Some research found the Staber. It sounded good (only a couple people with complaints), but I couldn’t find anyone in my area that owned one. The attractive part to me was that it a simple design with few moving parts and I can buy parts directly from the factory by phone or website if I ever need them. Their owners manual includes service info and pdf documents on their website offer further detailed information. I like a company that doesn’t assume their customers are all idiots! I held my breath and ordered one. Delivery from the factory was about 2½ weeks. It arrives on a pallet and was well packed.

The top door is molded ABS plastic and there are some thin mold marks at the seams, a minor fit and finish item. I also noticed a greasy fingerprint from an assembler. There was a trace of water in the detergent dispenser, so it was obviously run once at the factory on a shakedown. Mine did have locknuts on the leveling feet.

This machine is much quieter when washing than the Maytag was. The motor is the mechanism, it rotates the drum, slowly stops, then rotates in the opposite direction to tumble the clothes in a small amount of water. A standard cycle is one wash (your choice, light-medium-heavy, 5-15 minutes), followed by two rinse cycles.

The spin cycle is definitely noticeable on the standard setting. As my wife says, “it’s liftoff time!”. On the delicate and permanent press setting the spin is slower and quieter. My laundry room has a wooden floor that is not particularly well built. The spin cycle does bounce the floor, but not much more than the old Maytag with a large load of towels. It seems that it is very important to level the Staber carefully so each of the 4 feet carries it’s share of the weight. Even on a wimpy floor, it hasn’t “walked” anywhere.

The directions suggest leaving the door up and drum doors open when the washer is not in use. Inspecting the bottom of the drum after washing a load shows little or no water left in the bottom of the outer stainless steel drum. I’m guessing their thought is that any moist air inside will be allowed to escape, reducing any chance of condensation on the electronics board on the back wall of the enclosure.

All in all, I’m happy with the machine. If you want “pretty”, you may be less than enthusiastic. If you want simple, functional, and bulletproof, you will be pleased…

John

Quick followup.:

Everything is fine with the Staber. We love it and have noticed a drastic decrease in our water usage. Still feels great to have bought an american made machine, too.

The only ‘issue’ for us is that you cannot wash a large, heavy object by itself. We have a large, cotton woven rug for our kitchen floor (~ 9′X7′) which will cause the washer to freak out during spin. Since we only wash it about 5X a year, we can live with it, but I thought prospective buyers would want to know about it.

Glad you found it useful, rickshaw. I’m trying to post as much as I can because I couldn’t really find much impartial, first-hand information when I was looking.

Thanks for posting that video, Samurai. I don’t think that can be found on Staber’s site. The video states ‘up to 900 rpm’, but read their FAQ here for the actual speed of the spin for current models:

http://www.staber.com/FAQ.htm

I was originally thinking of a picture which can be spun around and zoomed in on like you see on some retailer’s sites (Knowhatahmean?). I think it requires a video camera and software, etc. so I doubt I have the stuff to do it.

I will try and post a closeup of what I meant when I described the fit and finish and perhaps an mp3 of what it sounds like if there is any interest.

A couple of other things I forgot to cover:

It comes with a nicely written and diagrammed, printed manual with all wiring and parts diagrams, etc. You can download it from their site. I’d give it a B+ because it hadn’t been updated to reflect the ommission of locknuts on the feet and because I see nowhere stating belt-deflection recommendations. It just says, ‘check belt tension and adjust as necessary’.

Mine was delivered by a semi truck that had a lift. You’ll need a dolly or help to bring it from the truck into the house yourself or I think you can also pay extra to have it brought in, etc. It comes on a wooden pallet. We asked the truck driver if he could take it away and he did. It has a large styrofoam block supporting the motor to keep things from shifting around in transit. It has a large plastic bag covering it and is surrounded by thick cardboard with plastic straps holding it all together. They suggest that you unpack on the spot to inspect before you sign. A+ on packaging.

It comes with a 4 oz. sample bottle of Staber’s own detergent. FWIW, we like it. It has almost no scent (maybe a slight hint of lestoil-like scent), and the dried clothes have no scent at all, which we prefer. It states that you don’t need bleach, fabric softener, etc. but now that it is colder, I’ve noticed that there is some static cling, but not excessively so.

The Staber is definitely doing a much better job at cleaning our clothes than our old Maytag. I doubt that it is any ‘better’ at cleaning than a good-quality top loader that agitates vigorously and that has a fast spin… Too early for a final grade, but A+ so far

Bottom line, if energy conservation, self-service and ‘USA made’ are more important to you than up-front cost and having a washer that matches your dryer, I’d recommend it.

Other issues I’ve read about around the net, but can’t definitively refute or confirm at this time (boy, that sounds like a politician):

During spin, some have said that it can flex a wooden floor. Ours is on concrete. I’d like to eventually bring the washer/dryer upstairs to the bedroom level, but we have a well-built 1923 house and I know how to use a level; somehow I think it will be OK.

Warranty/service. I’ll try to post again with my experiences if I have any.

Out of balance loads. I read that some have had issues with only putting one item in and having to repeatedly run the rinse cycle as a result because the washer gets confused. We haven’t had to do 1 item yet. We do occasionally wash our large kitchen area rug by itself, so I’ll try and post my experiences.