Has GE finally solved the mold issue plaguing all front load washers?
I've had a chance to use its top-of-the-line UltraFresh laundry pair at home for the past year,
so in this video I'll share what my experience has been like and whether those mold-fighting features
actually work. I'll also cover what I like about the set and what I wish could be improved on,
as well as how to avoid some issues that my family and some of our customers have run into.
And finally, I'll walk you through the differences between GE’s three
different series of UltraFresh machines and what you get at each price point.
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So, I already alluded to it, but last year my family decided to go with GE’s
UltraFresh pair for our new home. Did you know that only about 30% of
people in the US end up buying front load laundry? The rest stick with
their tried and true top loaders. Why is that? In fact I recently did a video comparing front
loaders and top loaders, and front loaders are objectively better in almost all areas.
I’ll share a link to that video in the comments so you can see for yourself.
From what I can tell, the mold issue is partly to blame.
Unfortunately the perception of front loaders is not great… LG, Whirlpool, Maytag, Electrolux
and others were hit with class action lawsuits involving millions of customers in the mid-2010’s
over serious mold issues. And I can attest… with all the front load sets I’ve ever owned, mold
always becomes an issue that needs to be dealt with. It was never a deal breaker for me, but
I’ve always had the luxury of having a dedicated laundry room. If your laundry is in a basement or
garage the problem becomes infinitely worse. Being in the appliance industry, I figured I’d
give this UltraFresh set a try. I get to see a lot of new products, and this system really piqued my
interest. It solves a major problem for a lot of people. So after a year, does it actually work?
Before I get into that… First let’s start with a little background on why this issue happens.
Since front loaders have a horizontal tub, a rubber gasket is needed to create an airtight seal
keeping water from leaking out, which is great when you’re washing clothes, but problematic when
the machine sits idle. Moisture left after a load creates a damp environment ripe for mold growth.
Check out these images of what can happen. The detergent drawer is another prime spot for mold.
Some fans of front loaders will tell you you’re just being lazy if you get mold growth.
They’ll tell you to leave the door open after each load or wipe the gasket dry after each cycle.
Laundry is already a chore, and I don’t want to have a ritual I need to complete after each load.
After using the UltraFresh system for the last year, I can tell you that GE has nailed
the solution. I haven’t cleaned the gasket once in over a year and check out the result.
No mold growth, no soap scum build, nada. So how does it work?
GE has broken this into three categories… drain, dry, defend
First the washer drains excess moisture out of the tub. This is aided in part by
an innovative gasket that is designed with larger drainage holes to remove water that
would normally sit ideal on the gasket. Next starts the drying process. The tub
starts to spin very slowly and a fan system embedded within the washer door circulates
air throughout the washer tub. See can see the vents on the front of the door here.
And finally, the defend stage. GE has partnered with Microban to create an antibacterial coating
called OdorBlock. All of the blue parts in the washer have OdorBlock, including the door gasket
and the detergent tray. This coating keeps mold from forming before it starts.
The system, as designed, works great, however, there’s one major flaw.
You have to actually remember to run the UltraFresh cycle. What the heck GE! If you
couldn’t even remember to leave the door open on your current washer, this might be a problem for
you. GE recommends that you run UltraVent after you have finished all your laundry for the day.
The machine will beep a few times and flash the word “venting” to remind you to run this cycle,
but with all the beeps in the laundry room this just becomes
white noise to me and sometimes I’ll mindlessly forget to turn it on.
In a perfect world, it would be really nice if you could program UltraFresh to run at a set time
in the middle of the night after a day of laundry. Or why not after every load?
Maybe GE is trying to save energy or they’re worried about decreasing the longevity of the
machine if it’s running for extra time after each cycle. Whatever the case may be, it seems like a
big omission that there’s no automatic option. Besides the new UltraFresh system, there’s a
few other things we really like about this set. UltraFresh is a game charger for a lot of people
and it’s GE’s main differentiating feature, but there’s a few other things we like.
Another feature I really like is GE’s bulk detergent dispenser.
You can fill up with liquid detergent once and not have to think about it again for 32 loads.
The Smart Dispenser feature can be found on GE’s 650 series and up. You can pour up to 50 ounces
of detergent into the designated compartment, and the machine will automatically dispense
the perfect amount based on the load you’re washing. This is great if you or someone in
your family is on the shorter side and has a hard time pouring the bottle into the detergent tray,
especially if your machines are on pedestals. And don’t worry, if you prefer to pour your own,
there’s still a spot for that too. After using this feature, I personally
will never go back to owning a washer without it. This is my GE SmartHQ app that shows
usage. Our family of 4 averages about 1.5 loads per day, or about 550 loads a year,
which was surprisingly high to me. Assuming a ten year lifespan of the machine, that’s about
5500 cycles. If we had a normal washer, that would be 5500 times we’d need to bend down,
take out the detergent, measure out the right amount and put it back. With the smart dispenser,
I’ll only need to replenish the detergent about 171 times. I don’t even think I’m exaggerating
in saying over 10 years I’ll save close to 60 hours in doing laundry with this system.
