Product Review: Haier Space-Saving Portable Compact Electronic 1 Cubic Foot Top Load Washer HLP21N

For a unit with an incredibly long name, this is a super small unit with a great deal of ‘oomph’ to it. It fits into our kitchen right next to the refrigerator and underneath the shelving where we keep plates and our oven. It’s top loading and you can actually fit much more than a shirt or two in there. I routinely wash a pair of jeans or two with undies, socks, and a few tee shirts. No problems. The bathroom rug throws it off balance and usually needs to be shaken a bit before it goes through its cycle, but sometimes it does just fine. You can wash a reasonable amount of clothing at a time and what is best of all about this unit is that it functions like most of the HE models that are on the market these days. It spins out a tremendous amount of the washing water. And you can set it to run small, medium or large loads and can also adjust for normal, light, or heavy soil levels/wash times.

The unit is somewhat noisy, but really no more so than a regular front loading washer. It doesn’t bounce around (unless badly overbalanced, and that’s human error rather than machine dysfunction). Clothing comes out clean and well laundered. I do not use a dryer but this particular model comes with a matching dryer. Both units run on a 110, which is very handy for a number of reasons. I really like this washer. I’ve used HE front loading washers at two of the last homes we’ve lived in, one by GE and one by Frigidaire, and liked both. I find this one to be in some senses even better in terms of the amount of water spun out. It’s a great little machine. I would recommend the dryer if you have the space, especially if you don’t have space or the time to air dry. We live in a rainy climate and there are times a dryer would be very handy. So far, this hasn’t been a big problem, but consider your needs when designing.

For air-drying you might consider an accordion-style drying rack for, say, a tiny bathroom or utility room, even a porch. Also, the IKEA octopus is an inexpensive (about $6) way to dry socks, diapers, undies and more.

I would highly recommend Haier’s little washer. We chose it over all-in-one units (the combo washer/dryer) based on an abundance of negative reviews we’ve seen regarding units like that. I don’t have any first hand experience with units that combine both washing and drying, but if you share that concern, this Haier model is another very impressive, very space saving unit. Our unit is completely installed but the unit comes on casters and can actually be wheeled in and out of closets, if needed.