7 ms·

SpeedQueen owner here as well. Even more important than repairability is that the SpeedQueen actually cleans my clothes. In the 80s I remember coming home with

SpeedQueen owner here as well. Even more important than repairability is that the SpeedQueen actually cleans my clothes. In the 80s I remember coming home with mud caked on my clothes, shaking them off and throwing them in the washer. I'd even throw my muddy sneakers in the wash. If I try that with a modern low-water unit there's still dirt on them after a wash. The SpeedQueen will handle this kind of heavy soiling. It seems like modern washers are designed for modern (mostly indoor) living. They freshen clothes, but they don't really wash them.

mgdlbp 4y ago
This is about dishwashers, but I once read about regulation-enforced water/energy-saving cycles resulting in ineffective cleaning, which backfired, as people then got in the habit of always selecting the heaviest cycle or even re-adopted pre-rinsing. Searching for the concept now, I can only find this article: https://www.wsj.com/articles/make-dishwashers-that-clean-again-11571003417 https://www.wsj.com/articles/make-dishwashers-that-clean-aga...
- FridayoLeary 4y ago
  Exactly. I read "Eco mode" (which can be found on virtually any product today) as 'ignore entirely'.
  - distances 4y ago
    I have a dishwasher and washing machine from Siemens (nowadays the same as Bosch, just different branding). European models around 400€ each. Eco mode washes perfectly fine on both of them, that's what I always use. Takes over three hours but that's not an issue for me.
  - throwaway09223 4y ago
    The Department of Energy actually banned the SpeedQueen TC5 washer model a few years back because it didn't have a sufficient eco mode (read this as: it automated more of the washing work for you than the government would allow) The workaround is that modern SpeedQueen washers have a "normal/eco" default mode which doesn't do a good job at all. This mode exists to satisfy the DoE policy. The washer is intended to never be run on this mode, and all the other modes do a fantastic washing job. I have the newer TC5 with the bogus "normal/eco" cycle. It's a great washer as long as the government mandated useless mode isn't selected. Here's a nyt/wirecutter article about it: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/speed-queen-review/ https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/speed-queen-revie...
- dkurth 4y ago
  Exactly. We pre-rinse the dishes, get the water running hot before starting the machine, and choose the heavy cycle. Even so, the dishwasher barely cleans our dishes. And it's a Bosch, well reviewed by Consumer Reports when we got it! People in this thread are talking about the SpeedQueen washing machine. Is there something similar for dishwashers? I would pay good money for a dishwasher that actually cleaned my dishes. I don't even care if it's loud!
  - rsynnott 4y ago
    I'm constantly confused by these threads; the only time I've seen these sorts of problems with dishwashers of any vintage is where people aren't cleaning the filters. You're cleaning the filters, right?
    - dkurth 4y ago
      We are now, but there's a little more to it. When we first got this dishwasher, we never cleaned the filters. Our previous washer didn't need that, and we didn't know better. So it got pretty bad before we realized we needed to do that. We cleaned it very thoroughly at that point and now clean the filters at least weekly, but we still have these problems.
  - OJFord 4y ago
    > get the water running hot before starting the machine Interesting if this is a US difference - but here (in the UK) at least dishwashers (usually? I suppose I don't want to claim to speak for 100%) only have a cold water inlet; they do their own heating.