So if you’re trying to convince yourself or your spouse to spend the extra $200 to upgrade to this
model… I think I just proved that it’s worth it. The next thing is GE’s great service.
You can get repairs from GE—not a third party—anywhere in the U.S.
GE is one of the last brands to have its own factory service in most zip codes.
If you ever run into any trouble with a GE product, you can find local service
easily. This is actually a big deal. With any appliance there's a good chance at some point
you will need to have a technician out to your house. With other brands, you’ll get passed off to
third party repairs services. Oftentimes, these companies don’t train their technicians well,
or the technicians need to know how to repair 20 different brands and aren’t a master of anything.
And if it’s under warranty, third parties usually aren’t very motivated to fix your problem…
they get paid a set rate for different services, so if they can’t quickly fix your problem, it’s
not worth it for them to invest a lot of time trying to figure out whats wrong. GE
staff is well trained, it’s easy to schedule an appointment online,
and they show up in a GE truck with a GE name badge. It’s just a good overall experience.
Have questions yet or need help deciding? Comment below. Don’t forget to subscribe and check out the
link in the footer to sign up for our email with money-saving tips when buying a washer and dryer.
GE currently offers 3 different series of full size front load washers and dryers.
They also make a compact apartment-size pair but I’m not gonna focus on that in this video.
The washer part numbers look like this:
They start with GFW—for GE Front-load Washer. Then they have three numbers that indicate the series,
in this case the 650 series. The final two characters stand for color, SN for Satin Nickel.
Dryers are similar. GFD for GE front load dryer, 85 for series,
g for gas or e for electric, and ww for white I’m going to talk you through the 550, 650,
and 850 models. All these have UltraFresh and OdorBlock. They also all have Wi-Fi and are
Energy Star certified. As you go up in model number and price, you get extra features, like
the smart detergent dispenser, and when you step all the up to the 850 you get extra capacity.
The 550 is GE’s entry-level product. It’s available in white and a color GE calls Diamond
Gray. It has the UltraFresh system and OdorBlock but not the automatic detergent dispenser.
While this might be GE’s entry level series, it’s by no means an entry level appliance.
At 4.8 cu. ft. in capacity, the washer can clean up to 20 lbs of laundry at a time, plenty for most
people, and can even fit a king size comforter. The average full size washer nowadays is
about 4.5 cu .ft, so 4.8 is a step up from most other washers on the market. Usually
extra capacity means extra depth, which can be a deal breaker for some laundry rooms.
Not the case with this model. It has a shallower 32” depth which is perfect for almost all spaces.
While these are shallow, all of GE’s laundry pairs are about 1-2” taller than average,
so if you are installing these in a laundry room under a large soffit in a recessed laundry nook,
be careful to measure these will fit underneath. Regardless, you’ll definitely want to measure
your space before ordering ANY laundry pair. In addition to the mold-stopping UltraFresh
system, you’ll get built-in Wi-Fi. I love this mainly for the notifications. When the load is
finished, you’ll get a notification sent to your mobile phone alerting it’s time to transfer to the
dryer. This is great for me. I’m always doing a million things and sometimes I’ll forget the
load in the washer and by the time I get back the clothes start to smell musty. WiFi’s also
been great for avoiding wrinkles in the dryer. Sometimes we just can’t get back
the dryer, maybe I’m watching the Giants lose on a Sunday and can’t peel myself away. The GE app will
ask you if you want to extend the cycle with a gentle tumble to keep the clothes from wrinkling.
The 550 has just about every cycle you would want, including a Sanitize cycle as well as
a 20-minute quick wash for smaller loads. For its price point, we find it to be one of
the most fully-featured base models out there. Next up is the 650 available in white or a satin
nickel finish. With this set you get the automatic detergent dispenser and steam for a deeper clean.
As I mentioned before, an automatic detergent dispenser is a true convenience,
and we think it’s worth the extra cost. The 650 also has PowerSteam. In the washer,
it sends steam deep into fabric fibers to loosen stains safely and effectively.
In the matching dryer, it loosens wrinkles and refreshes clothes. It’s especially nice
for silks, wool, and other items you might normally send out to the dry cleaner.
