Suburbanmd, I actually did run his shirt through 3 sanitize cycles, so maybe it is the soap. Strange thing, on the 10 year old now broken machine, I only used warm/cold setting & FS. Perhaps the FS was masking the smell. Also, we have a recirculating hot water pump that was running, so basically it has instant hot water. Plus, the utility room is the first stop in the hot water loop. I can also verify this, as I just could not resist the temptation to put my hand in the flow of the water to test its temp. I have a load of linens to do tonight or tomorrow that I will do with the Kirkland HE liquid I have on hand and just let the machine do its thing as you say. The linens are not really that soiled, just one night stay by a guest, but still it will be interesting to see how it does and to check the soap level. Janet, it is ironic you mention your model number, as when the delivery folks first delivered my machine and placed it, husband looked at it and said it was not the right one. Turns out it was the WM2016CW! What I do not understand is why of all the models they took the water plus feature out of my chosen model. Do you find that the towels are actually in any water in the drum or have they absorbed it all? Mine has so very little you have to hunt for it and move them over just to find the frog puddle. Maybe this is quite normal for FL machines and being my first, I am used to the concept of water in a wash. I am still concerned about how it will do on the dog blankets and dog hair. How can it rinse the hair out when there is hardly any water? Only trial will tell. Oh, and yesterday it started leaking slightly from the front left hand corner! I wiped up water several times including when I first got up, and no, the only high water time was when it did the error code while wildly filling. I have read that over sudsing can cause leaks, so maybe this high water level reached that point? Then again, it might be something else. Do any of the FL machines actually spray the clothes to rinse them while they are spinning, much like the TL do? It seems like this would add a lot to rinsing the clothes. Thanks, Schutzhund

A 3.5 won't cut it? A 3.5 will do fine for a family of six. The manufacturers have led us to believe that we have to have the biggest of everything. But seriously, what is a half cubic foot? Yeah, it may give you a little bit more room for movement of the clothes, but it's not going to make a *huge* difference in the amount of laundry you can fit into the washer. I remember when I got into the appliance biz a few years ago, the Whirlpool Duet was all the rage with a 3.7 cf drum. It was huge! Now they tout a 4.4 cf drum, and people think a 3.5 or 3.7 cf frontloader is too small! Anyway, I did some looking at partstore.com, comparing parts between the WTW58ESVW (4.0) and the WTW5300VW (3.5). The models share the exact same tub and outer wash basket. The difference is in the agitator as there is a different part for each. So I would believe housefairy is correct; the difference is in the agitator. Here is a link that might be useful: Post about TL washer capacity

Be careful though, sewer is normally higher than the water costs. I just opened my current water bill a few minutes ago and I'm paying $0.00155 per gallon of water. So let's see, if I save 25 gallons per load it would be less than 3.9¢ per load which would mean I'd need to do 11,045 loads to pay for the pedestals... which would happen in about 92 years by my calculations. :) So, I guess it's back to my other point, that the "savings" is a perk, not a rationale for most people. Good grief if I were paying $500/mo for water, I'd spend a few thousand and put in a well! Like I said, bringing up FL v. TL is Pandora's box. You'll get agreement on abortion, politics, religion and the Middle East before gaining a consensus on a washing machine. I figure it this way, if you are in love with a front loader, get one. If you prefer a topper, get one. Use a washboard if you like. Just be fair and straightforward about it when people ask for advice. Nuff said. No lecture or offense intended. My best advice for people in the market: Do some planning and make a list of your needs, use, wants and budget. Consider space needs, physical limitations if any or other unique things to your situation. For some people with vision impairment the dials or readouts could make a difference. Then do some reasearch, and you should be able to find something to fit your needs. Then hopefully you'll have good reliable service out of it too. There's clearly no one machine that is perfect for everyone. It'd be nice if people could at least agree on that. I'm still open to either type. There's pros and cons to each and right now I can't say for sure which I'll buy when the time comes. I just like to think I'm educating myself to look at the big picture instead of just a name or color of the machine. Hopefully it'll be another 30 years before I have to decide!

As long as they can slosh around in there when wet, you're fine. Many (most?) fabrics wet down and slosh around just fine. Others -- in my case some sleeping bags and some mattress pads -- are made of materials that won't do that. They maintain their loft even when wet. Those I have to either send out or find a big machine at a laundromat. For sheets, towels, and the usual stuff that I know behave "normally" when wet, I'll put them in loosely (when dry) all the way up. When wet, these loads appear about 1/2 - 2/3 of the way up the window and can be clearly seen to slosh and tumble as they need to. My Duet is mfg. nominal 3.8cf which they translates to about 18 lbs dry. I don't care about those specs and neither should you. The important thing is that the load wets down and sloshes around as it needs to. I have "educated" numerous friends and neighbors about this simple concept over the years. Some people seem not to get it and cram their FL's and TL's as if there was a contest going on and then can't figure out why their machines don't work. One told me they did that "because they didn't have time to do two loads." It's just a machine. It works the way it works. If it's over-stuffed, it can't. Not rocket science. A little common sense about it is all that's needed. My personal favorite was a young bride who crammed her TL full to the top, pressed it all down and added more. She then put three cups of detergent on top to handle the huge load. What a mess that was.