    - jsjohnst 4y ago
      They usually are the same in the US too based on my own anecdata of having ~10 different ones over past twenty years.
    - dkurth 4y ago
      I admit that I'm not actually sure. We got this advice from a local appliance shop.
- amluto 4y ago
  My “modern” (20-year-old, which is solidly modern by this standard) dishwasher cleans much better than I remember my childhood dishwasher cleaning. It also doesn’t melt plastic on the bottom rack, which is a fantastic feature. The main downside is it takes two hours, and I think my childhood dishwasher took one hour. My modern front load washer gets clothes clean. It also doesn’t severely abrade them. As I understand it, this combination of features is unavailable in a top-loader. Top-loaders with agitators clean well but damage clothing due to rubbing against the agitator. Top-loaders without agitators don’t clean well. (Fundamentally, front loading is just a better design. There is no reason to submerge clothes for the whole cycle; to the contrary, one wants the clothes to move relative to the water. With a top loader, the clothes and the water move as a unit and gravity doesn’t help at all except to the extent that it avoids needing a seal on the door. With a front loader, gravity actively assists the process. And, aside from saving water, the fact that less water is used means that less detergent is needed to achieve a given concentration.) Make fun of modern low-water appliances all you like, but a lot of them are much better than the things they replaced even if you don’t care about water usage.
  - gambiting 4y ago
    My new(2 years old) Bosch dishwasher cleans much better than any other dishwasher I used in my life. I'm like 60% sure that the buttons on the front don't actually do anything, because it cleans equally well in all modes, from ECO(50C) to Heavy Load(70C). Yeah the eco mode takes 3 hours by default, but press "Vario Speed" and is done in 1:05h with the exact same result.
    - maccard 4y ago
      > Yeah the eco mode takes 3 hours by default, but press "Vario Speed" and is done in 1:05h with the exact same result. I wonder about people complaining about this - whether it takes 1 hour or 3 hours, are you sitting in your kitchen waiting for the dishwasher to complete? Put it on after a meal and next time you're in the kitchen it will be done...
      - gambiting 4y ago
- adrianN 4y ago
  I choose the eco-mode setting and lie to the machine that it's only half-full and my dishes are still cleaned properly. This is a newish Bosch model. I also choose the eco setting on my washing machine and wash at 30 degrees and my clothes become clean (but I don't roll around in mud very often). That's a cheap Beko model that is about 8 years old.
amluto 4y ago
What low-water unit are you comparing to? Here’s Wirecutter doing an actual comparison: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/speed-queen-review/ https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/speed-queen-revie...
post_break 4y ago
Except speedqueen is a shell if itself. My dad recently got one, it's complete garbage. Yeah you can get parts for it, but it's missing the most basic features. No soak mode. He also complains it doesn't wash his clothes very well compared to his old washer that was a front loader. That thing lasted about 10 years too. After I think 2017 they started to really cheap out. Maytag now has a more professional line to target speedqueen buyers. Out of all the major appliances though the biggest thing to do is avoid ALL korean brands unless you're in South Korea.

