honey and sting

I almost always buy appliances from the sears "scratch & dent" warehouse because you get a normal warranty but pay less, because something has a scratch or whatever. Like I care about a scratch. That limits me a bit brand-wise, to things Sears carries, which means nothing really high-end (which is why my fancy high-end range top and vent hood came from elsewhere). Anyway, my laundry closet has a front washer, high efficiency, bought using that method, and so far I've had no mold or mildew issues. Every now and then I wipe it out with vinegar, and I often leave the door open so it can dry out instead of being wet inside. Front loaders cannot be opened during the cycle, which is a little annoying, but I add borax (if using it) directly before turning it on, and I put vinegar in the bleach cup or softener cup if I want to vinegar the load, and that works fine. The benefit to a front loader is really that you can do hand washables in it -- no agitator, so nothing to tear up delicate things. Clothes also tend to last a little longer, washed in front loaders, for the same reason, and there is more room for large items like comforters. But I do all my real heavyduty stuff in the old top-loader that came with the house, because for beating dirt out of stuff, ain't nothing like a top-loader.

I find washers are the kind of appliance where the low-end ones are gonna suck, and the high-end ones are cool as hell but nobody really needs a steam setting....