Whirlpool Duet Sport makes doing laundry the highlight of my day!

Background: I was tired of my laundry drama. Laundry was eating up my time and energy, and I dreaded throwing a load of clothing into my Maytag Performa (top loader with a composite plastic tub) which I purchased four years ago at Lowes. My Maytag machine had gradually degraded into a huge headache in the last two years, but I just could not reconcile in my mind having to purchase another washer in less than five years, and being hard headed I was determined to stick with it, figuring out the problem or fixing it. (See other Maytag top loader reviews). NOTE: I have recently updated this review, see bottom. :)

My old washer nightmare started with a smell on my clean towels. I used lots of Downy and a cup of Tide in my top loader, and the smell was between old baby vomit and mildew. I went through the gamut of perhaps the towels mildewed waiting for laundry; perhaps my dryer is not drying them enough; maybe it is the Tide? I then thought perhaps there is a microbiological reason so lets pour bleach on the problem and that took the color out of my towels. I bought new towels, threw those out, and started again. Six months go by and the same smell. Later that year my Maytag washer began to dance and hop (no kidding).

My laundry room is situated on the first floor, concrete slab foundation, of our two story home. It is located such that there is a door going into my laundry room on one side and a door leaving my laundry room which goes to the garage. To picture this, my laundry room doubles as a mud room. If my washer did a dance, I was locked out and had to go out of the house, into the garage, through the door, fix the washer and then open the door back into the house. When you've got a young baby this isn't wise. So I'd wait until my oldest son came home from school or my husband got home to undo the situation. The clothes would sit. I then learned to keep the door to the laundry room open and it still danced across the doorway, but at least I could get in. The wash would end, spin and dance across the door, I'd shut it off and put the baby down for a nap or whatever I was doing and forget about the clothing in my washer. They'd sit for an hour or two, I'd have to re-rinse, add more Downy, and do the scene over again. It had frankly become a drag.

All this time we kept saying to one another "but it's a Maytag". Mind you, I didn't know about epinions.com when I purchased the Maytag, and had only heard that Maytag was the lonely repairman company. I felt safe getting a Maytag, glad I could get one when we built our house, and was happy as a clam :) for a little while. The final straw came when the Maytag danced out into the laundry room, tearing a piece of molding off our wall, and pinning the door, up under the knob, jarring that door off the hinge. We were so over it.

THE SEARCH IS ON! I started reviewing washers here on Epinions, spoke to my sister (who has an LG front loader), and friends. I was waiting on a sale, a deal or a coupon before making the purchcase. My luck arrived in the form of a sale at Best Buy.

The Whirlpool.com website reveals the following information about this washer:

Wash 10 pairs of jeans in a single load while using half the water and energy*. The versatile Duet Sport® washer helps keep clothes looking great, from sweats to sweaters, and hand washables to heavy duty denims. This contemporary front-loader also offers flexible installation options such as stacked, undercounter or on 10 in. or 15 1/2 in. pedestals. *Various sizes, compared to a traditional top-load washer.

Shopping Research: This machine is the Whirlpool Duet Sport. It is a smaller (3.4 cu. Ft.) machine than the original Duet by Whirlpool. However, in doing 16 loads to this date, I have found it holds more laundry than my Extra Capacity top loader and serves our family well. See review for more info. It is available in Orlando at Lowe's, Best Buy, Sears. Lowe's offered it at $50 more than Best Buy without incentives; Sears offered no incentives and the price was higher than Lowe's. Best Buy offered free financing; free delivery and tote away; and $100 gift card. We also get reward zone points for buying at Best Buy, so that was our store. The only color it was available in was white.

REVIEW ISSUES: Issues of concern from pre-purchase reviews included: Shaking; rocking; vibration; noise; spin cycle from hell. According to whirlpool's website (www.whirlpool.com) and the delivery installation team vibration, noise, and shaking are due to unlevel or poorly installed pedestals.

WATER LEVEL CONCERNS: We had read of the perception of there not being enough water. This is true that the water level of the front loaders is much less than the water level of top loaders. This is because the clothing runs through the pool of water at the bottom of the washer tub. This allows you to use less water, less detergent and less damage to your clothing being beat against an agitator. Most top loader machines use 40-60 gallons of water per cycle wash.