mgdlbp 4y ago

This is about dishwashers, but I once read about regulation-enforced water/energy-saving cycles resulting in ineffective cleaning, which backfired, as people then got in the habit of always selecting the heaviest cycle or even re-adopted pre-rinsing. Searching for the concept now, I can only find this article: https://www.wsj.com/articles/make-dishwashers-that-clean-again-11571003417 https://www.wsj.com/articles/make-dishwashers-that-clean-aga...

FridayoLeary 4y ago
Exactly. I read "Eco mode" (which can be found on virtually any product today) as 'ignore entirely'.
- distances 4y ago
  I have a dishwasher and washing machine from Siemens (nowadays the same as Bosch, just different branding). European models around 400€ each. Eco mode washes perfectly fine on both of them, that's what I always use. Takes over three hours but that's not an issue for me.
- throwaway09223 4y ago
  The Department of Energy actually banned the SpeedQueen TC5 washer model a few years back because it didn't have a sufficient eco mode (read this as: it automated more of the washing work for you than the government would allow) The workaround is that modern SpeedQueen washers have a "normal/eco" default mode which doesn't do a good job at all. This mode exists to satisfy the DoE policy. The washer is intended to never be run on this mode, and all the other modes do a fantastic washing job. I have the newer TC5 with the bogus "normal/eco" cycle. It's a great washer as long as the government mandated useless mode isn't selected. Here's a nyt/wirecutter article about it: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/speed-queen-review/ https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/speed-queen-revie...
dkurth 4y ago
Exactly. We pre-rinse the dishes, get the water running hot before starting the machine, and choose the heavy cycle. Even so, the dishwasher barely cleans our dishes. And it's a Bosch, well reviewed by Consumer Reports when we got it! People in this thread are talking about the SpeedQueen washing machine. Is there something similar for dishwashers? I would pay good money for a dishwasher that actually cleaned my dishes. I don't even care if it's loud!
- rsynnott 4y ago
  I'm constantly confused by these threads; the only time I've seen these sorts of problems with dishwashers of any vintage is where people aren't cleaning the filters. You're cleaning the filters, right?
  - dkurth 4y ago
    We are now, but there's a little more to it. When we first got this dishwasher, we never cleaned the filters. Our previous washer didn't need that, and we didn't know better. So it got pretty bad before we realized we needed to do that. We cleaned it very thoroughly at that point and now clean the filters at least weekly, but we still have these problems.
- OJFord 4y ago
  > get the water running hot before starting the machine Interesting if this is a US difference - but here (in the UK) at least dishwashers (usually? I suppose I don't want to claim to speak for 100%) only have a cold water inlet; they do their own heating.
  - jsjohnst 4y ago
    They usually are the same in the US too based on my own anecdata of having ~10 different ones over past twenty years.
  - dkurth 4y ago
    I admit that I'm not actually sure. We got this advice from a local appliance shop.
amluto 4y ago
My “modern” (20-year-old, which is solidly modern by this standard) dishwasher cleans much better than I remember my childhood dishwasher cleaning. It also doesn’t melt plastic on the bottom rack, which is a fantastic feature. The main downside is it takes two hours, and I think my childhood dishwasher took one hour. My modern front load washer gets clothes clean. It also doesn’t severely abrade them. As I understand it, this combination of features is unavailable in a top-loader. Top-loaders with agitators clean well but damage clothing due to rubbing against the agitator. Top-loaders without agitators don’t clean well. (Fundamentally, front loading is just a better design. There is no reason to submerge clothes for the whole cycle; to the contrary, one wants the clothes to move relative to the water. With a top loader, the clothes and the water move as a unit and gravity doesn’t help at all except to the extent that it avoids needing a seal on the door. With a front loader, gravity actively assists the process. And, aside from saving water, the fact that less water is used means that less detergent is needed to achieve a given concentration.) Make fun of modern low-water appliances all you like, but a lot of them are much better than the things they replaced even if you don’t care about water usage.
- gambiting 4y ago
  My new(2 years old) Bosch dishwasher cleans much better than any other dishwasher I used in my life. I'm like 60% sure that the buttons on the front don't actually do anything, because it cleans equally well in all modes, from ECO(50C) to Heavy Load(70C). Yeah the eco mode takes 3 hours by default, but press "Vario Speed" and is done in 1:05h with the exact same result.
  - maccard 4y ago
    > Yeah the eco mode takes 3 hours by default, but press "Vario Speed" and is done in 1:05h with the exact same result. I wonder about people complaining about this - whether it takes 1 hour or 3 hours, are you sitting in your kitchen waiting for the dishwasher to complete? Put it on after a meal and next time you're in the kitchen it will be done...
    - gambiting 4y ago
adrianN 4y ago
I choose the eco-mode setting and lie to the machine that it's only half-full and my dishes are still cleaned properly. This is a newish Bosch model. I also choose the eco setting on my washing machine and wash at 30 degrees and my clothes become clean (but I don't roll around in mud very often). That's a cheap Beko model that is about 8 years old.

amluto 4y ago

What low-water unit are you comparing to? Here’s Wirecutter doing an actual comparison: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/speed-queen-review/ https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/speed-queen-revie...

post_break 4y ago

Except speedqueen is a shell if itself. My dad recently got one, it's complete garbage. Yeah you can get parts for it, but it's missing the most basic features. No soak mode. He also complains it doesn't wash his clothes very well compared to his old washer that was a front loader. That thing lasted about 10 years too. After I think 2017 they started to really cheap out. Maytag now has a more professional line to target speedqueen buyers. Out of all the major appliances though the biggest thing to do is avoid ALL korean brands unless you're in South Korea.