for over 20+ years like gleaner3. It never needed servicing. I used liquid detergent in it for as long as I can remember. The one time I cleaned it out with vinegar, it broke down shortly afterwards. I'm sure it's not the vinegar but I worry about messing with the next washer. I'd like to think if I get a SQ TL, I won't have to clean it yearly though I am guessing it wouldn't hurt to (?). I did read somewhere about vinegar wearing down on rubber parts but I assume there's no rubber parts in the SQ to worry about.

All washers need cleaned regularly expecially if you don't do at least weekly hot washes with chlorine bleach.

Gables do you do hot washes? Do you use chlorine on whites?

Based on past posts on this website in the archives, I used one cup of powder dishwasher detergent in a hot and empty wash cycle to clean the innards of my SQ. I let it soak for an hour or so.

My SQ seemed fresh and clean enough before the treatment, but I figured it'd been a year, so it might of had some residue build up or something where I couldn't see it.

All seems fine. I don't know if I did need to do the treatment or not, but since it was recommended I did it. It smelled fine before and it smells fine now, so who can tell! The steel tub did shine more than usual afterwards.

I'm not a vinegar in the washer user, but there are lots of posts on-line that say it can clean the washer. I don't know if this is indeed true however. Some people swear by it, others think it's not so useful.

There are also clean washer tablets (Afresh, etc...) if you like to go that route.

Glisten makes a clean washer product also.

mamapinky0 I don't use bleach. I had a hot/cold cycle on my Whirlpool that I used but mostly I used the warm and cold cycles. I plan to go the same route with my new washer. I don't have a lot of whites to wash and of the ones I do, the Whirlpool did a good job of cleaning. Do I need to use the hot water wash on a SQ to get the same results with whites or will I get good results on the other cycles with the analog SQ TL?

If I have to use bleach, I'd rather run it on an empty hot cycle. But I read somewhere vinegar was better and now I am reading about what SEA SEA suggested.

SEA SEA I didn't know dishwasher detergent could be used.

Gables..first let me ask what water temp do you use?

Household vinegar is a comparatively weak acid so a large dose (pretty much filling the machine with just vinegar) would be needed to have appreciable effect on a really grungy machine. I use just vinegar (3 gallons) circulated through my tankless water heater with a pump for a couple hours to clear mineral deposits.

A smelly toploader would need to be disassembled for access to scrub the areas that are otherwise inaccessible ... which also applies to a grungy frontloader. The primary trick is proper usage habits to prevent smutz from building-up in the first place. The secondary trick (particularly applicable to frontloaders) is to run the machine-clean cycle on a regular basis as part of the defense ... before it gets bad enough that the machine-clean cycle is really needed.

There are things that need a hot wash, bedding ( mites can't be killed in less than 130F, kitchen towels, bath towels, and underwear....these things need at the least hot tap to be cleaned. no you don't need to use chlorine in the wash, but if your washing in cold or cool water your washer will need a periodic hot wash with chlorine to keep her clean on the inside where you can't see. This isn't limited to Speed Queen its for the health of all washers.

Like Dadoes says. ..keep it clean don't let the scum or mold have a chance.

The fastest way to grow the muck and mold is only using cold/cool washes without at least a weekly hot wash.

Can baking soda be used with vinegar to prevent or eliminate mildew in a washer? I can't remember if I added baking soda when I cleaned out my washer with vinegar. Think I might have done so. Could that have damaged my Whirlpool?

Baking soda is alkaline and vinegar is acid. The soda will neutralize the vinegar, negating any effect the vinegar might have.

Hot water and ten cents worth of chlorine bleach. Done.

If you're really paranoid, get a quaternary disinfectant and run a hot water cycle without clothes, stopping the washer for about 20 minutes to give the quat time to work.

But I just don't have a mold/ mildew problem in my TL that is in the basement in Central Wisconsin (where fighting mold, mildew, moss, algae & rust everywhere is running battle.) I routinely wash in hot water, seldom use chlorine bleach, use mostly powdered detergents and never use liquid fabric softener and, once or twice a year, run a hot water cycle (no clothing) with a glug of bleach just for good measure. (During the summer, we run a dehumidifier in the basement because the air conditioning is seldom turned on.)

Oh, and depending on how old your Whirlpool is and where you live (Southern California vs Duluth), you may discover that 'warm' washes are best described as 'cool'...because of energy regulations. Washers now mix more cold water w/ hot than they used to. The work around is to start the fill with hot water and switch to warm.

I just have to say that reading all of this makes me so eager to get my set of SQs in the fall. Selling my house right now is hellish-my agent is not what I had expected and has helped make what is already a stressful situation even more so. I am so looking forward to coming here probably in November to share that I too, have joined the SQ cult (As I read a few moments ago) and we are all settled in our new house.