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Thread Number: 37808
Loudest and Quietest washing machines |
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Post# 562227 , Reply# 1 12/9/2011 at 20:34 (4,514 days old) by Pulsator  (Saint Joseph, MI) |
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Post# 562228 , Reply# 2 12/9/2011 at 20:38 (4,514 days old) by yogitunes (New Jersey) |
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Post# 562229 , Reply# 3 12/9/2011 at 20:55 (4,514 days old) by rp2813 (Sannazay) |
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 The "Quiet Pak" Kenmores were even more silent than a helical Maytag, although their pumps made more of a "whooshing" sound, which still wasn't unpleasant. Those Maytags still win over all, since across the entire model line, they are all equally quiet, unlike Kenmore. It's a tough call on loudest. I have the most experience with Norge/Signature and they certainly didn't consider low decibels to be very important. My limited exposure to GE Filter Flo and Frigidaire pulsator types places both in the running. | ||
| Post# 562233 , Reply# 4 12/9/2011 at 21:04 (4,514 days old) by DirectDriveDave () | ||
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I would say the quietest machine is a Helical Transmission Maytag or an original Belt-Drive Whirlpool/Kenmore. As for the loudest, I'm really not sure. | ||
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Post# 562242 , Reply# 5 12/9/2011 at 22:15 (4,514 days old) by akronman (Akron/Cleveland Ohio) |
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Yogitunes is right GM Frigidaire 1-18 is LOUD, mostly just by how it works, all that up-down action of 4 rings against so much water, no way at all to quiet the action. And it's 360 strokes per minute, much more than any oscillating agitator. AND IT DOES A FANTASTIC JOB. After a year and a half looking, Bill FITCOILS and Kenny GOATFARMER hooked me up with a serviceable MOL 1975 model, it's now my daily driver. LOUD and effective wash and turnover, quieter spin and perfect ring of spray for best rinsing anywhere.
Maytag is for sure quiet and will last for ever. Other than that, it doesn't do all that much washing or rinsing. But it looks classy and will outlive me. | ||
| Post# 562243 , Reply# 6 12/9/2011 at 22:19 (4,514 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea)) | ||
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| Post# 562249 , Reply# 7 12/9/2011 at 22:41 (4,514 days old) by cfz2882 (Belle Fourche,SD) | ||
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GE filter flo and norges are loud,my maytag neptune is the quietest in my fleet, my big BDs and '65 maytag the quietest top loads i have. | ||
| Post# 562256 , Reply# 8 12/9/2011 at 22:54 (4,514 days old) by PhilR (Quebec Canada) | ||
I don't think my 1-18 is that noisy, certainly less than the Inglis/Whirlpool DD with the dual action agitator that my parents had. The 1-18 washers that are very noisy probably have some play in their agitate arms.
I remember when my parents replaced their large capacity 1974 Inglis belt drive with a regular capacity Inglis direct drive in 1990, the belt drive made a terrible grinding noise while spinning in it's last year of service but the new one was much noisier during agitation. And I didn't like that noise! It became even worse when the ratcheting pawls in the agitator started slipping after a few years. My parents didn't notice something was wrong and they didn't care about it so I bought new ones and I replaced them! Curiously, my uncle had similar Kitehcen Aid washer from 1996 and it wasn't as noisy, but still not "Whisper Quiet" like the control panel said! I don't remember if it had the exact same agitator as the Inglis but I think it was similar. A friend of mine also has a Whirlpool "Maytag Centennial" with a similar agitator and it also seems less noisy during the agitation than the 1990 Inglis (but this one makes annoying noises while filling). | ||
| Post# 562267 , Reply# 9 12/9/2011 at 23:08 (4,514 days old) by Supersurgilator (Indiana) | ||
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I agree GE filter flo's are the noisiest that I have heard. I think Maytag and Speed Queen are among the quietest. | ||
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Post# 562306 , Reply# 10 12/10/2011 at 00:43 (4,514 days old) by whirlykenmore78 (Prior Lake MN (GMT-0500 CDT.)) |
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Noisy washers | ||
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Post# 562313 , Reply# 11 12/10/2011 at 00:57 (4,514 days old) by abcomatic (Bradford, Illinois) |
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Loudest are my Maytag wringers. Quietest would be my 2 Maytag automatics from the '70's and '80's. The quietest wringer model would be my 1955 ABC wringer. The Easy Spindrier would be somewhat louder than the ABC but quieter than the Maytag wringers. Gary | ||
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Post# 562376 , Reply# 13 12/10/2011 at 10:02 (4,514 days old) by peteski50 (New York) |
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Loudest and Quietest!  | ||
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Post# 562398 , Reply# 14 12/10/2011 at 11:38 (4,514 days old) by goatfarmer (South Bend, home of Champions) |
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| Post# 562400 , Reply# 15 12/10/2011 at 11:41 (4,514 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY) | ||
 I forgot how quiet the Unimatics from my childhood were, and when I got one, it was like a whisper. Only the water throw against the cabinet summons attention.
