Maytag MHW6630HC0 4.8 Cubic Feet Front Load Washer review

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How many times have you started a load of laundry and sat down to watch something on TV? Next thing you know, you’ve binged-watched an entire Netflix series and forgotten about the laundry. It happens to the best of us, but you don’t have to worry about your clothes smelling moldy with the Maytag MHW6630HC0. The Maytag’s unique 16-hour Fresh Hold option will keep your clothes fresh, even if you forgot you washed them.

An attractive washing machine

The metallic slate – it’s also available in white — washing machine is one of the more stylish models we’ve seen from Maytag. At first glance, we thought it might be a Samsung or LG washer.

The washer looks like it could be a 5.0-cubic-foot model – it’s that big. The 4.8 cubic feet machine is still quite large at 38.62 x 27 x 32.93 inches, so it’s not ideal for more compact laundry rooms. The companion dryer, the Maytag MGD6630HC, is similar in size.

The dark gray color of  the plastic front door adds to the machine’s good looks. However, the shade is so dark that it’s difficult to see inside the machine.

The Maytag also offers an optional laundry pedestal that will run you about $300 depending on the one you pick. You can store all sorts of things in the drawers, but the extra storage is best for laundry supplies.

If you have young kids or pets that get into things, you’ll appreciate the lock mechanism. Once manually set, you need to hold down the button and watch the display count down before it can be opened. When sitting on the pedestal, the machine is probably too tall for most little ones to reach the lock button.

Washing options galore

Given the amount of washing options this Maytag offers, the seamlessness of the control panel was impressive. To the left of the panel is a drawer for detergent, bleach, and fabric softener. There is an option to just fill it with detergent and let the machine dispense the right amount for each load.

While it’s a good way to conserve detergent, when we didn’t set it correctly, we ended up adding too much liquid, causing an error during the cycle. About halfway through the wash cycle, the SD signal, which is code for excessive suds, appeared on the machine. The good news is that the machine takes care of this mishap by running a suds-reduction cycle. The bad news is that it adds more time to the washing cycle.

The options on the control knob are straightforward, with selections for Normal/Regular, Heavy Duty, Whites, Sanitize, Towels, Bulky Items, Quick Wash, Delicates, Wrinkle Control, Colors, Drain & Spin, and Clean Washer.

Use the digital panel to the right to adjust Temperature, Spin Speed, Soil, Steam, Cycle Signal, Delay Start, Extra Rinse, Control Lock, and 16-Hour Fresh Hold.

The last option is ideal for people who forget to switch their load to the dryer in a timely fashion. The 16-Hour Fresh Hold uses an internal fan and intermittent tumbling that circulates air through the clothes for up to 16 hours. No more worrying about a moldy smell when you leave wet clothes in the washer too long.

Once you load the clothes, you’ll need to press the power button (it’s got a play button icon) first to select your settings. If you want extra washing power, just press the button on the main knob that says Extra Power. Each push adds more time to the cycle and the idea is that the Extra Power gives a boost to fighting stains.

The digital display shows the current cycle details, illuminating relevant icons, and estimated time the load will take to complete. We should note that many of the cycles on this machine are well over an hour, and if you keep adding settings and Extra Power, it could take a quite a while to finish a load.

So-so performer

Maytag has a solid reputation for producing heavy-duty appliances that get the job done. That’s why we were so surprised by the MHW6630HC0’s performance. We washed a bunch of different loads over a few months and were satisfied, but not thrilled, with the test results. To put it to the test, we did two loads of stained items on different settings. The first load was filled with two summer blankets, one for a king bed and the other for a queen. The blankets had different types of stains, and some were the result of dog saliva. For the other load, we soiled clothing with red wine, ketchup, mustard, and oil.

The first load of blankets were washed on the Bulky Items setting at a warm temperature. We didn’t pretreat any of the stains before washing. The digital display informed us the cycle would take 94  minutes to complete. It took a little bit longer than expected because we got the SD signal. Unfortunately, many of the stains were intact.

We washed the second load using the Quick Wash cycle with the highest spin, temperature, and soil settings. Adding those options turned the 15-minute cycle into 20 minutes. We didn’t have high hopes for the clothes, since this really was the fastest cycle and we didn’t pretreat the items.

However, we were impressed that it did manage to remove a lot of the stains. There was still residue of red wine on a couple of items, but the other food stains came out completely. We washed the stained red wine items again on a much longer cycle and only a couple of items had faded hints of the red wine remaining.

Warranty information

This Maytag washer comes with a one-year limited warranty that covers parts and labor. There’s an additional warranty for the second year through the 10th that covers the drive motor and wash basket. Labor isn’t included.

Our Take

The Maytag MHW6630HC0 isn’t a bad machine, but we do wish it performed better. While we like that it doesn’t come with an app or Wi-Fi connectivity (we’ve found in our testing that this doesn’t currently add much to the experience), we wish the cycles weren’t so long. We did appreciate that the Quick Wash cycle does a decent job at getting clothes clean — even without pretreating some stains.

Is there a better alternative?

We were more impressed with the Electrolux EFLS537UIW Front-Load Washer with LuxCare Wash System, which costs less and does a better job of removing stains. However, the model is a 4.3-cubic-foot machine that’s a bit smaller than the Maytag unit. One other plus about the Electrolux washer is that you can change the way the door open, a feature many other washing machines don’t offer. Our washer and drying buying guide can help you decide which features are most important to you.

How long will it last?

Top loaders typically have a longer life than front load washing machines. Still, according to the experts, this front loader model should last between 10 to 14 years, but probably closer to 10 then 14.

Should you buy it?

We really expected to be wowed by the Maytag washer, but it just didn’t live up to our expectations. You probably won’t be disappointed with the machine, but you should invest in a pretreatment solution if your clothes tend to be particularly prone to stains. The model is also a bit spendy, costing close to $1,100 dollars.