The Sound Of (Near) Silence

In mid-July, our old Eaton ‘Viking’ washing machine finally gave up the ghost, with a cloud of smoke and a load of towels (of all things!) in mid-cycle. It had served us well, despite it’s advanced years, and we had purchased it second hand for only $75.00. However, I had little time to mourn the passing of this noble appliance – the mountains of laundry had started accumulating at an alarming rate.

I despise making important purchases armed with no information. I feel vulnerable and at risk of being taken advantage of. All I knew was that we were buying a new appliance, and the figure of money that my husband and I had agreed upon as being the most we were willing to spend (actually, go in debt for). I hardly considered us being well educated about the major purchase we needed to make.

Upon entering the household appliance section of a large furniture/appliance warehouse, we were immediately overwhelmed by the selection available to us! Wow. A customer service rep approached us and we politely informed him that we needed some time to familiarize ourselves with some information.

Firstly, we noticed that all of the models at the bottom end of the price range had plastic tubs. I had read somewhere that plastic tubs were hard on clothes because of the sharp edges where the plastic has to be punched for drainage. I had also heard that plastic tubs can absorb odors that linger. That ruled out any model with this feature. Stainless steel tubs were (ahem) way out of our price range, as were any front loading models. That left any models with a ‘porcelain on steel’ tub. Enter our Whirlpool Ultimate Care 2-Super Capacity Plus LSQ8543J.

Yes, this is the model we ultimately laid our money down upon. It had all of my ‘must haves’ – the porcelain on steel tub, and it was in our price range. But little did I know that there were other features that would impress me and make my life a little easier. Over the past few months, we have become firm friends, my Whirlpool and I, and this is largely due to the following:

Four Wash Cycles

There are four wash cycles to choose from – Normal (high and low agitation), Casual/Permanent Press (high and low agitation), Delicates (low agitation), and Hand Washables (intermittent agitation). I can honestly say that I have only used the Normal and the Hand Washable cycle (for our woolens and some of my...unmentionables). The ‘Normal’ cycle has four settings within it, so you can put those muddy play clothes on ‘Super Wash’, and those that just need to be freshened on ‘Light’.

“Xtra Roll Action Plus”tm Agitator

This feature is really neat! The agitator is designed to move the clothes up and around in a rolling motion, hopefully cleaning each article evenly. You can see it rotating the laundry during the cycle-I think it’s great, and these clothes are really clean.

Super Capacity Plus

This tub is huge! I have washed my queen size comforter in it with no problems whatsoever. This thing can really mow through the heaps of laundry in no time. A medium load in my Whirlpool is comparable to a very large load in my old Viking. I love that the Whirlpool can accommodate large loads AND clean them!

“Quiet Wash”tm System

This feature is quite possibly the favorite of the entire family. This washing machine is extremely quiet. It actually has an ‘End of Cycle’ signal (loud buzzer) to let you know when the wash is done. I certainly never needed that with my old washer!! The absence of all of that racket let me know soon enough that the load was done. The Whirlpool is actually packed with sound absorbing material that keeps the noise level to a very quiet ‘background’ noise. If your laundry is on a different floor from where your family does most of it’s living, I betcha won’t hear much at all-except that buzzer! Whirlpool actually has a 30 day money-back guarantee that it’s machine will be quieter than your old one, or you get your money back. I think that says that Whirlpool has a lot of faith in it’s product, and so do I.

In conclusion, I have absolutely no complaints whatsoever about the Whirlpool Ultimate Care 2 Super Capacity Plus washing machine. It cleans clothes very well, it has excellent features that help to make laundry less of a chore, and it certainly is quiet. I consider it an excellent appliance, and providing it does not fail mechanically, I would not only recommend this product to others, but when the time comes (in the VERY distant future), I will replace this with another Whirlpool.