The original motor in the mid-70's GE was old and loud, a distinct wahhhh, which you could hear all the way into the kitchen from the garage. I loved it. That's the machine that once had a really quick spin ramp up, hurled heaving water back into the tub the way the new LG Hydrowaves do. The new quiet motor allows no such tricks.
Agree that Maytags are quiet and Norges are loud, and a few summers ago at Jimmy S.'s in Canton when all the washers were running, the one distinct sound was the thumping of the Frigidiare 1-18, a low percussive drumming, really cool, leading the symphony in washer orchestration. Amazing. | ||
| Post# 562416 , Reply# 16 12/10/2011 at 14:41 (4,514 days old) by rickr (.) | ||
Hands down, for noise, it's a Norge built machine, and the loudest of the Norge is the famous "Monkey Norge"
CLICK HERE TO GO TO rickr's LINK | ||
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Post# 562419 , Reply# 17 12/10/2011 at 14:45 (4,514 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands) |
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Loudest | ||
| Post# 562431 , Reply# 18 12/10/2011 at 16:02 (4,514 days old) by mrb627 (Buford, GA) | ||
Quiet Vote | ||
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Post# 562445 , Reply# 19 12/10/2011 at 17:03 (4,513 days old) by akronman (Akron/Cleveland Ohio) |
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My next machine | ||
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Post# 562580 , Reply# 21 12/11/2011 at 08:17 (4,513 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
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I'm sure a Kitchen Aid would really be the quietest! ("Whisper Quiet", as I would hear...)
Next-quiestest would most likely be Whirlpool, Maytag and Sears Kenmore... The GE, Hotpoint, Norge, Mont. Ward, and Frigidaire (during its "pulsating" agitation) would be the loudest, I would think... Other brands like Frigidaire, (during other phases of its cycles) Gibson, Westinghouse, Kelvinator, etc. would at least be average... -- Dave | ||
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Post# 562593 , Reply# 22 12/11/2011 at 09:35 (4,513 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut) |
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 By far the loudest machine I have ever known was our 1962 Filter-flo. There may have been something wrong with the mechanism because early on it lost the ability to shift from Normal to Slow speed, but when it began to run, in both agitate and spin modes, it let out a loud low whine that you could hear all over the house. I'll be curious to hear Robert Seger's report on his brand new version of that particular V-12 when he runs it for the first time to see if it is anywhere near as loud as ours was.
The quietest machine I ever knew was a friend's Mother's Maytag also of the same general vintage. I remember lifting the lid many times to make sure it was working and discovered, for the first time, that the Maytag safety switch stopped the machine dead no matter what it was doing. 
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Post# 562594 , Reply# 23 12/11/2011 at 09:38 (4,513 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
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Post# 562599 , Reply# 24 12/11/2011 at 09:57 (4,513 days old) by yogitunes (New Jersey) |
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GE FF are fun machines.......the loud bang of the brake, even the rough vibration while agitating, you knew which direction the stoke was going in, mainly because we had it in the kitchen on a wooden floor, and you weren't leaving the lid open on a half load without getting soaked......
although if anyone can recall, in a laundromat version of Maytags, there was no lube on the brakes, wich allowed for a super quick STOP, and the squeel those machines would make all across the laundry, would raise the hair on the back of your neck....like chalk scraped across the chalkboard! | ||
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Post# 562601 , Reply# 25 12/11/2011 at 10:00 (4,513 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
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That's the thing about Maytag washers! They took the longest to stop spinning when their lids were opened... (Makes me wonder if the horror story I read about or heard about of a man losing his arm reaching into a spinning wash tub had been a Maytag, A0-of some sort!)
As for Norge & Norge-made washers, somehow the fastest stopping they had when their lids were lifted during the Spin Cycle was something to brag about, in that CR seemed to praise that feature... -- Dave | ||
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Post# 562667 , Reply# 27 12/11/2011 at 16:21 (4,512 days old) by washerlover (The Big Island, Hawai’i) |
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Post# 562680 , Reply# 28 12/11/2011 at 17:36 (4,512 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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| Post# 562720 , Reply# 29 12/11/2011 at 22:49 (4,512 days old) by PhilR (Quebec Canada) | ||
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As I think about it, the noisiest washer I have heard was my Frigidaire GMini with an Agitub. When I got it, it had a bad pump bearing and it made an incredibly loud noise. I don't think anybody who'd hear that would try washing clothes with it, but it worked!
With the bearing replaced, there's still a humming noise from it's 2 speed GE motor but it's not bad at all! But I'm wondering how many GM Laundry Centers have bad pump bearings and are still used in this condition! I'm wondering how many are still used regularly. I thought there should be very few, but last week, a friend of mine saw this in his neighbor's trailer home in Florida! 