LOGISTICS: Size: 3.4 cubic feet of area. This is much larger than the uprights even though they seem smaller, because the front loaders have no center agitator and more washing room. The largest top loading Whirlpool we found was 4.5 cubic feet. This machine measures in at: Width: 27 inches Depth: 29 1/4" Height: 36" Height stacked: 72" (six feet). Pedestals would add: 10" or 15 1/2", depending on the set you buy. (We didn't buy the pedestals).

Features include: Variable 3-speed motor, front loading; adjustable water level selections (not manually); 3 speeds; triple dispense; three temperature settings; sound reduction technology which includes the ability to turn the end of cycle buzzer on and off; quiet wash system; clean washer cycle.

Installation Options: Stackable: Yes. Kit available, ($25 Best Buy). Comes with an installation guide in English, Spanish, and French. The stackable kit has a hooked bracket, plastic clip, four foam pads and four pan head screws. It requires a phillips screwdriver, 1” adjustable wrench; level; bucket; pliers for the drain and inlet hoses. The set can be installed in an enclosed or recessed area. Depending on where you locate your set you may need longer installation hoses, as the standard hoses are six foot. This unit was stacked quickly and easily by the installation crew from Best Buy. They did a wonderful job of leveling and stacking our units.

NOTE: MOBILE HOME STACKED INSTALLATION: There is a note that the set can be set up in a mobile home, but do require special parts which is the Mobile Home Installation Kit, Part #346764, which requires two such kits; one for the front of the unit and one for the rear. You will also need a metal exhaust system hardware set.

Accessories Available: Stainless Steel water lines; pedestals in two sizes; Sneaker rack for dryer. Stack kit. Comes with standard rubber water lines and all the items needed to attach to a pedestal. Laundry tower is available from Whirlpool, the Laundry 123 Duet Sport and Cabrio Laundry Storage Tower, in white for $250 (Best Buy). It sits between the two machines. (Model: WVP8600SW).

There is also a Whirlpool work surface, which is laid over both the tops of the dryer and washer for $200. It's called the Whirlpool Laundry 123 Work Surface for Select Whirlpool Washers and Dryers; and sold under Model: WW29000SW.

Purchase Price: Best Buy for $649, plus tax. No delivery charges. Lots of incentives.

Warranty: We purchased the extended five year warranty on the pair for $199 from Best Buy. The standard warranty is one year parts/labor with the usual stipulations. A copy of the warranty is available as a .pdf file at Whirlpool.com

Deals: At Best Buy we got 18 months free financing, no interest. $100 Best Buy gift card on the spot. Whirlpool website shows a $100 rebate for Duet Sport pair, but this is questionable as my husband looked it up and our model wasn't listed, I'm calling Whirlpool to find out why ours isn't included, but I have a feeling our model got the $100 "rebate" in the form of a Best Buy gift card. We also got free delivery, set up (stacking/ leveling) and tote away of our old machines. My sister had a coupon for 12% off @ Best Buy, but it could not be used in combination with any other offers and was only good on one item, hence I would have gotten $65 off the washer, but nothing off the dryer and I would have rather had the $100 gift card.

Delivery / Installation: The two men from Best Buy were here and gone in less than half an hour.

Dispenser Use: The dispenser pulls out on the left upper corner of the washer. It has a detergent dispenser; fabric softener dispenser (with a "MAX" indicator); a liquid bleach dispenser. The dispenser for the detergent is always wet when the machine is done. Not sitting with water, but droplets of water indicate the presence of water to rinse out the detergent compartment. I know this as there is never any blue residue from left over detergent. The MAX line for fabric softener is there and helps when you are pouring fabric softener in to the dispenser. I am one of those who would just open the Downy bottle and pour it into my old top loader liberally round and round the agitator. I like the Downy smell! But I definitely ran through a bottle of Downy in record time! So this little feature of limiting my amount of Downey is going to save $$$. The bleach dispenser for liquid bleach is awkward, at best. Picture this, you pull the dispenser out and you try to get a one gallon bottle of Clorox up close enough to avoid a spill on your floor, rug, clothing, down the front of the washer, and it lurches forward and splashes into the dispenser. Droplets going into the Downy, into the Tide, etc. I've since purchased a glass measuring cup to pour my bleach into which is smaller to maneuver into position to get closer and easily pour the Clorox.

