Well, 105 degrees is only lukewarm water at best, and 85 degree water is brackish (though we use that as a substitute for tap cold in the winter months so we don't wash in 40-degree water), therefore I am not surprised your cleaning results are not stellar. We regularly wash items with elastic at 140 degrees or so and do not experience any damage to the elastic, which I think starts to fail about 160.

We do use an enzyme-based detergent with zeolites and an oxygentating bleach, and get perfect results. We sometimes deal with difficult stains, and higher temp washes coupled with good detergent always do the trick.

I'd concentrate more on cleaning power in a detergent than supposed "eco" values, as many so-called "green" products are ineffective scams.

We just swipe our lint screen clean with our thumb after every few uses (we need to let it go a few times to build up enough lint), and clean the inner screen every month or two when enough fine lint appears to be able to clean.

Tracy,

What detergent are you now using, and what's your typical dosing? I agree with Spewey about not being too excited by the cleaning power of the "green" detergents I've tried.

And I concur with him, as well, about the temp range. I often wash things like colored all cotton Land's End or LL Bean turtlenecks in up to 140F water, with no damage to the elastics. OTOH, occasionally cheap elastic gives up the ghost at lower temps, so you can have problems.

For starters, try the higher temps, (170+) on a load of white undershirts, white towels and white sheets, if you've got 'em, and they are all cotton. The highest temps (190-205) I reserve for white table linens and household cleaning cloth type things, where fading or elastic damage are not issues.

How are you sorting: color, fabric content, or soil level?

Do you line dry?

Sorry for all the questions! Aside from not totally white socks and undershirts, what other things whould you like to work on?

Do you pretreat?

Molly~

I wouldn't say eco detergents are scams, but I will say that the necessity for being "green" limits them to a select group of ingredients which aren't as effective as their more synthetic counterparts in mainstream brands.

I have an Asko 6761, and get excellent cleaning with the following methods. I group all of my cottons by color -- darks, mediums, and whites. I wash the darks and mediums both at 120, but in separate loads. I wash the whites at 160 most of the time, but if I have especially dirty non-elastic items such as dog bedding or kitchen/garage towels, I will take those to 175 or 205.

For my clothing I typically use the Light cycle and get great results. Whites get Normal, and extra stained whites get the Heavy cycle.

I don't think there is any need to be washing your baby clothes on delicate and at 85 -- if they are cotton, you should treat them as other cotton clothes. The only thing I would be careful about with baby would be using a scent-free detergent and fabric softener combo. The 5 standard rinses of the Asko should remove any amount of detergent residue.

The next thing: what detergent do you use? You should definitely use one that has enzymes -- stay away from stuff like Charlie's Soap, Country Save, or the like, as those are primarily washing soda and ineffectual on anything more than light soil-based stains. Detergents such as Persil (expensive), Asko's ecoVantage (expensive), Tide HE, and Cheer HE have all gotten relatively good reviews here.

Next, do you know if you have hard or soft water? You can find out by looking up your water company online and checking out their annual water quality report which should be posted on their web site. Usually the hardness will be stated in "grains" on a scale, and your Asko manual will have good recommendations for dosages to use based on your water hardness. Do not use the dosages recommended on the detergent box unless you are using Asko's own ecoVantage, which has correct doses listed for front-load washers.

For your whites, make sure your detergent either has an oxygen bleach or you may wish to add one to the wash -- oxyclean is rather ineffectual as it is mostly sodium carbonate (washing soda). A better product would be Shout Oxypower, as it is almost 90% sodium percarbonate which is the active bleaching ingredient. Ecover's product is 100% sodium percarbonate. Use the same dose as your detergent. Note that Persil and ecoVantage both contain oxygen bleach, so you don't have to add it, and Tide HE contains a proprietary whitening agent.

Other than that, I would just try to pre-treat the tough stains with a good product -- I have positive experience with Shout products, but you can use a concentrated detergent mixture as well.

Using a front-loader isn't as difficult as it seems, but in order to get the best results from the minimum amounts of water and detergent you just have to have an understanding of the different variables involved and get them on your side.

One last note. "Gleaming whites" don't happen overnight, especially if they've grayed over time. It may take several washes in a front-loader, at high temperatures, to restore them to true white. Also, never use chlorine bleach in your Asko, as it is corrosive to certain metals which may be used in the machine. You shouldn't need it anyway with the right detergent/temperature combo.

