Toploaders are not immune to mold and smutz. Prevention is in the usage habits, for both frontloaders and toploaders.

True Dadoes, we always leave the lid up on our top loader when not in use, although we do have some fabric softener gunk in places like around the rim of the tub, there's no mold. I reckon keeping the lid open on a TL or the door open on an FL is a good idea.

I will be very interested in your thoughts. Our SQ (2017 TL Analog washer and electronic control dryer) set will be 5 years old this coming November and have been fantastic. My MIL's Miele set is going on 9 years old I believe. She is planning on moving into a condo within 2 years. My initial thoughts may be that we convey the Miele set with the house and we give her our SQ set for the condo. That would mean of course we buy a new set. The only way I would do this would be a SQ FL washer unless SQ were to revise the TL products, which I don't see them doing. I always liked my Kenmore FL washer but hated the LG FL washer we replaced it with. I could see going to a SQ FL if it has some good features, superior capacity, and if they introduced a heater.

Please continue to share your experiences. Is it Miz Lizzie who has a SQ FL also (maybe she has Miele), and I know she liked whichever brand she has very much.

There's no way to be sure a toploader has no mold or residue without disassembling it to get a look at hidden areas. Leaving the lid open between uses it not an assured prevention. Usage techniques are more important. Avoid cold water. Dose detergent properly. Underdosing doesn't condition the water for sequestering laundry soils and mineral content in the water, which is worse than overdosing. Consider what happens when cold, dirty dishwater is left in a sink ... grease collects at the water line. The sink can be scrubbed but not the exterior of the washer's inner drum and the interior of the outer tub.

Dadoes, When our F&P washer died after 11 years I took it totally apart in order to dispose of it more easily and to scrounge whatever useful parts I could, and whatever we had been doing it was obviously working as the guts of the washer were in good shape as regards mold and gunk.

We never use cold water on anything.

armjim: Will do. Limited exposure so far, but so far so good. As I mentioned, we'll be keeping the SQ TL around until we decide that we prefer the FL, if we don't then I'll just reinstall the TL.

I know this forum is really big into FL "heaters", but I can't see how it is such a big issue at all. I have seen drain water temps measured by a SQ FL owner and they seem great, and not largely different from the FLs with heaters.

One thing we will appreciate - I hope - is the gentler action of the FL, as others have reported, we do occasionally (VERY occasionally) have an item of clothing get holes in it with the TL. I imagine the TR series of top loaders is far superior in that manner, but don't know for sure.

Over the years, three of my wife's tops have been holed by our TL, which considering the thousands of items that have been through it is not bad, but still......

They don't use much water do they? Our old TL would have a full tub with the clothes drowning in there. The FL seemingly has some damp clothes rolling around in the tub. How can the clothes get as clean as the TL without much water?

The clothes are saturated, dripping wet. Much of the cleaning action of a frontloader is from the items slapping on the drum surface as they tumble and fall. More water cushions the fall ... delicate cycles, particularly a dedicated Silks or Woolens cycle, typically fill higher to provide less aggressive action. I helped a neighbor several years ago clean one of his rental properties between tenants. Sheer curtain panels were left in the living room, dining room, and kitchen. I took them down to wash in the frontloader he provides at that property. I figured the delicate cycle would be appropriate. The higher fill made it too gentle, the items floated and slightly sloshed in both the wash and rinses with no tumbling which left undissolved powder detergent in the folds. I ran the load again on Normal, which tumbled them nicely at the lower fill level and all the detergent residue was flushed out.

It definitely requires new thought processes. The other thing I have had problems convincing my wife to do is to load it up! "Oh, I don't want to overload it" as she fills the tub to about 15% of capacity. From what I've read, a 3/4 full tub should be considered a typical load level.

A full load of heavier cotton-type items (towels, jeans, etc.) is considered by loading "loosely" to a sideways fist of space at the top up inside the drum. Loosely means not compressed beyond the weight of the items and the door doesn't need to be leveraged with a knee to latch closed. Delicate and knit loads of 1/2 or up to 2/3 the drum space. Woolens, silks, and items that pill from abrasion should be smaller loads.

Very small loads are difficult for the machine to distribute evenly for balanced spin. One or two (or even three) jeans or towels can't be split into smaller pieces for balanced arrangment around the drum.