And I don't know if it's a common thing to all GM Agitub washers but the tub brake on mine is incredibly quick. See the video in the link below at about 1:40 
CLICK HERE TO GO TO PhilR's LINK | ||
| Post# 562820 , Reply# 30 12/12/2011 at 14:30 (4,512 days old) by ryanm (New York) | ||
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I had a NORGE LWA9120 from 1984 which was loud, BUT my Aunt had a Harvest Gold Frigidare from GM that made so much noise you could hear it all over the house when it was washing, but I have to say it was an atractive machine. That was by far the most noisy machine I have ever heard! | ||
| Post# 562868 , Reply# 31 12/12/2011 at 18:26 (4,511 days old) by norgeway (mocksville n c ) | ||
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NORGE! The loudest...and BEST!! | ||
| Post# 562883 , Reply# 32 12/12/2011 at 19:04 (4,511 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod) | ||
Hans,
I agree with you totally.
I was "in charge" of the Laundry when I was 10 years old at a Cottage Colony here on the Cape through a friend. I was "in Charge" of washing the Mattress Pads and Sheets of 6 cottages in this compound and was using a Norge Time Line. When washing the Mattress Pads in this small Solid tub, the water would wisk out over the OverFlow at the top of the tub and towards the end of the Wash Cycle, it would be swishing the Mattress pad back and forth with each stroke of the agitator. My God, what a Strong Transmission. Not to forget the Loud Clank of the Solenoid changing it in to Spin. | ||
| Post# 562903 , Reply# 33 12/12/2011 at 20:39 (4,511 days old) by redcarpetdrew (Fairfield, CA) | ||
Yep, you can hear it's a Norge!! | ||
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Post# 562992 , Reply# 34 12/13/2011 at 09:47 (4,511 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD) |
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Maytags taking a long time to stop from spin!?! What type of Maytag are you talking about? All of the ones I've seen or used would almost wrench the tub to the side because they stopped the spin so fast. It's true the Helical drive machines braked a little slower than the AMPs, but they were all fast stoppers. | ||
| Post# 563010 , Reply# 35 12/13/2011 at 12:14 (4,511 days old) by macboy91si (Frankfort, KY) | ||
Maytags Braking | ||
| Post# 563018 , Reply# 37 12/13/2011 at 13:14 (4,511 days old) by macboy91si (Frankfort, KY) | ||
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Nothing to See Here... It's odd to me that Maytag took this approach, since they seems to keep other traits from the wringer like the general agitator design and things, they made the automatic so "hands-off". I would think that, in tradition with their heralded conventional machines, that they would have at least made them run with the lid up. It would seem like women who were used to adding the soap and items after the wash action started and what have you would not have taken to this very much. In my opinion you need to see a Maytag run for a few seconds to check that it's not overloaded. I do like my Tags, but I will have to concede that they load lighter than the GE or KM. Loosely to the top row of holes, it's printed on the machine :)
-Tim | ||
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Post# 563027 , Reply# 38 12/13/2011 at 13:57 (4,511 days old) by Kenmore71 (Minneapolis, MN) |
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that all post-AMP machine used basically the same brake and that the brake is designed to bring the tub to a stop within 6 seconds of the motor stopping. I've never experienced a Maytag brake that was particularly "brutal" in its stopping action.
To be honest, though, the Maytag system almost always slowed the tub down more quickly that the BD WP design. With that design if you opened the lid at JUST the right (or wrong depending on your perspective) time to have missed where the solenoid pin disengages and pushes the spin cam back to neutral it can sometimess take almost a second for the tramsmission to be shifted and then a few more seconds for the brake to do its magic. At least in the maytag, by the time the lid is lifted all power is dead and the tub is already in the process of braking. With a WP BD there could be a 1/2 to full second of the basket spinning under FULL POWER before it shifts and starts to slow. | ||
| Post# 563034 , Reply# 39 12/13/2011 at 15:57 (4,511 days old) by ingliscanada () | ||
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WP/Inglis Pump Some early WP washers had a very loud pump. My parents' early 60s Inglis had a pump that howled, and was heard throughout the house! Gary | ||
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Post# 563043 , Reply# 40 12/13/2011 at 16:56 (4,510 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie) |
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Looks like Norge takes the checkered flag from those in-the-know.
The loudest washer I've come across is a mid-1960s Coronado (which belched and snorted while agitating; groaned, squeaked, and made quite a racket while spinning). Our 1960 Kenmore model 80 was no wallflower, either. When the washer its companion dryer were both running, you had to raise your voice to be heard in the laundry room. That dryer (with its empty-every-few-months top-mounted lint bag) was hella noisy! My new 2010 Frigidaire front-loader is very, very quiet. | ||
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Post# 563454 , Reply# 41 12/15/2011 at 19:52 (4,508 days old) by washerlover (The Big Island, Hawai’i) |
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| Post# 563468 , Reply# 42 12/15/2011 at 22:29 (4,508 days old) by beekeyknee (Columbia, MO) | ||
Those vomiting Norges were awful. And Kenny is right. That bangin brake.