Good luck, and report back your results! :)

I regularly wash most loads at 40*C/105*F and have no problems with cleaning at all, even with the grubbiest whites. High temperatures IMO only aid in sanitising rather than cleaning performance, at least with the detergents I have used over the years. Washing clothes at 40*C offers the best protection of coloureds, and guards against any possible fabric damage. It also offers many environmental advantages - heating water to 40*C only uses 0.4kWh of electricity versus 0.85kWh for a 60*C/105*F wash according to my Miele manual. 40*C is definitely not lukewarm as a poster stated above - it is warm enough to activate modern detergents and clean superbly, especially bearing in mind that enzymes are activated at 30*C in most modern detergents. I strictly reserve the higher temperatures only for sanitising/hygienic purposes (sheets, towels and tablelinen at 60*C, kitchen linen at 95*C) - for the type of soiling you have then you don't need to go above 40*C. I would suggest using a high quality detergent.

I would suggest perhaps running your white loads on a 50 or 60*C (120 or 140*F) cycle once to restore the whites, then continue using the more eco-, clothes-, and time-saving 40*C cycle.

We have a dog that sheds a lot of hair too, and find that we have no problems at all with cleaning the lint screen - we just wipe it clean after every load and have no problems.

Hope this helps :-)

Jon

Thanks for all of the responses so far! I obviously omitted some needed information, such as:
I am currently using Tide HE Free & Clear detergent, usually about 2 tablespoons (as according to the Asko manual) and was considering getting a different brand in powder form, but this was the first one I found at the closest store (that met my "free and clear" requirements) and I wanted to get washing. I know that my water here (Florida) is not great and am going to look into the water softener companies, but I also know that I don't have a problem with getting a lather when I soap up my hands or anything else which I think is a good sign of the water being too hard. There is definitely a lot of sulfur in the water here and it's treated with a lot of chlorine.
I've checked my water company's web site and I can't find it listed anywhere the hardness of the water.

In response to Molly's questions, I usually sort my laundry based on color: whites, lights and darks. And then my daughter's clothes, which I will now start washing in the normal cycle at a higher temperature. As I mentioned, neither I or my husband are really soiling the clothes aside from the occasional spill at a meal -- correction, my puppy loves to dig in the backyard and I am more frequently getting dirty or muddy snout marks on my pants and sometimes my shirts! Most of my daughter's stains are peanut butter and jelly remnants or the killer blueberry stains! I don't usually pretreat, unless there is something that I'm really worried about coming out, but will be soon as I am due with another child soon and I'm sure that there will be many an "accident" to remove from the clothes.

I'm not quite sure what "oxygenating bleach" is. It is obvisously different from chlorine bleach, but if I'm trying to avoid additional chemicals in my life, how does this rank? I'm at a crossroads where I'd like to be more eco- and health friendly, but am concerned with how clean these products are really getting my home. I'm also considering a steam type cleaner, but that's for another forum! ; )

As for my lint screen issues, I thought my lint screen was clean until I had problems with the delicate drying cycle (since I was washing on delicate, why not dry on it too?). I would have to repeat the cycle 2 and 3 times to get the clothes dry. And I understand the moisture sensor and keeping clothes "moist", but these were downright damp. When I called Asko service to ask about it, I was told that since the other cycles were drying fine that this was a function of the product and that they wouldn't send someone out to service. Which ticked me off good, but that's also another story for another forum. In short, I did get a service call and the technician looked at my clean lint screen and ran it under the water and the water pooled in it and he told me that it's a fine mesh and sometimes things get blocked in there so occasionally I should take a fine brush and delicately clean out the screen. Everytime I use the dryer I clean the lint screen and there is always dog hair in the mix, so I figured that that could be what is clogging the screen.
Tracy

Tracy,

First, regarding lint screen. Wait a sec go back ... Do you have a condensing dryer or regular exterior exhausting one? If it's a condensing one, have you cleaned the condenser plates?

Ok, back to lint screen, yes the Asko lint screen can get a little closed up. The cure is to wash it and scrub gently with a soft brush. Asko told me it was because of fabric softener, which is hoot, because I don't ever use that, but I did find washing it cleaned it and it dried better after that. I use any old dish detergent, or left over liquid clothes detergent, and lots of water. Actually I have two screens, so if one clogs, I can just exchange it for the other and carry on drying, without taking the time to attend to the screen. I wash/exchange them maybe 3 or 4 times a year. Even though I wash way more than most people, I only use the dryer to completely dry things for a few months in the winter. I do use the dryer, for a few minutes for most every load, year round, before I hang stuff out. You might find it useful to have a second screen. I don't recall what they cost; probably seems like a lot, for what it is, but what can you do?

