I don't think it is misuse to put a pair of sweatpants in a load of laundry and expect it to come out un-destroyed. As I said, I am 41 years old. I have had agitator washers my entire life. I do virtually all of the laundry for our family of five. I have thrown my bras and everyone's underwear into the washer since I have been old enough to do laundry, and never have had a problem before. Our last washer was a typical agitator washer--a Kenmore super capacity that lasted 17 years of my marriage, and it never destroyed anything. Before that, plenty of other random machines--including the old Speed Queen that my mom had. She also never put anything in a delicate laundry bag. She is over 70. I can live with an accident of one bra getting eaten by the new machine. But I have had this machine for 2 weeks and it has destroyed 3 bras, runined some almost new Addidas track pants (pulled the string almost out, shredded a leg as the string wrapped around the agitator fins), faded some black clothing that had been unfaded for the past year (washed in my old machine), and almost ruined a set of beautiful high thread count sheets by excessive twisting and wrapping around the agitator. Since I have never had a problem with agitator washers before, I thought this machine would be similar. So far the results have been far from similar. When I brought it up to the sales person at Sears yesterday, he said that there was another woman in yesterday with the EXACT same problem, and he advised her to wash all of her clothes on the delicate cycle. I am not sure if that is a reasonable solution to this problem---because as I said I spent more money on this washer in hopes it would make laundry easier and more efficient to me. Call me crazy, but this does not seem very efficient at all.

OP, does the Oasis washer have a Soak cycle? My 1 1/2 year-old Maytag Bravos, which is similar to the Oasis (both are HE toploaders made by Whirlpool) has a Soak cycle, and I use it in a very similar way as you said you used your former washer, with slight variations. As you already know, you cannot change water temp once you've started a wash cycle. Is the Oasis hot water truly hot? On most current HE washers which do not have internal water heaters, 'hot' water is actually warm, especially during cold weather. Because the Oasis is a TL, you can stop the washer, open the lid, and use an aquarium thermometer to check the wash water temp. True hot water is 140 degrees or higher. True warm water is between 120-130 degrees. If your Oasis hot water is actually warm, you could use the Hot temp. If you prefer, you could use the Warm temp, and you might get an actual Cool water temp. Load the washer with the laundry you want to soak, add the detergent and Oxi, let the washer fill with water and let it agitate for a few minutes. Then, IF your washer has a Pause botton, you could Pause the washer and let the laundry soak 'til morning. Before I got my Bravos HE TL, I soaked laundry as you said. Now that I have this washer, I load the washer with the laundry I want to soak, add detergent (Oxi can also be used), let the washer fill with water and let it agitate for a few minutes. If I want to soak laundry overnight, I then pause the washer. The next morning, I press Start to let the Soak cycle finish. Then I use a regular cycle (I do not add more detergent, as there is no rinse on the Soak cycle) to wash the laundry. My washer's Soak cycle allows me to add laundry throughout the entire cycle -- I do have to press Pause to unlock the lid before adding more laundry. If your washer does not have a Soak cycle, you could use a regular cycle, let the laundry agitate for a few minutes, and be sure the "Add A Garment" light is still on when you hit Pause if you want to add more laundry after you've soaked those items. I hope this helps. Do you have the manual for that washer?

I don't have any experience with the Kenmore Elite frontloader series. When my last washer needed replacing (all my former washers had been conventional washers), I did a lot of research on both front- and toploading HE washers. The TL HE seemed to be most practical for my situation. I bought a Maytag Bravos MTW6700 in May of 2008. As you know, that model has been superseded by the models now available. As I'm sure you already know, it's an Energy Star HE top loader - no agitator, huge capacity (mine is 4.6 cu ft), very efficient when it comes to water and electricity. I've not had any problem at all with mold, mildew, odor, or vibration. I do leave the top open after I've put wet laundry into the dryer; it's only shut when laundry is in it. Because my washer is a top loader, it can go on either side of the dryer with no problem. It is unbelievably quiet; the only sound I ever hear is water going in or draining out. I like it that there is a chime (not a buzzer) which alerts me when the washer is finished. The chime can be set on LO, HI, or OFF. ALL my experiences thus far with this washer have been excellent - far beyond good. There haven't been any cons to this point. The settings are very easy to use. I like it that I can choose water temp (hot/cold - warm/warm - warm/cold - cool/cold - cold/cold), spin speed (HI, MED, or LO), stain (pre-wash) cycle, extra rinse if needed, fabric softener if desired. I also really the selection of wash cycles -- Bulky for comforters, Sheets for sheets, Whites (the only cycle which uses the bleach dispenser), Normal (I use it for everyday clothes), Jeans/T-shirts, Wrinkle Guard (my favorite for our really nice church/office clothes), Delicates (for fine washables), Hand Wash (I use it for sweaters and some "extra"-fine washables). I really like the Soak cycle; I always use it on my guys' really dirty whites. I also like having a Rinse/Spin cycle and Spin cycle only. I use them more than I thought I would. There is also a Quick Wash cycle my DD really likes, and a Clean Washer cycle. I like having detergent, bleach, and fabric softener dispensers. I use vinegar in the f/s dispenser when I wash towels, which helps to keep them soft and fluffy, as it strips all detergent out. (Fabric softener coats towels, which greatly reduces their absorbency.) I usually combine vinegar w/liquid fabric softener (about half and half) when washing clothes, sheets, and comforters. I can wash many more laundry items per load in this washer (at least twice as many, sometimes 3x as many) than in the traditional top loader I had, which had the largest capacity on the market at the time I bought it. I can wash a king-size comforter in my washer with no problem. Whereas I used to wash at least 7-10+ loads per week, now I wash 3-5 loads each week because I can wash so many things at once. This washer gets my laundry much cleaner than any other washer I've ever owned, and it is gentle, even with the fast spin. I do use lower spin speeds on the Wrinkle Guard cycle, delicates, and fine washables. When I wash sheets, they do not tangle as they used to do in my old washer w/agitator, and they dry much smoother, too. I haven't had any problem with my clothes wrinkling -- I do shake out clothes as I put them in the dryer, something I've always done. I don't use regular laundry detergent, for I've read over-sudsing can cause damage to HE machines, as well as invalidate a warranty. An online article compared using regular laundry detergent in an HE washer to using regular dish detergent in a dishwasher. Hope this helps. If you have any comments or further questions, let me know.

I've heard mention several times of Oasis lids rusting. That surely isn't right after just past a year. Wonder if there's a problem with defective porcelain? When the rust particles start dropping off into the washer and staining clothes, I guess they'd say that's still cosmetic? My mother's KitchenAid toploader had some rusting around the top opening bad enough to stain clothes, but it's 13 years old and kept in an "outdoor" area (not air conditioned). We took the cabinet off, buffed the rust down and painted it with an anti-rust paint. There's a PLUS for Fisher & Paykel washers with plastic lids and tops that can't rust. They have a new model on the market called AquaSmart which is their version of the Oasis. Some people have speculated and been leery that plastic doesn't hold up well ... but it does. The machine pictured below is 8 years old.