Maytag Epic MED9700SQ Dryer Review

My husband and I purchased the Maytag Epic Front Loading Dryer almost a year ago and I absolutely love it.  We previously owned a traditional front loading dryer that was low to the ground and cumbersome to get wet clothes into and dry clothes out of.  Our new front loading dryer works so well that I will definitely not go back to a traditional front load dryer.  We shopped for many months comparing prices and deciding what brand/model we wanted to purchase and finally decided on the Maytag Epic.  We are a family of five and definitely need the high capacity that the dryer offers.  I can dry ten to twelve pairs of jeans in the dryer at a time which saves me a lot of time and saves on our energy bill as well.

The dryer has a total of five settings which include the following:  Heavy Duty, Normal, Casual, Delicate, Super Delicate.  Those five settings have pre-set times and temperatures programmed into the dryer.  There are also three manual options which include Timed Dry, Touch Up, and Rapid Dry.  Using the manual options allow you to select the time and temperature to dry your clothes.  The dryer has four temperature settings which include high, medium, low, and extra low.  The temperature is determined by the preselected dryer settings.

In addition to the above settings the dryer has a selection for Extra Care which allows for the dryer to continue without heat, but keeps the clothes moving to help prevent wrinkles until you are able to retrieve the clothes from the dryer.  The dryer also has a cycle end signal which beeps instead of buzzing like our old dryer.  I like the cycle end signal because the dryer runs so quietly and I rarely ever hear when it quits so the beep lets me know when its done.

The manufacturer also offers a pedestal drawer that allows the dryer to sit atop it.  This is a separate cost and not included in the price of the dryer.  The pedestal allows the dryer to be elevated almost two feet which works well for me because of my height.  In addition to creating a taller dryer the pedestal also allows me to store cleaning supplies underneath the dryer.  I think that purchasing the pedestal was a good investment.

One of the downsides of the dryer is that over time a blue ring built up on the back part of the dryer inside on the drum.  I couldn't figure out what had caused the blue ring, but after further investigation on discussion boards regarding the dryer it was determined that the blue ring is caused from the blue dye in the jeans while drying in the dryer.  

Prior to owning the dryer I was not able to dry a lot of my sweaters in my old dryer because the heat was too high and would shrink some materials.  I have found with this dryer because I am able to select the heat of the dryer that I am able to dry 95% of clothing that I have because of the low temperature setting.  This saves me a lot of time because I was laying sweaters and other articles of clothing all over the house to air dry.  The dryer also seems to maintain the integrity of the clothes dried in the dryer much better than our old front loading dryer.  The dryer also has a sensor that determines the wetness or dryness of the clothes and allows the dryer to end a cycle before overdrying the clothes which is what causes the overdone effect that occur on some of the older traditional front loading dryers.

One of the other things I love about the new high capacity dryer is the ability to dry a large bedspread or quilt in the dryer without ruining it.  It allows the material of the quilt or bedspraed to maintain its shape.  In our old dryer I felt like most items I put in the dryer were baked from the heat of the dryer.  In the new high capacity dryer they don't feel cooked after being dried.  I really don't have anything negative to say about the dryer except for the stained blue ring on the drum of the dryer from the ink in the blue jeans.  I also have a high capacity front loading washer and these two units allow me to wash and dry two loads at a time instead of one.  

The dryer retails for between $819.00 and $1000.00 and in my opinion is a great value for all the options that it offers.  If I were to purchase another dryer I would definitely look at the Maytag line to purchase in the future.  I might look for something with more bells and whistles than what I have, but would definitely stick with the Maytag line.  I rated the Maytag Epic as above average and not oustanding because of the blue stain that builds up on the drum of the dryer inside.  I'm sure the the stain can be cleaned out although I have not attempted it, but feel that the manufacturer should put some protective coating on the inside drum to prevent this from happening.  All things considered, if the dye did not cause the drum to stain I would have rated the dryer as oustanding because of my satisfaction with the product as a whole.