I find the Asko is not so great at low temp drying/ or moist settings - does it, but not with much precision, or alacrity. My machine is much older than yours, so perhaps there's no similarity. If I relied on it for more than the tiny fraction of drying that I do, I would have replaced it by now.

Oxygen bleaches are things like OXY booster, or Vivid or Clorox II color safe bleaches. They rely on chemicals other than sodium hypochlorite (Clorox): which can range from things like hydrogen peroxide, sodium perborate, sodium percarbonate. They provide some soil removal, some color brightening, etc. without the potentially fabric damaging aspects of regular Clorox. Basically they "eat" (oxidize) some soils without going on to "eat" the fabric, as well. They don't kills germs as effectively, however. But for most ordinary laundry, the washing, agitation, drying etc. does adequate "sanitization" of laundry (with or without bleaches). If you're dealing with bio-hazards, then you'd need Clorox (at a minimum). But for regular illness, colds, flu, "ordinary" diarrhea, impetigo, even post surgery drainage, simple washing does a fine job. Thank God we don't have to deal with things like typhoid, small-pox, ebola, etc.!

I keep both kinds of bleach on hand, but rarely use them. If I got ground-in dirt or grass stains on colored items, I might use an oxy product, but I'd be more likely to use a pretreat of Shout, or even a paste of my laundry detergent.

If I felt I needed a Clorox bleaching (white items) I would do that in my sink, so I could control, and be ready to neutralize it when I had achieved the cleaning I wanted. I wouldn't hesitate to add Clorox to my washer, but I don't find the occasion to do so very often.

From reading here on the forum, I think I'm unusual because I do pretreat before I wash something, and make sure it's shifting before starting the cycle. I figure the machine is good at washing, but it can't possibly tell if a particular stain is gone in every case. Since washing can sometimes set in a stain, I make sure that any stain (as opposed to just regular soil) is gone before I wash it. I like to keep my stuff looking nice, and hate to get new stuff, so I don't mind taking the extra trouble.

I don't think this means I don't get a good wash from my FLs, I do. I just don't expect miracles. I think it's too bad that some people expect (and understandably, too, with things called "stain-treat" cycles) that a machine can selectively remove all stains. In my experience, that simply is not so.

I am running out of time at the moment, but want to add to two things: you might find regular Cheer Free powder worth experimenting with (I don't use it, but Cimberlie has posted here about using it satisfactorily, as she is a laundry products expert)and regarding the steam cleaner: I have one, (Ladybug) and though I like it, and find some uses for it, it doesn't work quite like the commercials show. It certainly is not a substitute for all household chemicals. That's baloney. It's useful for oven cleaning, wall washing, and one or two other things (wall paper removal). As for the rest of the so-called uses: carpet and upholstery cleaning, counter cleaning, "disinfecting" your toilet and toothbrush. Not in this world! Plus it is very slow, and often you still have to physically remove to dirt anyway (as in wipe it up.) I prefer soap (detergent) and hot water, for most of these chores.
I'll try to get back and comment on your other questions, as soon as possible.

HTH-

Molly~

Quickly, I have a T761 dryer and it also doesn't dry exceedingly well on the "low" setting -- the clothes are always moist, even on the "extra dry" setting, but I think that's by design. I think the "low" setting is designed for delicate items, which are fairly thin, and for those items the "low" setting seems to work just fine. For sturdier fabrics, you have to run it twice on "low" to get them dry.

"oxy" bleaches are OxyClean, Shout OxyPower, Borax, and the like. They are based on either sodium percarbonate or sodium perborate which release oxygen and oxydize the stain into obvlivion. They are earth friendly, natural, and a good choice for someone who wants to go the eco route.

As far as water hardness, if you aren't suffering from hard water stains on your shower heads, fixtures, and hand washed dishes, then I wouldn't worry about it -- if you have hard water, it's fairly obvious because anything you let air dry will have white residue.

Tide HE is a good detergent -- it's fairly strong -- so I think you're okay in that department. I would bump up the termperatures on your laundry and see how that goes, and for really soiled laundry you may want to do a pre-soak.