Just to mention, the aforementioned frontloader at the neighbor's rental property is a 2006 Whirlpool Duet set that he bought used in late 2012. I repaired it (bad bearings, bad pump, deteriorating drum, and cleaned up the gnastiness of the original owners' bad habits). It's now on the fourth set of renters, which of course all (except one) also have treated it badly.

"I can't see how it is such a big issue at all. I have seen drain water temps measured by a SQ FL owner and they seem great, and not largely different from the FLs with heaters."

This depends on two things. (1) how far your washer is from your water heater. If it is far, then by the time the hot water leaves your water heater and gets to the washer via cold pipes, the water is not hot, and would need to be heated by a washer's onboard heater to be hot enough to clean the clothes. (2) your climate. Where I live, in January the incoming water can be 38-40 degrees, and the pipes are very cold if they have not been used in the last 10 minutes. It is a sure recipe for cold water to come into your washer even though the washer is calling for hot water. I must have a washer with an onboard heater. If I lived in a warmer climate, perhaps I would not need one.

Onboard heaters also allow for a profile wash to treat a range of stains and types of soil that shift at different temperatures ... starting at a low temperature (cold or warm) and heating as the wash progresses.

Our machine is between the garage - where the heater lives - and the kitchen - so quite close, in addition I installed a hot water recirculation pump many years ago so the hot water pipes get "primed" before hot water is required.

Thanks for the fill info Dadoes, I've always appreciated your input since our days of F&P washer and dryer - they were great, back in the days when they were made in NZ.

So, the used 2015 SpeedQueen pair?

I just reversed the door on the dryer which helps our washer on the left setup, no issues with the dryer. The washer had a slight drip from the seal at first, but I spent some time with CLR cleaning scale off the rubber seal and the glass - the last three washes have resulted in no leaks so that appears to be solved. A couple of other issues, a slight crack about an inch long, very tight on the inner plastic "frame" of the door, I might have caused that when I went around snugging up all the screws. And I do mean "snugging", probably no screw got more than 1/16 to 1/8 of a turn. It is not under stress during use and should be no issue.

A very slight, almost invisible crack above the power buttons on both washer and dryer.

Shouldn't affect the use of the membrane panel but annoying to an OCD like me. Oh well, $800 for these "like new" pair vs $5K with sales tax for a virtually identical new pair, you can't expect perfection.

Your new-to-you SQ FL looks just like my new FF7 except the selection buttons have an updated look. You can easily fill it 3/4 full with laundry and get very good results.

The new ones look very nice with the updated style, I think the washer specs a tiny increase in capacity too? 3.5 v 3.42cu-ft?

I was really only looking for a SQ dryer when this pair came along. I must say I would pay the $4.5K for a new pair if I hadn't got what I considered a decent deal on these.

So far, it looks like we'll be selling our 2015 SQ top loader. Probably get peanuts for it even though it is better than the current TC5 which is, what? $1500?

kenc, nice looking set. These things are rock solid and are going to give you years of faithful service, and you did not have to pay that (gulp!) $4.5K for a new set. Obviously a great find for you and your wife.

ken c - That .08 cu. ft increase in size is probably a pair of socks? LOL we are empty nesters and the size is right for us.

cavimum, Yes, us too. We'll have trouble filling that tub with a week's laundry.

My husband repaired our now gone Whirlpool washer and dryer that lasted nearly 25 years. He took them apart many times. We are a family of nine plus lots of dogs. We have never seen the likes of the photos that dadoes posted in this thread in our equipment. Our washer tub, inside and out, were very clean with no odor. We made no effort to maintain or clean the Whrilpools, just fixed them when they broke. I washed fully 7,500 loads in that washer, no scum or odor ever. We replaced the Whirlpool set with Speed Queens a few years ago. No problem with the top loading SQ either. Dadoes, those photos seem disingenous.

The photos are real. The machines were disassembled on my patio or in my parents' garage.

The first photo (tub) above is a 2009 Fisher & Paykel I bought used in 2018 from the original owner. It had bad suspension rods. I repaired/refurbed and have been using it since.

