Aussie washing machines-front or top loaders?

[ravenousbugblatterbeast]

We've just secured a long term rental (!!) and now need to sort out washing machine, fridge freezer and printer (as well as BBQ and patio set. Oh, and a couple of sofas and a mattress!)

Are front loading machines better with regard to looking after the clothes, cleaning etc, or is that just my prejudice?

Also, any good value shops for the above in Perth - we're looking at the Good Guys, Furniture Bazaar and Bed Shed online so far..

[Graciescotland]

I've recently moved to Brisbane and have, for the first time ever a top loader, tbh I think they're much of a muchness. If anything a toploader has a much bigger drum so the clothes have more room to move around, they're also more common here so will probably be cheaper.

[esselle]

I have a front loader as I think they clean much better and use a lot less water.

We got ours from good guys, it is a fisher & paykel. We got a really good deal as we were buying a whole house load of electrical goods. They also keep a record/history of your purchases on their system so I have found you will keep getting good discounts from them.

Plus the sales are all on now so it is a good time to be buying more expensive stuff. And another thing to remember is that most places will price match, if you see something you want advertised but sold out you can call Myer or David Jones if they sell the same product and as long as they can verify the price they will match it.

[Thumbwitch]

FRONT!!

Toploaders are harder on the clothes for sure - my MIL has one and I had to use it for the first few weeks, got more rips and nicks than I'd ever had in years of a front loader in the UK.

The ONLY advantage to a toploader that I can see is that if you suddenly find something else to throw in, you just can - which you obviously can't with a front loader.

Front loaders can be more expensive initially but you should be able to get some sort of energy rebate for having one as they use less water (which is certainly metered where I am, don't know about anywhere else) and the energy ratings are usually better.

We got all our white goods from The Good Guys because they do the best deals. NEVER pay the ticket price - go in and haggle. DH managed to wipe the smile off the salesman's face, he haggled so hard - but we got a good deal by getting all our white goods together (Dishwasher, oven, fridge, freezer, washing machine). I don't know the other two shops but I do recommend the Good Guys. If you have Bing Lee over there, ignore their ads - they're rubbish at discounting!

[Thumbwitch]

I agree with Esselle on the cleaning as well; and I think the front loaders take up less room too. :) although obviously you need space to open the door...

[differentnameforthis]

I have a front loader, but have had both. My top loader was a pig to keep clean & didn't really do a great job on the clothes.

Loving my front loader. MUCH easier to keep clean & clothes all look fab! Also, laundry is limited for room, so being able to store baskets on top of machine is great!

[differentnameforthis]

Also I found that my top loader couldn't cope with a full load. Top loaders to me, seem to be very easily put of balance & I would constantly be opening it up & moving clothes around/taking them out to get it to work.

Will never buy another top loader!

[Iheartpasties]

top loaders last for donkeys years - but they are very very very harsh on your clothes!!

[differentnameforthis]

Toploaders are harder on the clothes for sure - my MIL has one and I had to use it for the first few weeks, got more rips and nicks than I'd ever had in years of a front loader in the UK

And that! I have never had a washer damage my clothes as much as my top loader did. :(

[ravenousbugblatterbeast]

Wow, thanks everyone, that's really good to know. We'll go to the Good Guys over the next few days. Any ideas on where to get good (but again not ragingly expensive) mattresses?

[Thumbwitch]

I was going to say Don't Don't go to Makin Mattresses - but it appears they don't have a store in Perth anyway so you're safe. A friend bought their Bellissima mattress - it was so bad, they needed a new one within 2 years. .

What you could do, if you're on facebook and not desperately fussy about getting a brand new mattress, is look for local Online Op shops - people are often getting rid of stuff at really quite reasonable prices, either because they're moving or upgrading or whatever. Worth a look anyway :)

Can't even remember where we bought our bed/mattress, sorry.

[esselle]

We got our mattress from Ikea. Mainly because we could collect it there and then without having to order what we wanted and having to wait weeks for delivery which seems to be the standard here. But we bought the kids beds and mattresses from Fantastic furniture which are great and very comfy! Their prices are similar to Ikea too.

[ravenousbugblatterbeast]

Ooh, Fantastic Furniture look interesting, like Argos furniture, not plush but it'll do fine.

Keep 'em coming... We've also got a lovely outside area in our rental, so will want to get a table and chairs and an outdoor sofa / modular seating. Where are good stockists of these in Perth, and do shops have a Spring push on prices for new stock or should we try and find stuff asap before the new stock and new prices kick in?

[Arana]

Regardless of what you get ( we have a front loader) go into good guys with a big shopping list, a smartphone and pricecheck everything you look at and ask them to give you their best deal.

We spent $4000 rather than $5500 on all our new appliances (TV, washer, drier, fridge, etc) because we were paying cash (well eftpos, but same thing here) and we were buying a lot. They threw in the kettle and toaster for free.

[Thumbwitch]

Actually, even if you pay by credit card, the Good Guys will still give you the same drop, we discovered but you may not have a credit card yet, don't know.

I think you're probably too late re. outdoor stuff - they've already started stocking up again in Bunnings! Try Bunnings - it's like B&Q in the UK (I'm assuming it's in Perth as well, not sure, tbh)

[Arana]

See if you can find anything still in the End of Financial Year Sale - this is one of the two big sellouts every year.

[oldnewmummy]

I looked and looked and looked for an outdoor sofa set in the right size and colour but couldn't find anything (around Joondalup) which wasn't ludicrously expensive. In the end I bought on eBay, had it shipped from Brisbane and it still worked out cheaper.

The outside dining table we bought from BBQ Galore, but Bunnings has some reasonable ones too.

[SeymoreButts]

We got a huge sofa from Fantastic Furniture, I was worried about keeping it clean but it's really easy to remove dirt from. They supply a pot of magic cleaner which is amazing. It did the job when DS drew all over it with a biro

We also got a very cheap double and mattress from them, I'm not sure if you can buy mattresses without a bed frame though. I had to sand and paint the bed because the finish wasn't great though.

[roary]

Appliances Online. Very cheap, price matching, good service. No need to fight crowds!

[Eralc]

We got quite a lot of stuff from fantastic furniture - was very much like Argos. I agree with everyone else on toploading washing machines - ours is one of the few things we don't miss about Australia (redbacks under the sand table being about the only other thing!) We ended up getting our white goods second hand from gumtree, but we knew it was only going to be for two years so wasn't worth us spending much. We also had 2nds world suggested to us - don't know if you have them in Perth.

[Eralc]

Oh, and bunnings is fab because of their sausage sizzles - never quite got used to that, but it meant that ds1 was always happy to go there (alongside the play area, mini trolleys, hand stamps and various free tat that he always managed to acquire - it was one of his most loved places!)

[Thumbwitch]

True, Eralc - DS loves the mini-trolleys in Bunnings and Office Works! He gets quite upset if we don't take him, and if we do go, we'd better buy something small enough to fit in his mini-trolley!

Haven't seen a redback all this year - maybe they all drowned?

[ravenousbugblatterbeast]

Thanks for all the info - we bought a patio set (outdoor setting?) and outdoor modular seating for less than half price, so all good, as they say! Washing machine is tomorrow (in the rain!), adding mattresses to the order on Monday when they're on sale at Furniture Bazaar (thanks to a very helpful salesman) and the it's a BBQ and we're sorted..