A compact washer is a 24-inch front loader, and it is bought for a space rather than a household: a hallway closet, a kitchen bay under a counter, or a stack with a matching dryer in an apartment. That space is usually closer to a bedroom or a neighbor than a laundry room is, so noise matters more, and the plug on the wall often matters most.
It is also the one corner of the US washer market where makers print a decibel figure. Our main guide to the quietest washing machines found four washers with a figure out of sixteen, and three were Bosch compacts. For this guide we reopened every compact maker we could reach, from Bosch, Miele, Electrolux, LG, Samsung, GE, Blomberg, Beko, ASKO, Summit and Equator, and recorded what each publishes, in its own words.
Our picks are listed above, with full specifications for each.
Bosch prints two figures for each compact, labelled silence level washing and silence level spinning, in dBA. The 300 Series WGA12400UC lists 52 and 72. The 500 Series WGB24600UC and 800 Series WGB246AXUC both list 51 and 75. The spec sheets name no test standard.
Blomberg, whose US spec sheets are published by Beko US Inc., prints the same two labels for its 2.5 cu ft compacts: 52 dBA washing and 76 dBA spinning for the WM98400SX and WM98200SX2. Blomberg's site returned nothing for those models when we checked, and its current 24-inch washer, the WM72200W, has no silence level row on its sheet. Beko's own US site refused every request we made, so we could not read its BWM7200X or WMY10148C2 documents and quote none of their figures.
ASKO prints a pair on its older Logic series sheet: 53 dB(A) wash and 74 dB(A) spin for the W4114CW. Its current W3W page prints nothing, and its US site blocked us.
Equator prints a cycle figure. Its washer pages say the Quiet cycle runs with a noise level less than 60 dB. No weighting, distance or spin figure is given.
Nobody else. Miele's US sheets for the WXC280, WXD160 and WXR860 have no sound row. LG's WM1455H sheet names LoDecibel Quiet Operation and TrueBalance and gives no number. Samsung's WW25B6900AW page, Electrolux's ELFW4222AW sheet, GE's GFW148SSMWW page and Summit's SLW241W page carry no figure at all.
Three lists, not one
The figures above belong on three separate lists, and the only honest ranking stays inside each one.
The first list is dBA, with washing and spinning kept apart. On spinning, the Bosch 300 Series at 72 dBA sits below the Bosch 500 and 800 at 75 and the Blombergs at 76. On washing, the Bosch 500 and 800 at 51 dBA sit below the Bosch 300 and the Blombergs at 52. Those are the only compacts where the labels match, so those are the only comparisons we make. Note that neither Bosch nor Beko says whether its dBA is sound pressure at a distance or sound power; they simply print dBA.
The second list is ASKO's dB(A). It looks like the first list and may well be measured the same way, but ASKO does not say, and European documents for washers print dB(A) re 1 pW, which is sound power. A sound power figure runs higher than a sound pressure figure for the same machine, so a 74 that is sound power could describe a quieter washer than a 72 that is sound pressure. Our explainer on sound power vs sound pressure covers the gap. Until ASKO says which it prints, its pair stays on its own list.
The third list is Equator's "less than 60 dB", which has no weighting and describes one slow cycle. It cannot be set beside anyone's spin figure, and it should not be read as a claim about the normal cycle.
Within the first list, the spread is small and real. Roughly every 10 dBA sounds twice as loud, so 3 dBA between the Bosch 300 and 500 at full spin is about a quarter louder, at the minute of the cycle a closet door does least to hide. See dBA explained for the scale.
Spin speed is the trade-off you control
The compacts here spin at 1,200 to 1,600 rpm, faster than most full-size washers, because a small drum has to extract water from a load a compact dryer will finish. The makers are clear about what that costs.
ASKO's manual puts it in one sentence: the higher the spinning rate in the spin cycle, the higher the noise and the lower the residual moisture content. Bosch's own figures show it: the 1,400 rpm 300 Series spins at 72 dBA, the 1,600 rpm 500 and 800 at 75. Blomberg's 1,400 rpm compacts list 76.