Speed Queen solid tub - in the middle. That surging sound of that water going up and down that hose away from the pump. And that bangin' solenoid. But still a fun machine. Properly operating Maytag Helical. Quietest. Martin's right. If the brake goes dry it will scare the daylights out of you. | ||
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Post# 563605 , Reply# 44 12/16/2011 at 18:49 (4,507 days old) by washerlover (The Big Island, Hawai’i) |
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| Post# 563610 , Reply# 45 12/16/2011 at 19:10 (4,507 days old) by Autowasherfreak () | ||
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I liked the sound of the GE FF's at the end of the spin cycle, that's when I knew it was time to go to the basement to change the load. | ||
| Post# 563640 , Reply# 46 12/16/2011 at 23:50 (4,507 days old) by cfz2882 (Belle Fourche,SD) | ||
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i also like the filter flo bang at end of spin to signal me to go down and switch clothes to dryer! with the neptune,will sometimes catch a "rising UFO"sound to signal start of spin. For coronado,i have mostly seen franklin but kinda recall norge coronados too-might depend on year or model on who made them... | ||
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Post# 799431 , Reply# 47 12/16/2014 at 16:04 (3,412 days old) by GELaundry4ever (Nacogdoches, TX, USA) |
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loudest vs quietest My mom's lg tromm washer is the quietest. My dad's GE post-filter-flo was the loudest, especially when it was brand new. It made that distinct sawing noise when agitating. | ||
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Post# 799575 , Reply# 49 12/17/2014 at 14:30 (3,411 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
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| Post# 799696 , Reply# 51 12/18/2014 at 15:54 (3,410 days old) by brib68 (Central Connecticut) | ||
A bit limited experience
I'm not as fortunate as some of you to have extensive memories of many classic machines, but if my memory is accurate, my Grandmother's mid-60's RCA-Whirlpool TL was remarkably quiet--just a gently undulating hum. I have no real recollection of what the spin sounded like. I think my Aunt's early 70's Kenmore was a bit louder, and maybe a little more with the splish-splash. I don't recall how loud my Mom's late 60's Westie FL was, but I never thought of either of her GE FF's as being particularly noisy. Her early/mid-90's Frigidaire (small cube) FL was a bit on the noisy side. Her current Kenmore TL isn't overly loud. The dryer buzzer, on the other hand is enough to induce a coronary!
My Maytag TL that I bought in 1998 was average-to-loud, especially compared to my LG FL. The Maytag was used in 3 houses. First it was in an unfinished laundry room off of a finished lower-level room in a new-construction townhouse. Mostly I was on the computer or ironing, so there was never a noise concern, and we couldn't hear it on the main levels. From there it moved to an unfinished basement in a 1905 Queen Anne, and it definitely couldn't be heard upstairs (sometimes to our detriment as we'd forget we had a wash going). After moving it to the basement of our first Connecticut house (1930's balloon construction duplex), we could hear it agitating if the TV wasn't on, and could hear it spin regardless. After buying the first LG (which the buyer wrote in to the deal when we moved), we could barely hear it tumble when the TV was off and could only hear the spin because the high pitch carried, even though the decibels were quite low. I have the same model, only newer in this house (1962 split level, laundry room at the foot of the stairs, which are just off the living room). With the TV on, even the spin is barely audible. With the TV off, only the sploshing of water and the spin are audible from the living room, and from anywhere else on that level, I have to stand at the top of the stairs to make sure if/which machine is running. The loudest things on that washer are the little song it sings when the cycle is done, and by far the CHUNK CHUNK when the door lock releases (which lets me know if it was the washer or dryer that sang for me!). | ||
| Post# 1056435 , Reply# 53 1/3/2020 at 22:55 (1,567 days old) by norgeway (mocksville n c ) | ||
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Maytags ARE quiet Mainly because they agitate so slow and gentle YES a Norge is noisy because it WASHES | ||
| Post# 1056473 , Reply# 55 1/4/2020 at 13:14 (1,567 days old) by Maytag85 (Sean A806) | ||
My Maytag A606 is pretty quiet but since it’s in a laundry room with tile the sound reverberates a little but isn’t out of this world loud and the DG306 dryer it’s paired up with is pretty quiet as well despite a couple of rattles and the only thing you can hear from the Maytag DG306 is the burner cycling on and off and those are the only things I hear from my Maytag A606 set.
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Post# 1056477 , Reply# 56 1/4/2020 at 13:50 (1,567 days old) by jons1077 (Vancouver, Washington, USA) |
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