new towels smell-help please

Yes, you certainly can use regular liquid laundry detergent, I use that with elastic based materials, and I use woolite for natural fibers (wool) without problems. (again, you just have to adjust down and use less per load)

me

I use liquid detergent. Usually All Free because it contains no perfume or color.

I sometimes stop the washer in the wash cycle, which effectively soaks the contents.

My door seal doesn't leak at all. There seem to be several "layers" of seal.

In mine, I use a water conditioner - Boraxo or White King - and All Ultra fabric softner. We have water hard enough to chew. My machine also has a delay cycle, so I can load it and set it to come on later - like when everyone is asleep. Sometimes that is handy. We have poor water pressure in addition to hardness, rocks and tar that comes in the pipes.

Wonderful dog! Is he yours, by any chance?

Our powdered detergents. Like Tide. It is surprising when you get some on you and there is water present - it's like a chemical reaction. No wonder it gets clothes clean!

Good grief, Beverly (BEI Design AKA "Unknown"), for someone who is so concerned about controlling what people post on Usenet, I would think you'd stop and think a moment before spewing such hateful, rash, disingenuous twaddle--- especially with such a poor attempt at disguise.

The least you might have done, Bev, was to post it in your own user-name if you think what you had to say was so important or insightful. But, of course it was neither significant nor insightful so one can easily see why you wanted to disassociate yourself from your vulgar, ad hominemic display.

Had you said anything materially relevant instead of a vicious personal attack, I might have responded. But you didn't; you obviously couldn't locate that capacity for decency and reason. All you did was lash out in a brutish tantrum because your political nose was out of joint. I want to thank you for illustrating my point, though, for our friends on the other side of the pond. You certainly outdid yourself on the peevishness scale. So you see, Bev, the only "major-f--k-up" here is you.

Phae

No such luck! :)

Doreen in Alabama

Heat of hydration is likely what you're feeling. And yes, laundry detergent (US) = washing powder (UK)

I'd guess someone is using a detergent with a fair amount of sodium carbonate (washing soda).

We've got an older Maytag Neptune, about 3 years into production. Holds a kingsized comforter easily, or sheets and pillowslips from a kingsized bed + a twin bed + a week's worth of tshirts and panties.

I soak stuff in that machine, too... start it up, let it get to the middle of the wash cycle, hit the stop button. And I dye in it, too... though I usually throw an extra couple gallons of boiling water in with the fabric and dye. To get a long agitation time, I stop the machine and reset it to the beginning of the wash cycle.

My husband was amazed when we first got it, that his grottier shade-tree- mechanic t-shirts came clean within the first few washes, and even my gardening clothes looked quite a bit better (our soil is iron-rich red clay). I wasn't surprised, because I'd been using laundromat frontloaders for years before we were married. And clothes last longer, I use less power and water and detergent and additives, and thy fabrics come out of the machine much drier than that toploading menace to civilization ever produced.

Kay

No.... alas I missed that. We don't have cable available here. Newfoundlands are amazing dogs. As Lord Byron said, ..."all the virtues of man without his vices..."

All great news! And none too soon either given the age of my Maytag. Thanks again. :)

How enlightening! Now we should have a pool to see how long my 18 year old Maytag will last. Actually it could even be older. I just know we had it when we moved to Milwaukee in 1988. For once in my life, I will actually be prepared when a major appliance bites the dust! Thanks again. :)

Phae

Helen

Image grabbed from cnn.com the day after...doesn't do him justice, of course.

Helen

It's that way in Canada too, but I'm energy conscious anyway, so the frontloader works for me. I do all the rest of my washing in cold water, so a small load in a front loader at high temp won't kill anyone.

I'd love to go all Solar if I could. It's just too prohibitive.

I have a 10 yr old Mobile, new to us. The water pressure is so great here. I love a thundering shower!

Helen

What I like about mine is I only need one.

Helen

Yup - Duck brand duct tape! See:

Phae,

Are you *sure* of what you're saying? I really have a hard time believing that Beverly and 'Unknown' are one and the same.

Doreen in Alabama