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  • Design & Usability

  • Performance & Features

  • Warranty

  • Conclusion

  • By the Numbers

  • Cleaning Performance

  • Efficiency

  • Design & Usability
  • Performance & Features
  • Warranty
  • Conclusion
  • By the Numbers
  • Cleaning Performance
  • Efficiency

Of course, the WT77000HVA isn't for everyone. If you're not going to load it to the brim on a regular basis, then you're missing the point of buying such a massive washer. Big loads mean big water bills. But if you're finding yourself constantly needing to do two or three loads of laundry to get through the week, the LG WT7700HVA might make your day easier.

Design & Usability

The largesse of largeness

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In a way, the WT7700HVA is both huge and compact. The drum is enormous at 5.7 cu. ft., but the overall dimensions of the washer are conservative: only 29 inches wide. By comparison, the 5.6-cu.-ft. Samsung WA56H9000AP is 30 inches wide.

Why all the harping on width? Well, width is usually the smallest dimension on a washer, so it makes or breaks whether or not a washer will fit through the front door (or other doors, for that matter). When it comes down to it, the WT7700VA will fit through more doors than its ultra-sized competitors.

Beyond its size paradox, this LG also boasts a soft-close lid, comprehensive cycle selection, and LG's excellent TurboWash, a spray pattern and detergent release setup that can help cut down on cycle times. A reliable soft-close lid is important so you won't have to worry about crushed fingers, and the WT7700HVA's 13 preset cycles mean you'll spend less time thinking about how to wash your laundry and more time doing it.

The overall aesthetic is uncomplicated and user-friendly.

Performance & Features

Volume is everything

The LG WT7700HVA reminds us of the fast food restaurant business, where volume trumps quality. Since the drum is so large, some of your laundry won't get the same treatment as the rest. Certain articles may just swirl around the center (this is called "stalling"), never rubbing up against the stain-fighting sides of the tub. It also means this LG needs to fill up with more water to submerge laundry, and this dilutes detergent. We've tested other LG top loaders that removed stains better for less money, but none of those washers came close to the WT7700HVA's size.

TurboWash gives the LG WT7700HVA another angle to spray your laundry from.
Credit: Reviewed.com / Jonathan Chan

TurboWash gives the LG WT7700HVA another angle to spray your laundry from.

Delving into individual cycles, Heavy Duty did the best. It clocked in at 1 hour 20 minutes, which gave us plenty of time to pummel the stains we presented it with. Runner up was the Brightest Whites cycle, which needed an hour and 45 minutes to finish. This cycle used four times as much water, but still took a four percent penalty to stain removal. We think this drop in time-to-performance ratio is because Whites cycles, in general, are often designed to use bleach–a time tested stain fighter. Bleach does a great job removing stains, but requires extra rinsing to get rid of residue at the end of each cycle.

The washer's water and electricity consumption proved relatively inefficient. Based on national average cost and use patterns, we estimate the LG WT7700HVA will cost you around $60 a year to run. That's about double what an efficient front loader will cost.

In terms of clothing wear and tear, the WT7700HVA is very average. You know what to expect if you've owned a top loader before. Delicates is the gentlest, while Heavy Duty will damage clothing more quickly.

Soap scum sure builds up fast on this LG dispenser.
Credit: Reviewed.com / Jonathan Chan

Soap scum sure builds up fast on this LG dispenser.

The WT7700HVA's massive drum can fit about three baskets of laundry and will surely reduce your time spent on chores. However, that's not to say this LG always has quick cycle times. An 8lb. load washed with the Normal cycle, even with TurboWash enabled, lasted about 45 minutes–just shorter than the average modern washer. When we loaded the drum to the brim, however, that Normal cycle extended to an hour and 50 minutes. By comparison, an eight-pound load on the LG WT5680HVA took only 39 minutes to complete.

For in-depth performance information, please visit the Science Page.

Warranty

The LG WT77000HVA comes with a standard one-year warranty that covers all manufacturer defects. It also has a ten-year warranty on the drive motor, but this is parts-only coverage, no labor.

Conclusion

For these United States

From big cars to big homes, America is all about big. And if you want the biggest washer, you have to have the WT7700HVA. At 5.7 cu. ft., there's plenty of room for washing clothes en masse, which saves time in the long run.

The downside is that it's expensive–not just to buy, but to operate as well. A $1,600 MSRP and a $1,400 sale price mean only buyers with tons of clothing, towels, and sheets to wash should consider this model. But if you feel like you're constantly overwhelmed come laundry day, the LG WT7700HVA might be just the fix.

By the Numbers

Washers stand out from one another in multiple ways, including stain removal, clothes wear, and efficiency. In order to compare the LG WT7700HVA to other washers, we put it through a series of standardized tests.

For more information on how we test, click here.

Cleaning Performance

To measure stain removal, we use mechanically coated stain strips. These cloth swatches are covered in representative substances like cocoa powder and red wine. We place these strips in eight-pound test loads, which are then subjected to various wash cycles.

An example of a before and after test stain results using the Normal cycle. From left to right: control, sweat, dirt, blood, cocoa, and red wine.
Credit: Reviewed.com / Jonathan Chan

An example of a before and after test stain results using the Normal cycle. From left to right: control, sweat, dirt, blood, cocoa, and red wine.

The end result put this LG closer to the back of the pack. Cocoa and blood stains came right out, but sweat and oil proved challenging. The most powerful cycle was Heavy Duty, which had a 4% edge over the Brightest Whites cycle across the board. The Normal cycle placed third, it saw a 5% performance reduction compared to the Whites cycle, but took half as long. In fact, when viewed through a time-to-performance lens, Normal topped the list. It took just 45 minutes to wash eight pounds of laundry.

Clothing wear is also an important part of cleaning performance. We test this by using mechanical action strips, which fray when exposed to the rigors of a wash cycle. We tally each thread that can be pulled out more than one centimeter. Overall, cycles averaged 46 loose threads, putting the WT7700HVA in the middle of the pack. The Delicates cycle did the best. We only found, on average, eight frayed strands. The Heavy Duty cycle proved to be the most harsh on laundry. On average, we counted 65 frayed treads per load.

Efficiency

Efficiency boils down to utility usage and water retention. The former is straightforward. We hook up the LG WT7700HVA to water and electricity meters to determine resource usage. Based on national average costs and typical use patterns, we estimate the WT7700HVA will run you about $57.68 a year. To put that in perspective, it's about double what an efficient front loader will cost you.

But that's not the whole story. Laundry still needs to be dried before it can be worn, and good washers spin out excess water before the dryer comes into play. Typically we want to see about 50% of excess water spun out, and the WT7700HVA got rid of 51%. This means that your clothes will spend less time in the dryer, which will save you money.

Meet the tester

Jonathan Chan

Jonathan Chan

Senior Manager of Lab Operations

@Jonfromthelab1

Jonathan Chan currently serves as the Lab Manager at Reviewed. If you clean with it, it's likely that Jon oversees its testing. Since joining the Reviewed in 2012, Jon has helped launch the company's efforts in reviewing laptops, vacuums, and outdoor gear. He thinks he's a pretty big deal. In the pursuit of data, he's plunged his hands into freezing cold water, consented to be literally dragged through the mud, and watched paint dry. Jon demands you have a nice day.

See all of Jonathan Chan's reviews

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