Noise Level: AWESOME! I could put a baby down and not worry about any noise. The buzzer at the end of the cycle is very loud for us, but it can be turned off easily with a button on the front of the unit. When on I can hear it from anywhere in our home.

Timer: It's a digital read out.

Sock / Small things: Around the front door of this machine is a large about three inches wide rubber seal that ensures the water stays in the washer tub. It flaps around the edge and I can see how things could fall between the door opening and the seal which is open on one side. I plan to check it periodically.

Energy Saver: Energy Star Rating (see www.energystar.gov)

Hook-ups: 110, electricity; hot and cold water lines; water drain hose.

Features / Time: Stainless steel tub. Rubber seals. Plastic window to watch! Bright lights look like mission control in the darkness of my laundry room. Even my baby thought it was a new toy! (Keep kids away from these knobs--can cause error messages when they try to learn dexterity skills on this thing).

You can alter some of the settings on this machine before starting it, but not the water level. The machine has electronic controls with digital read out.

The top of the washer and dryer is flat (for stacking it's great) and it's awesome for storage or as a folding table. We chose to stack, as we have counter space in our laundry room, but they make a table top "connector" that makes the top of the two surfaces as one which is made by Whirlpool for about $200. (See accessories, above).

Buttons / Labels: 7 cycles: delicate (37 minutes); whitest whites cycle (85 minutes); casual / normal (54 minutes); heavy duty (71 minutes); quick wash (28 minutes); drain spin option; extra rinse (seems to add 10 min to any cycle); time remaining status indicator (the time is an estimate as it changes as your laundry load is "sensed"). On/Off Power switch as well as On/Off switch for end of cycle signal.

There is a timed wash feature which allows you to set your washing machine for up to five hours later for washing clothing after you leave for work, have gone to bed, or to coincide with a hot water heater timer, after showers, etc.

Review: My first load I was cautiously optimistic. I wrote another epinion user for an updated review and held my breath. My husband rushed out to get a bottle of "Tide HE liquid" and I threw in a load of three towels, a few incidentals and started it. I was afraid of overloading it as the tub is on its side and is disconcerting to put clothes in at first. You first turn on the power button, which lights up the panel. You then make your choices, see above, put in your ingredients: clothing, detergent, additives, etc., and then close the door, and push start. It's like pushing a delay start, and you hold the start button for a second and you hear it lock down like a time lock on a bank vault! We waited, the water ran for a few seconds (seconds!) and then quit. My husband loudly wondered if our life had been reduced to Saturday night in front of the washer. We saw no water. Where's the water? He ran for a flashlight. Looked through the plastic window and voila! Water. Very little though. Few suds. "I don't know about this", I'm thinking. I'm used to setting the washer water levels to MAX LOAD and getting all 40 gallons or so of water into the tub. Not here. No water. But water = clean, right? How does this work? The difference is the way it spins, runs clothing through the water, and tosses clothing, rather than beating them against the agitator. The load kind of tosses back and forth, and I did wonder are they getting clean? Did we just buy into something that's hype? How can little water, tossing clothing, and spinning at a maximum of 1050 RPM's clean clothes? I don't know the engineering behind this machine; I only know what I smell and how my clothes feel -- the final spin is very fast, stops and begins again much faster, and you continue to hear water leaving the clothing through the drain hose. The last five minutes or so, the clothing sort of tosses back and forth. It's akin to shaking out your clothing before you put them in the dryer to keep them from being too wrinkled. They're sort of loosely shaken out in a slow methodical fashion.