The 2nd (basket) is a 1999 Kenmore after 6 years of use (2012 to 2018) by my mother. It was given to me by a friend when the motor coupler broke, stored in my garage for several years until I repaired/refurbed it for my mother to use when the timer broke on her 1996 KitchenAid.

The 3rd photo (tub) is a 2012 Whirlpool that an acquaintance brought to me in Feb 2021 to be cleaned up because it reeked like a sewer. Scent beads had been poured into the agitator (removable cap) in an attempt to combat the stench.

The 4th and 5th photos are a 2002/2003 Whirlpool that I bought used (with matching dryer) in 2012 from a young woman who was moving out of an apartment in a nearby town. It's a top-of-line model, stored for a few years, refurbed in 2017, used it a few times and kept as a spare in my collection. This is a video of it.

@cupofkindnessgw Dadoes photos are not disingenuous. I had a F&P TL years ago. It did indeed become a moldy mess around the tub where you couldnt see it. We knew it was there because we smelt it. We had to remove the entire tub and haul it into our shower to clean. It was disgusting. Reason for the mold was my improper use of it. Did many cold washes and used liquid detergent. My SIL has a whirpool top loader which shes had for a few years. She uses fabric softner and those scent beads in all her loads. She also has very hard water. She told me that every 6 months she has to run bleach through the machine because it starts to smell moldy. I can only imgaine was the outside of the tub looks like.

Years ago we got rid of a Whirlpool top loader that made everything smell moldy. I blame fabric softener in our case, since we never had a problem until I started using it.

Just want to say congrats to you ken c, if I haven't already. Sounds like you are selling your SQ TLers. At the start of your thread I was wondering how your story would end.

I have the AWN432. Love it. But I agree it can be harsh on fabrics. We lose items to thrashing every so often. When it's time to replace, or dh can't handle losing 'one more dress shirt' to the SQ TL we would replace with SQ FL or Miele. Cavimum makes good points directing to SQ, others towards Miele. It's a struggle to choose. If at all possible, our youngest adult child wants the SQ TL when we are done wiht it. Says a lot in it's favor as she's hard to please. Glad you seem to be happy with your new to you w/d!

Sea Sea,

So far so good on the SQ front loader. We're quickly learning the washer and dryer settings we like, and so far, both machines are doing a great job.

At first using the HD setting on the dryer, the clothes came out waaayyy too hot and wrinkled. According to the rather skimpy manual, there should be a cool down period but it sure seemed like there wasn't. I wondered if an accumulation of lint in our ducting might be the issue, since cough cough I haven't roto rootered it out in maybe 18 years! There was a decent buildup in there, but we changed two variables, so I can't say for sure - 1) cleaning out the lint and 2) trying the permanent press cycle with medium heat and "near dry" which did a fine job. One day, when my wife is not looking I'll try the HD setting again and see if they come out cooler.

I advertised our SQ TL, which was in "like new" condition and is the touch pad model, and it sold within an hour or so on FB marketplace. I guess I advertised it too cheaply since I've been seeing washers of other makes on there for weeks on end. I got five responses within the hour, I guess people are looking for Speed Queen agitator TLs. The buyer rented a truck and drove 160 miles roundtrip for it.

Our TL did a great job cleaning, 7 years of use and not a single problem, and it still looked new despite being used twice or three times a week for that time. The only issue is it has put holes in three of my wife's fancy sweater/top type things over that 7 years.

If we hadn't had the experience of the 7 years with the TL, no way would I have bought an equally old FL set, but we did , so I did.

My wife has always been a die hard TL person, but this washer is turning her to the dark side.

I have no hands-on experience with SQ dryers but have seen reports that they run hot. Some users avoid the highest temp setting unless it's really needed for towels or jeans or such.

Thing is, we had it on the second highest temperature setting, not "hot", and it appeared that there was no cooling time at the end of the drying cycle. The manual implies, but does not out and out state, that there's a cooling period at the end of all cycles. Certainly, it appeared there was in the permanent press cycle, or was it actually a case of the dryer not being able to vent the heat adequately because of lint buildup? I'll experiment with the HD setting again sometime.

edit: We did have it set to "dry" and not "near dry" on the moisture control, perhaps that's the issue?

amjim: Agreed, permanent press, near dry and eco makes for perfect clothes drying.