Back in the Dark Ages, when dinosaurs roamed England and I was at my second boarding school (circa 1973-5!), Webby, our house mistress regularly used to nab all the smaller girl's face flannels and dump them in a large boiler on the stove, with a doze of washing soda... She'd simmer them for a hour, just to be sure they were properly hygienic! Those face flannels spent days together in musty toilet bags, never seeing the light; they spend weeks lurking behind the wash basins in the corners of the bathrooms; they hid behind the baths and leaped out on unsuspecting sixth formers getting ready for the Friday Night disco! Webby would round them all up and herd them into her boiler, and make 'flannel soup' out of them! A woman with a mission!
I sent mine (properly labeled!) to the laundry every week, along with the bath towels. YIKES!! I still have some of those towels! They tend to be relegated to the cat carrier and hair dying these days, and go in the boil wash when I'm done! :)
I have space for a washer and separate dryer, which is great. Mum's washer/dryer will only dry a half load. :( I do have a line, but haven't used it since last autumn, when the builders moved in and turned the garden into a building site cum quagmire! It's up, but adrift in a sea of mud! I must throw the grass seed down...
The one I was looking at recently was an LG with a large porthole and a
15 lb load. Half the price of the similar Bosch machine!
the clothes are agitated more efficiently. Much of the 'extra' water used in a top-loading washing machine is being used to lighten the load on the agitator and motor. It's not really necessary for complete cleaning of the fabric.
Here they tend to be hot and cold fill, and the machine has a thermostat and heater that keep the water at the required temperature. It uses less energy to heat the water by gas than electricity.
The drums turn faster, forcing less water through the clothes, I think.. I'd have to look it up. It's very simple and quite cleaver, but I'm not sure exactly how it works. My machine uses far less water than its predecessor, and I've never had a problem with things coming out still smelly or dirty. Newer ones use even less, and some weigh the load and add water according to load size! Mine washes very well indeed at all temperatures. I won't be buying another Whirlpool, however, as their after sales sucks! And the thing's been cracking up since it was less than a month old...
Oh, good! :) I'm with you on the stiletto heels... maybe we ought to get together and let him know what it's like to be stepped on by them! ;)
Oh, I REALLY couldn't stand a slow shower! Mine is full blast! It's great: I save water by being able to have a shower and rinse my long thick hair in five to seven minutes! Oh, and you save a hell of a lot of water by using half the recommended dose of shampoo and conditioner, and only doing a single wash! There's no need for 'rinse and repeat' if you wash your hair three times a week or more, unless you do a really dirty job!
I never water my lawn, and we're getting a water barrel for watering the tubs when I start tub gardening again. We've had a hosepipe ban for two years here: after our lack of winter rain the aquifers are only at 60% in this area, despite floods in Hastings last month!
Phae, I LOVE my front-loader! It really does clean the clothes better, and it does use less water, and it even spins the clothes drier than my old washer, which means I spend less time trying to get them dry the rest of the way, either in the dryer, or on a line. Less detergent is necessary, too.
I was so impressed, although skeptical at first. But the washer's vertical washing motion not only cleans the clothes better, but there is much less wear and tear on them than in the old agitator-type machine. The easiest way to tell is that our jeans and other dark clothing do not fade nearly as much as they used to, and there is less than half the lint produced. Not only that, but I can wash heaps of stuff in the same load and it all comes clean. I'm not kidding; I've washed eight towels, eight pair of jeans, and all our other dark clothes for at least 10 days in the same load.
The only problem we have with ours is that the seal on the door was not quite perfected when we bought this model (Frigidaire Gallery), and if we don't leave it open between uses it gets a little musty. But newer models don't have this problem.
I knew somebody here in the states that had one of those imported. I think I broke a commandment, I must admit i was very jealous of that machine. She had one when she lived in Europe and liked it so much she brought a brand new one home with her. Then she had to have some wiring done in her house....
My friend's new house has one. She said the clothes keep coming out all twisted. She doesn't like it for that reason.
I used to use a front loader in the dorm though, and I never had a problem with it. What I like is that they're stackable. I'm moving my laundry room upstairs with my next remodel.
I've never had that problem with clothes, and I've had three - all different makes! They tumble the wash in opposite directions all through. It helps prevent tangles like this. The only time I get a problem is if I wash yardage, and not often then. Not that I wash fabric that hasn't been sewn unless I can't avoid it! ;)
You can get stacking kits for most makes here. I've always had plenty of floor space, so never bothered.
I understand your skepticism. However, since buying our Kenmore HE3 front loader a little more than a year ago, I can tell you it isn't the amount of water used so much as the method.
I've sat on the floor in front of our wm and observed. Instead of filling up once, and agitating the clothes in a tub of water that is dirty to whatever extent the contents were grungy, it changes the wash water several times. The dirt drains away each time.
The clothes of my DH, who works outside almost every day (matter of choice--he's 72 and 'retired') are sometimes unbelievably muddy and smelly. Then there are our four dogs, 60-100 pounds each, three of whom live in the house. So our HE3 has been tried...and not found wanting. I'm very happy with it.
Kenmore also sells an HE4 model, which heats the water. I believe both HE models are made in Germany. It is several hundred dollars more than the HE3 and I don't wash in hot water often, so we didn't spring for it.
I think I have an essentially similar machine to yours, except it is the kenmore "badged" model... I will NEVER go back to a top loader.. I have heard the "musty" problems from some people, but I have not seen that issue with my machine, although I may run it more often than some (like daily)... (The reason I bought the kenmore brand model was the year I purchased my machine, the kenmore was the only one that had the stainless steel drum, the other "badged" machines had enamel drums).
