Maytag Feature: Getting on Top of My Laundry
The same week that we bought our new house, we were also blessed to receive our brand new Maytag Bravos XL HE washer and dryer set!
Y’all. This set is AMAZING.
As a busy working mom, I have always found staying on top of the laundry a challenge. Before getting this set, I basically never had an empty wash basket. Ever.
But because of the size of this set (4.6 cu. ft., Bravos XL HE washers are Maytag brand’s largest capacity top load washers), my loads are 2-3 times bigger, meaning my wash basket gets empty more often.
{As in, they have already been empty SEVERAL times in the past two weeks.}
Literally, the first load I did I had to call Matthew because I was in shock how many clothes fit.
The down side of course is that there are A LOT of clothes to fold once they are dry – ha!
Maytag touts that they can wash 21 towels at one time – I don’t even have 21 towels! 🙂
I grew up with and have always had a very basic washer/dryer set with few bells and whistles, so I was a little nervous that this new set would be overwhelming.
The kind technician that installed them walked me through the basics, but honestly, the buttons and 13 cycles are all clearly labeled and very intuitive. I have had fun playing with the various settings.
Two of the “coolest” settings are the allergen-cycle on the wash machine and the steam refresh cycle on the dryer.
Maytag says that the Allergen Cycle helps eliminate 95 percent of common household allergens – isn’t that incredible? Matthew suffers from allergies and though we haven’t used the cycle a lot yet, I know this will definitely be something we take advantage of a lot.
I love the steam refresh cycle on the dryer. I am notorious for letting my dry clothes sit in the dryer for a day… or two. The steam cycle freshens up the clothes so they look like they were freshly pressed. I have used this with almost every load of clothes I have dried. {ahem}
On both machines I really like that they have a digital timer letting me know exactly how much time is left on the wash and dryer cycles.
I can’t wait to get more familiar with my Maytag Broavos XL machines – and share what I learn with you each month this fall. I know I will be depending on these machines for many years to come.
Do you find it challenging to stay on top of your family’s laundry? What do you do to not let it overwhelm you?
Find out more from Maytag on their website, Facebook, or on Maytag Twitter. You can also chat with other moms about laundry on their Facebook Maytag Moms tab!
I tired to convince Maytag to let me use some of their appliances and review them for them…apparently they get lots of offers like that! lol! So I broke down and bought my own. My set is probably one step down from yours, not so many bells and whistles, and it doesn’t talk to my cell phone (apparently some do!). I can’t believe that I can keep all my laundry done now and the clothes even seem cleaner! Having the right tools that work effectively really do help with the housework. Enjoy!
I can’t imagine getting cell messages from my washer 🙂
I do at least 1 small load a day and I throw it in first thing in the morning. Even before turning on the coffee maker! My kids are responsible for making sure each of their items of clothing are turned right side out, nothing is stuck inside another piece of clothing, and that their pants are all buttoned and zipped before they are tossed in the laundry basket. This alone saves a huge amount of time. I had my father install a closet rod high up above my washer and dryer. As I take clothes out, I hang them immediately. T-shirts, socks, shorts, underwear, and pajamas are all folded and put in an empty laundry basket I keep right on top of the dryer. Then, and this is a big one in our house, we empty the laundry basket each night. Just before bed, all the kids meet me in my room and I dole out their piles of folded items as well as what is on a hanger and they put them away. If I skip this step, I am in HUGE trouble! I tend to get it all washed, hung and folded, but if we skip a day of putting away the clean items, chaos soon erupts and it seems as if I have clean laundry everywhere waiting to be put away!
Laundry is actually one thing I feel like I’m on top of! (Ask me again when my Mat. leave is over though…) Anyway, we have one of these laundry sorters: http://www.amazon.com/Honey-Can-Do-Heavy-Duty-Triple-Laundry-Sorter/dp/B001F51AM6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1345653140&sr=8-4&keywords=laundry+hamper I use one spot for lights, one for colours and one for darks. Whenever one gets full, it equals a load and I wash it. Electricity is cheaper here after 7 pm so I will throw the load in and set the timer to start washing at 7 pm. Before bed, I make sure it goes in the dryer and then first thing in the morning, I get it and fold it. We don’t ever have more than 7 loads a week so I’m never tackling more than one load a day (with the exception of cloth diapers).
I’ve found that if I use a small hamper to put our dirty clothes in I feel less overwhelmed when laundry needs to be done. Our front loading washer and dryer both have sensors to tell the size of the load so I don’t have to worry about wasting water or energy. If I don’t fold my laundry straight out of the dryer and put it away, it tends to sit in a hamper for the rest of the week. This happens quite often unfortunately. I can’t wait until my son is older so we can start doing some of the things Kellie B was talking about in her comment!
I have no suggestions for staying on top of laundry. I can get it all washed, it’s the folding and putting away that is the problem. I honestly have been thinking about paying my housekeeper extra to fold the laundry….(hangs head in shame….)