I think I'm out of ideas here... anyone else?

The software on most dryers it programmed to leave more residual moisture in the load if a delicate cycle is used, so there is less risk of shrinking delicate fibers. Also, the cool-down period is extended (on most dryers) to reduce wrinkling.

BTW I have a Kärcher steam cleaner (with the iron accessory). ItÂs very versatile but you have to experiment a little bit to maximize its versatility.

Another BTW: Tracy, have you already read the FAQ section? There are some useful tips / interesting information, too.

Borax is hardly earth friendly, as boron is very toxic to many plants and can build up in the soil. The other oxygenating bleaches are far more benign than liquid chlorine bleach, as well as gentler on fabrics. Persil, which many of use, contains oxygenating bleach (sodium percarbonate, replacing sodium perborate in the older formulae).

Contrary to the experience of some here, we do find from our own repeated experience that the hottest temps do aid in cleaning the most stubborn stains, such as restoring old dingy fabrics. They are also valuable, as noted, for sanitizing fabrics.

Persil, ecoVantage, Sears HE, Seventh Generation, Bi-O-Kleen, and I'm sure others contain color-safe oxygen bleach. Persil and ecoVantage are rather expensive, and Bi-O-Kleen Premium contains many of the same ingredients (zeolytes, enzymes, oxygen bleach) in a natural and sensitive forumula for a lot less money ($10 per 5lb. box). I suspect it cleans just as well as the more expensive ones.

You can find both regular and premium Bi-O-Kleen laundry powders at drugstore.com. The regular laundry powder has received some amazing customer reviews, and the premium powder is supposed to be even better. I would check it out if you haven't already, as this product is totally natural and might represent the best cleaning power you can get in a green product.

housemama22,

How are you doing with your cleaning issues -- anything new to report?

It's still a myster...

LOL

Sorry sshrivastava, I have been checking back for responses on another post in this forum, but not this one.

Thanks for your tips. I have just received my box of Bi-O-Kleen over the weekend and have done maybe 4 loads of laundry so far. My problem now is that the detergent doesn't completely rinse out of the dispenser and the Asko manual doesn't recommend that you use any detergent that doesn't completely rinse out. So I posted a question and someone responded about residual moisture in the drawer and drying it out before putting in the powder. I still have some clumpy powder, but it seems to be getting less.

I have increased the temperature for my washes and now wash my daughter's clothes on the normal cycle at 120 degrees and mine and my husbands clothes at 140. The towels and sheets usually get a 160 or 175 degree washing. There aren't a lot of stains on the adult clothes (colors anyway) to notice a huge difference, so I'm really waiting to see how the whites come out after a couple of washes with the Bi-O-Kleen premium!

Thanks for all of your tips!

Good luck, I look forward to any opinions you have on Bi-O-Kleen's ability to clean your clothes -- always on the lookout for good eco-friendly products!

:)

Help from anyone...
I recently purchased the ASKO W6461 and T761. These are the first washer and dryers I have ever purchased. Reading these message boards, I am not extremely concerned with their performance and worried these lemons are going to fail me. Any tips to prevent this or am I doomed? Thanks!

Sue

suziesuesue, I've answered your question in another thread -- you only need to post once, no need to post the same question in multiple threads.

Since this thread is about cleaning tips, I will say that Bi-O-Kleen is one of the best detergents I've ever used in my Asko. It beats Persil, EcoVantage, and Tide HE hands down. It's environmentally friendly, concentrated, and ships in a small recycled container. I'm very happy with this product, and it's currently on sale at drugstore.com for less than $9. It sells elsewhere for $12 per box, so this is a great price.

If you have any questions regarding cleaning, this is the place to come!

Sue,

I hope it will make you feel better to hear that I have been using my Asko machines since 1992 with very few problems - and I do a great deal more laundry than most households (30-40 loads per week, though this is shared by two machines.) I really give all my machines a tough workout.

Remember one tends to read here about the machines that fail more than the machines that perform without issues; that's just the nature of these public boards.

Molly~

Hi,

Can anyone give me any tips by chance on how to prevent jeans from coming out of my W641 so wrinkled from the spin cycle that it is a real pain over the way it would come out of a top loader? What am I doing wrong? How to prevent Jeans and cotton cloths from being so wrinkled. I have a Danby dryer and set that to damp auto dry setting and no matter what it is wrinkled??

Please help,

Thanks,