Just make sure your installer knows to hook your dryer up to a water line
so that you can take advantage of steam in your dryer. This feature is still a bit new,
and some installers may not think to connect the dryer to water.
That’s something we’ve heard about from our customers, and it’s an easy fix.
It doesn’t mean your dryer’s not working; it just means you need to fix an installation mistake.
Finally, there’s the 850. You get extra capacity, a one-step wash and dry feature, and three color
options: Sapphire Blue, Diamond Gray and White. Empty the hampers and go around to all the
bathrooms—you can fit all the towels you’ll find in this washer. The 850’s extra capacity lets it
hold up to 25 pounds of weight, which equals 17 full-size towels. Just watch out though.
The extra capacity does add an additional 2” of depth to the unit. I have this pair and my
attic stairs pull down in my laundry room and just barely clear them. I’ve actually scratched
the dryer a few times with the stairs because of this. Height is another dimension to look at.
It also has another handy GE feature: one-step wash and dry.
This washer cycle is exactly what it sounds like: It fully washes and dries a couple of items
using just the washing machine. The process takes a very long time, about 8 hours, but it’s ideal
for items you realize you need the next day at 10 p.m. the night before. Throw them in before bed,
and they’ll be ready and waiting for you in the morning. The items will slow tumble
while the vent on the door allows fresh air to help aid the drying process.
Are you on Instagram? Follow us @designerappliances to see real-life
laundry room renovations and get ideas to make the most of your living spaces!
Now that you have a better understanding of what GE’s front load washer and dryers can do,
let’s talk about which model we recommend for most people… the 650. We think that
the 650 is the best overall value. With plenty of capacity at 4.8 cu. ft.,
you get an extremely capable, reliable washing machine with GE’s mold prevention
features and bulk detergent dispenser. Steam and smart auto dispense are also really nice to have.
At home I actually have the step up from this, the 850 pair, but I never even used the one step
wash dry feature and the .2 cu. ft. increase in capacity isn’t that much of a difference,
so if you are looking to save a little money, the 650 is the sweet spot of features and value.
When we recommend a product, we want you to have the full picture before making your decision.
So, what are the cons when it comes to a GE washer and dryer?
For the most part, my family really likes the 850 pair that we have.
It just works well and the UltraFresh system along with WiFi and Smart Dispense make doing laundry
better. Not everything has been great however. For starters, when we first installed these units,
my home’s circuit breaker was tripping. It turned out that we had a GFCI breaker in our electric
panel and these units caused that to trip. I needed to have an electrician out to replace the
breaker and now they work fine. We had a few other customers note this as an issue as well. I’m not
sure why this was happening, but it was a pain for the first week before we got it resolved.
I’ll also say, the first thing my wife said when she saw the pair was that they were ugly.
I wouldn’t call them ugly, but I do think there’s nicer looking pairs on the market.
Since the washer has the vents for UltraFresh, the trim band on the door is quite a bit thicker and
makes the door look bulky, and I think they use a bit too much chrome trim around the control panel.
Compare that against these pairs from Electrolux and LG which I think look far sleeker.
I’ve found that the 850 washer vibrates a lot. I’ve had service reps out to do
an anti-vibration firmware update, and the service was great, but it’s still pretty loud.
When we first got the pair over a year ago, the washer was vibrating a
lot. So much so that the washer was walking left to right quite a bit.
I had my installer back out to check that everything was probably leveled and it was.
Then I had GE service come out to take a look. Again they confirmed it was probably level.
The technician found a firmware update that specifically was supposed to help with vibrations…
and it did quite a bit. But they still are a little bit noisier than I had hoped,
and the tech said that was normal based on the high spin speed of these units, as well as the
fact that I have them installed on the 2nd floor and on pedestals. This is a common trend with
almost all washers. Everyone has an anti-vibration technology they market (in this case GE calls
it Dynamic Balancing Technology) but it never quite delivers on the promise of a quick wash.
But at the end of the day, they wash well and dry well, and they’re reliable thanks to GE’s
good service. Mold isn’t an issue anymore, and we really like the automatic detergent dispenser.
Now that you have a better idea if GE is right for your home, before making your purchase,
we recommend watching our video on how to measure and select the right model for your
space before making a purchase. Over the years, we’ve seen it all—from appliances not fitting
through the front door to customers ordering an electric dryer when they actually need gas.
If you’re in New Jersey or New York and ready to make a purchase, our team of experts would
be happy to help. Visit us online, give us a call, or stop by one of our showrooms to get started.
Which GE feature impressed you most? Let us
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