I do at least one load a day, so that I never get overwhelmed by a giant pile of laundry.
I really don’t mind laundry & only do it once a week unless we are going somewhere & need something soon. I just couldn’t imagine having to do it everyday. I just start it Fri after work or Sat am and get it done throughout the day Sat or Sun. Husband helps & kids will fold & put their stuff away. This may change now that my oldest has to wear a uniform and doesn’t have as many options but hopefully she won’t get the shirts too dirty. Would love a new washer/dryer but until mine croaks i’m stuck with it!
I feel very overwhelmed by the household task of doing laundry. I have 3 boys that play sports and change a lot! I do at least 1 if not 2 loads per a day. I have asked my hubby and the boys to pitch in and I’m starting to win the laundry war. I figure it takes five people in my house make dirty laundry so it’s going to take more than 1 to wash, dry, fold and get it back in the drawers! A great washer and dryer is key, these look awesome. I’m in the market and will give them a good look, thanks!
I am HORRIBLE about choosing and purchasing large appliances because there is simply so much information out there that it causes overload (get it…overload?). Thank you for sharing your very positive experience with Maytag. We need to redo our entire kitchen so if the appliance fairy hooks you up in that way, I’ll be reading again.
There are #maytagmoms who got kitchen appliances, so be watching twitter for their posts. I bet they will be as happy as me. 🙂
So curious as to how top loaders work eco-friendly wise? Are there top loaders HE type machines? I LOVE the design and how modern they look
This set is an HE machine. Amazing, huh?
I’ve read through the comments and it seems I sort laundry more than most here. Each week I do (Whites, Jeans, Boys T’s, Girls’s T’s and jammies, towels, & sheets). Then there’s some extra loads for hubby’s work shirts/pants. I usually start laundry on Thursday night after the kids are in bed. Then I do a few more loads on Fridays when we get home from swim. Hopefully it’s all done but the sheets & towels by Saturday AM and that’s when we change all the sheets. It’s crazy…and if we get off by a day then it’s hard to stay caught up. But I love not doing laundry on the other days. When I used to do 1 load/day I felt like I never got a break.
I hear you about feeling like you never get a break doing a little each day!
Oh my goodness! I have the same Maytag set (except my hubby let me get the red ones!!). LOVE them! We have 5 kiddos and it has cut my laundry time by more than half. It washes a ton of clothes at once! It dries clothes quickly…and the steam dryer option is a DREAM for those mornings when I have left a load overnight and want to spruce it up the next day. ENJOY!! 🙂
a DREAM – yes, yes, yes!
Since the loads are so large what has been your average dry time for a load? I am concerned with all that I am hearing about a normal load taking 2 hours or more to dry in the newer machines. Thanks!
I try to keep up with my laundry by doing 3 loads a day (There are 4 in our family and it tends to pile up fast). I do this by putting a load in the washer the night before and setting the timer to start wshing at 4 a.m. . When I get up the next morning, my first load is already washed. I then put on the second load, etc.. I also try to fold the clothes as soon as they come out of the dryer (it only takes about 5 minutes). Then my daily laundry is done by 9a.m.. However, as much as I would like to sound perfect…lol. I don’t always stick to this but it does help me to keep things under control and it’s easier to get caught up when I do let things go for a day or two.
With seven kids – six of whom play sports – I have come to realize that I will never stay on top of the laundry. I will be overwhelmed with dirty (and clean) clothes until all of my children can wash, fold, and put away their own darn clothes!! lol
I always say that I cannot even conceive of having all my laundry baskets empty — at least the stuff we wore that day would be in them at the end of the night…if I ever even got that close to being caught up;)
I hang everything (other than towels, underwear and socks) to dry on a drying rack and a clothesline. Nothing shrinks that way and things don’t get faded and pill-y. It does mean I get backed up on laundry, especially in our rainy months here when the stuff on the line in our enclosed back patio stays damp for a couple of days and then requires a dryer fluff to finish it off.
I am just still reveling in having our own washer and dryer again — when my daughter was born, we lived in a third floor apartment with no elevator with the laundry facility across a courtyard (at least it wasn’t a laundromat we had to drive to!). She spit up profusely multiple times a day, so I felt like all I did was throw laundry in and walk around the courtyard with her in the Moby until it was done — being able to walk out to our own garage now to throw in a load still feels like a huge bonus 2 years after moving into this house:)
I have to confess, I am not at all good at staying on top of the laundry. And I need to be better – we have just moved from some baseball/softball to two small people playing soccer and one of them also doing Fall softball – with multiple games and tournaments. I SHOULD be doing it every day. Good thing is: my husband helps.
Our washer and dryer are closing in on being 15 years old – so I know I’m in the market – love that these have been such a positive experience for you – esp love the allergen free and steam dry!
Is it possible to be in love with an appliance? How about two? Because I think I want to marry these. 😀
I’m super-blessed, because my husband does the laundry. But, between work and family time, he definitely has a hard time staying on top of it.
That steamed dyer cycle fluff is making me swoon!