Every pick lets you turn the spin down, and Bosch, Miele and Blomberg each offer a no-spin setting. Bosch's troubleshooting table names the price: "The laundry is too wet after the spinning cycle. A low spin speed is selected." Wetter laundry means a longer dryer run above the washer, and our guide to the quietest dryers notes that every dryer with a published figure is a 24-inch compact too, so the stack has two noise figures to think about, not one.
The Blomberg WM72200W is the one compact whose top speed is already 1,200 rpm. No maker publishes a figure at a reduced speed, so we cannot say how many decibels the slower spin saves. We can say the direction, because the makers do.
120 V or 240 V: the closet decides
Bosch's three compacts with published figures need 208 to 240 volts and ship with a NEMA 6-15 plug. The 2.5 cu ft Blombergs are 208 to 240 V, and Summit's SLW241W is listed at 220 V. A closet wired for a full-size washer has a 120 V outlet, and a kitchen bay almost always does.
The 120 V compacts are the ones without a figure: the Blomberg WM72200W at 10 A, the Miele WXC280 at 15 A, the Electrolux ELFW4222AW, and the LG WM1455H at 10 A. Equator's EW 835 runs on 110 V at 10 A with its quiet cycle figure.
So the choice in a rented closet is usually made before noise comes into it. If you can add a 240 V circuit, you can have a wash and spin figure. If you cannot, you are choosing between four compacts on spin speed, floor instructions and the quality of the manual, which is what the second half of this guide is for. Our apartment washer guide covers the same problem for a full-size stack, and our page on keeping an apartment quiet covers the hours you run it.
Stacking, and what the closet door needs
Bosch gives a minimum stack height of 67 3/4 inches with its kit, for all three series, and says to stack only with the dryer maker's connection kit. Miele's manual gives 67 11/16 inches with a WTV kit without a drawer and 71 1/4 inches with one, and requires the Miele kit. Blomberg's page mentions an optional stacking kit. ASKO's manual goes the other way: its washers should never be stacked on a counter or a dryer.
Bosch's manual adds a warning that matters in a closet with a raised floor: do not install a washer-dryer stack on a platform, because the appliances may tip over. Its installation instructions say the same about any base, and ask for its fixing brackets if the washer sits on one.
Then there is the door. Bosch's spec sheet says that if the front of the appliance is covered, louvered openings must be installed, and gives the sizes: a top louver area of 63 square inches and a bottom louver area of 63 square inches, or a door undercut of equal total area split between the upper and lower portions of the door. It also says to expect long drying times with the closet door closed. A closed, louvered door is still the best noise barrier a closet has, so plan the louvers rather than leave the door open.
Under a counter
A compact washer is 33 to 34 inches tall, and kitchen counters are 36, which is why the under-counter bay exists. Bosch's spec sheet labels the open bay "Under Counter (Preferred)" and gives the minimum opening as 28 inches deep, 23 7/8 inches wide and 34 1/2 inches high, with the front of the appliance fully open and no doors or coverings. The enclosed version, behind a cabinet door, is labelled less preferred, with the same note about drying times. The manual adds that the washer may only go under a continuous countertop that is securely connected to adjacent cabinets, in a niche 23.6 inches wide.
Miele's manual says the WXC280, with its lid intact, can be pushed under a countertop if there is space to do so, and warns against removing the lid. The Blomberg WM72200W is the shallowest washer here at 21 1/4 inches, which is the figure to check against a 24-inch-deep cabinet run with plumbing behind it.
A kitchen bay has one acoustic advantage over a closet: it usually sits on a ground-floor slab or a stiff kitchen floor, and against a wall nobody sleeps behind. That makes the wash figure matter more than the spin figure, since someone is standing next to it for the long part of the cycle. If the bay is in an open-plan kitchen that doubles as the living room, see how quiet is quiet enough, room by room for the level the room itself sits at.
