Trending? I really don't know that. Perhaps you could ask at a local appliance store.

I care a lot about laundry and we have only ever had top-loaders, since our laundry room is rather narrow. Having to leave a front-loading washer door open, the way I hear you have to do to prevent mold issues, can't really happen in a narrow laundry room. And it would be very inconvenient to exit the laundry room through our garage door, already existing in there, if there were another door (front-loading washer) in the way.

We are a tall family, so have no issues whatsoever getting inside the top loader to remove wet clothing.

We have a busy, large, sports-oriented household with a lot of pets, so we do a lot of dirty laundry. I have found that the proper use of excellent products (Biz) and the ability to soak stains in a bucket in a laundry room sink (in heavy Oxyclean), has made laundry a breeze, and we've had several different types of machines, currently have a Samsung (no center agitator) and it does a great job, imho. I'd love to try a Speed Queen someday, but our loads are just too big for that.

Based on Consumer Reports magazine's own testing, some front load washers clean better than others. I checked there before choosing both FLs we have owned.

Get an LG front loading washer - not all FL washers are of equal quality (just like top loading). LG front loaders are accepted among most reviewers to provide a better clean while at the same time being more energy and water efficient, and allowing your drier to be more efficient too. You don't need lots of water to get things cleaner - you need better motion and good detergent.

I just ordered an LG Washtower to ditch the Samsung set that came with the house I just bought.

As an aside, why would you choose an appliance based on what's fashionable (i.e. trending)? Function over form!

I can’t reach the bottom of my daughter’s top loader (I’m 5’1”) - so that may be a consideration for you!

After 20+ years of having front loaders, and liking them, I bought a top loader for my next home (a rental). I had no real problems with the front loaders other than manufacturer errors. I’ve had Maytag (25 years ago; and then Electrolux). I do worry a bit because I’m short, but we’ll see.

I have a top load that has 'auto', medium, and high for my choices in fill level. I pretty much use medium for every load, the washer has a glass top so I can see how much free movement my garments have in the tub of water.

I have built in cabinets with under cabinet lighting in my 1955 laundry room. They don't leave me quite the height I would need for a front loader on pedestal - not that I have any trouble using a good top loading machine. I don't know about trending, only that my clothes wash and rinse cleanly.

So far, this thread is not distinguishing between the types of TL choices there are-i,e. an HE with an impeller or a traditional agitator machine. My hunch is people who do not like FL washers would not be happy with an HE machine.

There are very few traditional-agitator toploaders on the market now.

Speed Queen TC5.

An Amana (Whirlpool) model WTW4516FW that may be available only through Lowe's. And its sibling Roper RTW4516F that seems now to be unavailable.

Others have faux agitators ... low-profile bases with bumps or nubs that operate in an HE fashion, and the centerpost spiral (if it has a spiral) oscillates with the base instead of moving in only one direction to push the clothes down. Some designs seem to provide reasonable wash action. Others are marginal to laughable, especially if the fill level is too high which causes the clothes to float away from the base.

A recent GE revision eliminated spin (to extract soapy water) between wash and rinse (in an effort to reduce water usage), although all of their models may not be affected.

Not much choice these days for the sake of being efficient it seems dadoes. How many posts have we seen from people regardless of type of machine who say they re-wash and run rinse after rinse trying to achieve the results they are after. I am not speaking of the people who frequent this forum, but those who are just expressing their dissatisfaction in general with the average machines on the market and then go on to other forums.

Everything we see in laundry idea photos are front load. Just curious if there was a reason. Have a few friends who’ve switched back to top load. Thx

Even among the top-load (both agitator and HE style), CR magazine's own test results for cleaning shows that some clean worse than others. All I can say is do your homework. YMMV

"Just curious if there was a reason"

Because (as a class of washers) they are more efficient with respect to energy and water use, they do a better job of cleaning, and they are gentler on your clothes (than the old agitator machines). And they leave clothes so wrung out that you use less energy in your dryer too.

Oh, and if you have space constraints, they can be stacked.

Much of the consumer public is not aware that the first automatic washer on the U.S. market was a frontloader in 1936/'37. Frontloaders have been available continuously since then except perhaps for a very short time in the mid 1990s. Maytag marketed their Neptune model circa 1997 as if it was something completely new, when it was not.

Our front loading whirlpool duet does an excellent job of cleaning clothes and has not needed any repairs in the 6 years we’ve had it. Because they use less water and power front loaders seem to be a wise choice anywhere either thing is an issue.

I gave up on harsh-on-fabrics top loaders fall 2006 and hope I never have another top loader.

"Because they use less water and power front loaders seem to be a wise choice anywhere either thing is an issue."

Those things are an issue EVERYWHERE.