Best Top Loading Washing Machines

Top-loading machines clean clothes either with an agitator or an impeller.

The agitator is the design most people are familiar with; it consists of a tube or pole that twists up through the middle of the machine. In contrast, an impeller has low ridges that rotate on the floor of the machine to create turbulence and clean clothes. Both types remove dirt quickly, but are more rough on clothes than a front-loading machine. A model with an impeller offers maximum capacity, but is more likely to tangle clothes, and will cost more in electricity and water to run.

One advantage top-loading machines have over their front-loading cousins is the ability to open the machine after the wash cycle has begun. This allows you to add last-minute clothes into the wash tub, or to retrieve a forgotten phone from a pocket, something not possible in a front-loader, which needs to drain all water before it can be opened.