Vibration on a wooden floor
A dBA figure describes sound in the air. Vibration through a joist floor is a separate problem, and the compact manuals are more specific about it than any full-size manual we have read.
Bosch: on a wooden joist floor, "Place the appliance on a water-resistant wooden board (minimum thickness of 1.18 in. (30 mm)) which is screwed tightly to the floor." Miele: "Install the unit on a 24" x 24" x 1 3/16" (61 x 61 x 3 cm) plywood base", which "should be large enough to span several joists and should be anchored to the joists and not just the floor boards", and "If possible, install the machine in a corner", because it is usually the most stable part of the floor. ASKO: "The floor on which the washing machine is placed must have a concrete base."
All three blame the same things before the floor. Bosch's troubleshooting entry for an appliance that is vibrating, wandering and making loud noises during the spin lists three causes: not correctly aligned, feet not fixed, transit bolts not removed. ASKO says to tighten the lock nuts on the feet to prevent excessive vibration during spin cycles. Miele says failure to remove the shipping struts causes damage.
The last cause is the load. Bosch says the appliance eliminates an imbalance by repeatedly redistributing the laundry, and will use a reduced spin speed to eliminate an imbalance. Miele says it detected an imbalance during the final spin and reduced the spin speed automatically, and advises washing large and small items together for a more even load. A compact drum is small enough that a single bath mat is an uneven load, so the fix is often to add a towel.
A closet off a bedroom
If the closet shares a wall with a bedroom, the two halves of the cycle matter in a different order than they do for a neighbor downstairs. The spin is loud but short; the wash is quieter but runs for most of an hour. That is the case for the Bosch 500 Series over the 300, and for running the Quiet cycle on an Equator in the evening rather than the normal one.
Three settings help, and all are documented. The delay timer: Bosch's Finish in sets the program end time, up to 24 hours, so the spin lands at the end of the number you set; Equator's delay start runs up to 24 hours and Blomberg's up to 19. The spin selector, down to no spin on Bosch and Miele. And the alarm: Miele's buzzer and keypad tone can each be switched off, and Electrolux lists chime on and chime off. Our page on setting up a quiet bedroom puts the washer beside the other machines that share that wall.
Mistakes compact buyers make
Reading a feature name as a figure. LoDecibel, Optimal Inverter Technology and Quattro Construction are names. No number stands behind any of them.
Comparing across lists. Bosch's 72 dBA, ASKO's 74 dB(A) and Equator's "less than 60 dB" are three different kinds of figure. Our explainer on why you cannot compare dB ratings across brands covers what a maker has to state before two numbers can be set side by side.
Buying a 240 V washer for a 120 V closet. Every compact with a wash and spin figure is 208 to 240 V.
Stacking on a platform. Bosch says the pair may tip over.
Closing a solid door on a stack. Bosch's louver areas exist for a reason, and a dryer behind a solid door takes far longer.
Blaming the machine for the floor. The manuals point first at bolts, feet and flex.
How we chose
We started from the 24-inch compacts in our main washer guide and added every compact maker we could reach. For each we reopened the US product page, the spec sheet and the installation manual where the site let us, and recorded each noise figure in the maker's words, with its unit and the part of the cycle it describes. We compared Bosch's and Blomberg's dBA figures only with each other, because they share the same two labels. We kept ASKO's dB(A) pair and Equator's cycle figure on their own lists.
We ranked a published spin figure first, because the spin is the part of the cycle a closet cannot hide. Below that, where no figure is published, we chose on what a compact install actually needs and makers do state: a 120 V supply, a lower top spin speed, documented stack heights and louver areas, under-counter guidance and wooden floor instructions. Prices are the makers' list prices on the date we checked, and where a maker's site blocked us or showed no price, we say so.
We did not measure any of these washers. Every figure here comes from the maker's own documents, and where a maker publishes no figure, or its site refused to show us one, we say that rather than guess.