You cannot choose your water level. The machine senses the water needs of the load and sets it appropriately. You can choose the spin speed and the temperature of the water manually; although, the automatic settings will "suggest" the temperature and spin speed, it can be changed with a button push. The second load I got braver: Eight large towels and a few wash cloths. My husband was concerned -- what if we break it? It took those eight towels, which I stuffed in. Well don't stuff the washer full, but initially it feels like you're stuffing the washer as its placement is upright side and one has to keep realizing to put all the clothing in you have to go to the ceiling of the tub. Eight large Ralph Lauren towels fit into this machine. I set it for casual/normal wash and listened as it tried to guess how much water. It starts, fills with water, stops and tosses the clothing like a salad for a few minutes and adds more water. It was like watching biscuits being made from scratch without a measuring cup! Add a little, mix, add a little more, mix. It kept adding water and then tossing and adding water, and eventually stopped adding water and washed. Still no water visible without our flashlight!

The eight towels came out almost dry. I say "almost" as in the dampness after someone uses a towel to dry off after a shower. I agree with another epinion review that the towels feel as though one may not be able to tell "are these dirty towels damp from use or did I just wash them", without smelling them. My towels smell great. Not overly "Downied", but just clean with a hint of Downy (now that my Downy habit is under control). In the dryer it took 44 minutes to dry that load. Again the minutes are predetermined, but it changes as the load dries (see dryer review).

My husband's white t-shirts are bleached, and so I push the button on the washer for "extra rinse" to keep the bleach from eating up his clothing. It worked great. It added 10 minutes to the wash cycle, which also changes like the dryer, depending on some unknown trick inside the washer. Previously, I would have had to reset my rinse cycle again, and stand by for machine "dance".

I have read that the washer door must be kept open to allow it to air out or you will get mold / mildew on the seals. There is a "clean washer" button and many articles on the internet mention that one should use dishwashing powder / liquid to clean the washer as it is bleach based and will keep the mildew and mold at bay. Instead, I plan to keep bleaching my whites each weekend and hoping that keeps the mildew / mold in check, along with keeping the door ajar.

ENERGY CONCERNS: This washer is Energy Star rated (www.energystar.gov). You save money and energy in four ways with a front loading machine. First you save water, it uses way less. Different estimates on the internet put the difference at between 50 and 68 percent. Realize this is because many, including myself, use the most water in top loaders for any size load equating that more water is more clean. Less water is less money, less heated water, and less drying time. Less detergent, as this machine is much more efficient at cleaning, less non-biodegradable chemicals to get into the system. Less dryer expense as this thing spins at RPM's that sound like it's going to take off (max of 1050), which gets clothing almost dry. Applause now for buying yourself something green for the environment.

I love this set. It was installed as a stacked unit and is at a great level (right around six foot tall) without the pedestals. Shorter individuals may find reaching the top of the dryer controls (at about 5' 11") too tall. It is quiet, efficient, uses very little water or detergent; and is great at cleaning our clothing, which come out of the washer smelling fresh, almost dry, and after the last spin (or toss) -- almost wrinkle free.

I had read the prior reviews on this machine regarding shaking / vibration and researched it. We haven't had any vibration, shaking, excess noise, rocking, walking, dancing, hopping or anything else that I've been afflicted with. These issues appear to be due to poor installation of the pedestals and unlevel laundry floor (second floor, wood floor, unlevel, etc.) according to Whirlpool.com

I'd recommend the Whirlpool Duet Sport to anyone looking for a washing machine. It was relatively inexpensive as front loaders go ($649), quiet, and most of all it gets my clothing very clean. I finished all eight loads of laundry over Saturday night and Sunday night finished three specialty loads before an hour was up (obviously my delicates, smaller kids loads, etc.) I have to say I'm perplexed by any negative reviews I've seen here, and can only say that the noise and spin problems may well be due to the installation as Whirlpool states on their website. One review mentioned a repair bill on a new machine, and Whirlpool has a very comprehensive warranty, and so I found that hard to digest.

Clean clothing, environmentally friendly, and very unique design make this a great piece of hardware for any family.

Additional websites for reference:

www.whirlpool.com
www.bestbuy.com
www.energystar.gov

My other reviews:

www99.epinions.com/content_406055652996

www99.epinions.com/content_406053555844

www99.epinions.com/content_401509027460

www99.epinions.com/content_249900011140

www99.epinions.com/content_240400174724

www99.epinions.com/content_250448088708

Thanks for reading my review!

Kim Molon (c) 2007