On Monday, July 8, 2002 at 6:49:55 PM UTC-6, PT wrote:
> We have had our Staber washing machine for the last two years and have
> had horrible results, especially for the premium price ($1300). The
> very first time we used it, we put in an expensive quilt (new Amish
> quilt), used much less detergent than normal (as per the directions),
> and it oversuds, would not spin up or drain, and caused the fabric to
> bleed. We tried running it back through the rinse cycles time after
> time to no avail. We knew it was expensive, but if it lasted a very
> long time due to its supposedly rugged design and was frugal on water
> and electricity, it should have been a good choice.
> If you think you are buying a rugged, care-free machine that will last
> forever, be frugal on water, and be a good long-term investment, think
> again.
> Problems with Staber washing machines they won't tell you BEFORE you
> buy:
> 1. If it is still under warranty, and it fails to work, YOU have to fix
> it yourself (though they may be "gracious" enough to send you the
> parts), despite the very high price you pay for it. You probably will
> have to buy a wet/dry vac if you don't have one, so you can suck up the
> water when you replace your own water pump (observe how the pump design
> allows hair and other debris to get caught up under a lip of the
> impeller and wrapped around and is next to impossible to remove
> totally).
> 2. It is extremely sensitive to being perfectly balanced and it still
> is prone to going out of balance when it attemps to spin up. Want to
> wash a single rug due to a pet accident? Forget it. It will attempt to
> spin up infinitely until you stop it. Two rugs? Better chance, but
> often a failure as well.
> 3. Unless your machine is on a concrete slab (as I guess is common in
> Ohio where they are made, but not out here in the West), your floor will
> vibrate heavily vertically when the machine spins up, such that when you
> stand near the machine when it spins up, your body will shake up and
> down. Nowhere in their literature did it say you needed to either have
> concrete or triple reinforce your floor to take the beating this machine
> puts out and prevent extra vibration. Our machine is in a laundry nook
> in our hallway, which you have to walk through to get to the bedrooms.
> The house is 20 years old, so it isn't an old, rickety floor.
> 4. It very often will not properly go through the rinse and spin cycles
> because it oversuds (too many suds) and is super sensitive this way. It
> will just sit there rumbling through, trying in vain to drain and spin
> up until you stop it. Eventually, I suspect it will cause your pump to
> burn out. You have to reset it back to go through 1 or more rinse
> cycles again, negating the supposedly miserly water use. In the worst
> cases, we had to go through as many as 6 or even more rinse cycles to
> get it to properly rinse, drain, and spin up. Even being extremely
> sparingly with detergent (tried three kinds), it often requires an extra
> 1 or 2 rinses to be able to spin up.
> 5. When you call and complain that even though you are using only 1/4
> or 1/5 of the normal amount of detergent you use in a top loader and it
> is still oversudsing, they will claim you need to buy a case of their
> RECOMMENDED detergent, which is a 20 year supply for us, as this machine
> is miserly in detergent use. I am sorry, but no where on their website,
> their literature, or the sales floor at one of their retailers does it
> say anything about being restricted to a single brand of detergent. We
> have tried 3 detergents that all say it is good for top and front
> loaders and use just a very small amount, just a small fraction of
> normal, and it still oversuds. They "helpfully" suggest you can also
> dumping in vinegar to cut the suds when it oversuds. One rug required a
> third of a gallon of vinegar.
> 6. The main knob that you use to set the washer in motion feels flimsy,
> has a plastic stem supporting it, and if you accidentally pull it when
> it is already pulled out, it pulls right off the machine. In contrast,
> my 4 year old standard Kenmore washing machine has a very solid feeling
> knob that you can't just rip right off.
> 7. If you have to stop the machine to check after it won't rinse and
> spin due to suds and to add vinegar, etc, or if it spins out of balance,
> you not only have to wait a couple minutes for it to unlock the door,
> but you then have to push against the tub (it is like a hexagon) to
> rotate it to the position where you open the "trap door" to get to the
> clothes. This is difficult for my wife and the holes in the side of the
> tub are in such a way as also to be uncomfortable on the hands. The
> "trap door" you open has a left door and a right door that interlock and
> is difficult or nearly impossible if you only have the use of one hand.
> Other front or top loaders I have seen can easily be used with one hand.
> 8. It is very noisy when it spins up. There is no insulation to cut
> the noise level. It sounds like a jet plane. It will also vibrate your
> floor (unless you have concrete slab), adding additional noise as well.
> Yes, they have those shock absorber-like things holding the tub (which
> Staber actually touts as a feature), but it still vibrates the floor
> heavily. One can only imagine what it would be like if it DIDN'T have
> that feature.
> 9. When you call for help because of some of the problems stated above
> (not draining, oversuds, pump not working, etc), their attitude always
> seems to be that there is something YOU are not doing right, not because
> of design flaws of THEIR product.
> Yes, you can take off the front panel and have "easy access", but how
> many times should someone have to take off the front panel in the course
> or fixing or diagnosing the machine in the first year or two of
> ownership, especially when it costs so much? I would rather have harder
> access, and only have to do it every 10 years or so.
> Buyer Beware. Preserve your marriage or relationship, DO NOT BUY a
> Staber washing machine.
> -Piner
> Post a reply to this message in the newsgroups if any of you unhappy
> Staber users out there wish to add anything or confirm you are
> experiencing some of the same things I am.

I am truly shocked that you've found your machine to be so very inadequate. We've had one of our Stabers for about 18 years. We have been thrilled with the fact that we've never had to have a repairman come to our home - we were able to fix the blockage to the pump (and now the pump itself) ourselves. I can't even guess how much money that saves us. We got our first Staber to use in our off-grid home. Powered solely by panels and water supplied by capturing what comes off the roof. So being energy and water efficient is our number one priority.

In all this time we have never had a problem with over-sudsing. I don't even know what that would look like. Their soap product is truly wonderful. We no longer order their soap, but continue to use a mere 1/4C of a "green" liquid detergent for a full load.

Yes, our washer does vibrate some...much like my sister's name brand machines have always done. Yes, you can pull the operating knobs off. That helps to provide access to the panel behind them. Then you push them back on.

The truly distressing problem you speak of with regard to your new Amish quilt bothers all of the women in my family. The problems you had with the cleaning really is operator problem. The colors ran because it was a brand new quilt (not sure why a brand new quilt would need to be washed) and you did not use "color catchers" in the wash with it. Those are amazing little sheets (similar to dryer sheets) that keep brand new fabrics from bleeding all over the other new fabrics.

You might want to consider listing your machine on Craigslist or something like that. That's how we found our second machine that we've had for about 13 years. Granted you won't get your full payment reimbursed that way, but with any luck, you might feel a bit better about having gotten rid of something that doesn't seem to work with you at all.