I have a friend who is a mother of five...three boys and two girls. She swears by her fridaire affinity. She does a minimum of four loads a day.

I have a family of 5 and bought a Maytag FL with 4.0 capacity...but when I was shopping around, the Home Depot salesman highly recommended the Maytag Bravos (I think the MTW6700), and then the GE profile Harmony (also TL).

I did see where the Maytag Bravo MVWB700VQ got some bad reviews (the HD website possibly) so maybe look into the Harmony as an alternative? The salesguy owned the Harmony and said he could stuff his comforters into it and it washed great. The LG TL received bad reviews in the latest CR issue for extreme vibration, but maybe you could look at that one as well. People have mixed feelings about CR's ratings and reviews.

However, even with the new TL's, you're still going to have the fancy electronics that can go haywire with error codes, etc. just like the FL's.

Good luck in your search!

At the busiest time in our household growing up there were a total of 7 of us running around. My mom had a Roper and still does. The darn thing still works and will not die. Ony had to have the lil' plastic gears in the agitator replaced once and that was after 15 years of use. Thing cleaned good too. Mom never pretreated and we never had stains on our clothes ever. No matter what we got into.

I would see if you could get a hold of a Roper somehow. They seem to be good washers for a busy family.

I personally have a Frigidaire Affinity HE machine. I can do massive laundry loads in it, I just have to make sure I do not use too much detergent as it is an "add a garment machine" and uses way less water. I also sometimes have to waite five minutes, cancel the cycle, and restart it to add a little more water, but it is worth the effort for what I save on my water bill. I can do a queen sized comforter in it buy itself in a large lingerie bag if that gives you any indication as to what it can hold.

I hope everything works out for you.

I don't know if your budget would allow it, but have you ever thought about a pair of washers and dryers? Like two heavy duty top loaders and dryers? And you would have a spare if one was to need a repair...

We just bought the Maytag Bravos 800 series in late Dec. Am now waiting on a replacement water valve (cellinoid sp??) cause I got a LF (long fill) code on the first load of whites that I tried to do using hot water.

I have mixed feelings about the purchase. My old washer was bought in 96 and was a Maytag Heavy Duty. Never gave me a bit of trouble and was stilling working when I got the new one. But I wanted to be able to wash comforters and blankets etc. The biggest issue I have is the LONG cycles for almost everything. You certainly would have room, as I never have even a half load of clothes for just my husband and myself for a weeks worth of clothes. But I am picky about what I put together in a load so maybe for me - these weren't the best choice. I would go online or somehow find the length of time to do each type of load and do the same for the dryer. Then compare to see if you really want to spend that much more time doing the laundry each day. You will save energy - electricity and water - as they are more efficent but with a load of whites taking and hour and 18 minutes to go through a cycle you have to weigh carefully when you do your laundry and how much time in one setting you have to do a load and dry it.

With all that being said, it does a great job of cleaning - they are very quiet and they do hold a massive amount of clothes. The 800 series has a time delay on it - my son has the older 6700 series bought last April and he loves the time delay. Has it starting an hour before he gets home and then he is ready to put the stuff in the dryer. (He does the cooking and laundry in his family. Need I say more!)

Hi mboston :o)

Surprised to hear that your Bravos has long cycle times. My grandmother's Bravos takes about the same amount of time a regular TL takes (approximately 45 minutes). She usually uses normal cycle and does not typically select any extra options except extra rinse once in a while. What cycles do you usually use? Do you select a lot of extra options along with a cycle? Just curious as it might be a factor in why you are experiencing such long cycle times.

You also mention that you are particular about separating laundry, which I am as well. Because of this, I do also spend a huge portion of the day doing laundry in my FL. But my grandmother is not as picky so maybe that is why we experience a never-ending laundry day! :o) Just my 2 cents.

But I'm glad you are enjoying your Bravos otherwise. They do clean well, are extremely quiet and hold a HUGE amount of clothes. Hope this info helps and good luck! :o)

I think I added an extra rinse with the whites that did add time to the washing cycle. My old washer was usually done in about 25 minutes per load - I know that cause I could start one at the beginning of a half hour show and it would be done by the time the show was off with the buzzer gong off about 5 minutes before. Ha!

I just don't think the short rinse would be enough to get the bleach smell out.

I agree with curioushopper, get yourself a Speed Queen TL, it does more laundry per hour, cleans it better and nothing comes close to it in terms of warranty or reliability. This is a commercial grade washer that is nowhere as pretty as the multi-bells, light show Front Loaders that need constant attention and frequent repair or replacements..

We are a family of 6. When I got my GE Harmony we had 2 teenagers and 2 younger ones. The capacity is great and I've never had any complaints about how it washes. I don't care for FL's so the Harmony was a great compromise. It's an HE TL so it saves on water but it doesn't have a traditional agitator so it has lots of room in it.

I have a large family (6 people here). I bought a Maytag Bravos w/d set last year (washer is the 6700 model; dryer is 6400 model) and couldn't be happier. I haven't had any problems at all.

It has a HUGE capacity - 4.6 cu ft - which means I can wash at least twice as much in one load - sometimes 3x as much. I love it that I can wash so many sheets at once - and that I can wash queen- and king-size blankets, comforters, even sleeping bags!

All our clothes come out very clean, and the dryer does a great job of drying them.

The cycle times don't seem long to me - usually less than an hour to wash, and less than an hour to dry.

Because I can wash so much more laundry at once, I don't have to wash nearly as many loads per week as I used to in my conventional washer (and it was the largest on the market).

HTH!

BE AWARE - I was supposed to have the repair guy come out today to replace the water valve on my Maytag Bravos 800 series but no one came - I called and they said that the part did not come in. IT IS ON BACKORDER AND THEY DO NOT KNOW HOW LONG IT WILL BE! Because it is still under the warranty - (bought 12/20/08) the part has to come from Maytag/Whirlpool. They don't have any. What does that tell us. And because I put in for a repair, the serial number is now in "the system" and the store can't take it back. WEll that tells me that if you have a problem think hard before calling a repairman - especially if you have other concerns about the machine.