Fr>Phae, I LOVE my front-loader! It really does clean the clothes better,
I took the opportunity to look at some sale ads and was shocked to see that the front loaders ($599. - $1299) cost a solid 100% more than the traditional type ($279 - $599. So my first thought was..... wait..... they are making me pay more to do all that bending over? I did see one with a built in heater btw. It was the most expensive.
And speaking of bending over, am I correct that they have raised them up so you don't have to kill your back emptying the darn things? Or is that merely cosmetic deception? (I'll have a look next time I'm at Lowes) The bending over to get heavy wet clothes is probably the first thing I found so unattractive about them.
I read over all the articles. Let me first say that since the Consumer Reports (hereinafter "CR") scandal, I have been less trusting of them though I still read them... but I don't rely on them as heavily. They say that traditional washers are "very good" at both washing and capacity. You get that "very good" quality at half the price--- and with much shorter cycle times and regular, less costly detergent. Do those of you with a front loader really use a special detergent? What about other laundry additives like bleaches, blueing, stain removers, fabric softeners, etc?
So is the front loader washing quality so much better that it's worth twice the price? I get my clothes clean now with the exception of a few white things I find it necessary to bleach or items with grease that I have to pretreat with Lestoil. On average, I bleach 1 small load about every two weeks.
I suspect that the water-saving calculation ignored the suds-saver feature on conventional washers.
Is it really true that you cannot soak your laundry in the front loaders and that the door seals don't last a long time? Good grief, I can't imagine not being able to soak laundry. Whatever would you do with bloodstained sheets for instance?
CR says that some of the new top loaders already meet the 2007 energy conservation requirements so I'm not so convinced on the energy front. But having a larger capacity and getting clothes cleaner with less energy & water is very appealing--- if that is significantly true, not just a little bit true. It certainly seems advantageous to have less water remain in the clothes, energy-wise. But what about delicates? And what about that mold and musty smell that CR says front loaders have a tendency to get? Have you experienced this too? And can you use a non-phosphate, less polluting detergent in the front loaders? Or are those too difficult to rinse?
I do like that idea. My dishwasher (a Bosch... see I'm not just a cheapskate) does that.
Now that is really something.... to be able to give the dogs a bath in the washer. Just joking!!!... but the thought is appealing. (Our dear departed Newfie was a handful to bathe. I used a hose outside.)
Thanks for the input. Really. I am starting to feel at least somewhat reassured. Experience means so much more that all the salesmen's hype. :)
Exactly! You wonder sometimes who thinks of these things... making you stand in the shower for twenty minutes to get all rinsed off.
Here in the US midwest, we're into our second year of drought in my region. We have far less rainfall than you have in the UK. We've been using spot minimal irrigation in the vegetable gardens but have nearly eliminated other sprinkling.
Amen. I once washed a small down comforter in a front loading, high capacity washer at a laundry. The attendant said it would wash even more so I know I was not over capacity. Some detergent got stuck on the corner of the comforter and ate a hole right through the fabric! I couldn't believe that detergent would do that or that it could have gone thru an entire cycle like that! It was my first and only experience with a front-loading machine.... and it was a bad one. My skepticism is well founded.
I use the same detergent I always used ( but I use way less -- I now use a small plastic coffee measure for my detergent - 1 little scoop per load), I use the same pre-spotter, same bleach.. No special detergents, or other "special" supplies... "Special" supplies are so much nonsense... Look in your own grocery store, and read the boxes for everyday, branded detergents.. They all invariably list front loading washers as well as the top loaders.
I also have what I call "special needs" loads of wash, which I *must* use liquid "baby" detergent on (Ivory Snow, Dreft), and I find a bottle of this now lasts me about a year, instead of about a month. (This is a must for some elastics -- NEVER, EVER use "Woolite" on items with elastic in them -- "Woolite" is formulated for use on natural fibers, which it does a wonderful job on.. It was never formulated for elastic or rubber, which it will cause to "rot" prematurely...)
Yes, they now have platforms you can buy to raise the machines up about a foot (many of these are actually storage drawers as well).
I also find that the front loader is quieter than any top loader I have had.
Some of the older front loaders had a musty smell problem (especially the Maytag Neptunes - they were recalled and retrofitted at no charge for this problem), but the newer machines have been improved, and do not have the musty smell problems AFAIK..
Yes, the machines are pricier, but they pay for themselves in using less water, and supplies, as well as keeping your clothes newer longer (tumbling action means less wear and tear on the fabrics).. Also, they have less moving parts than top-loaders, so they are reportedly easier/cheaper to repair when something goes wrong (as an example, they do not have a "transmission", but simple rubber belts instead)
I no longer trust CR at all. Sometimes CR's reviewers can't see the forest for the trees, and way too much payola there...
Soaking laundry... Most normal loads you cannot soak because of the smaller amount of water in the washer.. When I really need to soak something, I use the sink or a tub. Door seals: I have not seen one of these fail yet, but my neighbor has used front loaders for 35 years, and she told me that one door seal failed on her last machine, after 15 years of daily use.
One more thing, I have found that my front loader gets the clothes considerably cleaner than the TOL Maytag top loader it replaced.
It sounds to me like something was very wrong with the machine you used.. I can certainly understand your reticence to risk repeating that experience.. I have been using the front loader for a few years now, and have not had any article damaged by the machine yet....
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