There will never be a winner in the front vs top load wars. There will be peace in the Middle East and the Vikings will win the Super Bowl long before people agree on them. And there will be frost warnings in hell before some folks will admit that their machine is not necessarily the perfect one for me. I gave up hoping for that resolution long ago. One thing that always happens is someone will come up with exaggerations either way. I stand by my opinion and admit it's an opinion, that a PROPERLY USED top loader will get your clothes clean as will a PROPERLY USED front loader. Reminds me of my Dad who fought getting a color tv. "I'd rather watch a GOOD black & white than a BAD color tv!" I'd always respond that I'd rather watch a GOOD COLOR tv than a BAD black & white! There seems to always be some similar theories thrown out. There's differences in using the two technologies it seems. It also sesms that sometimes someone can legitimately have trouble with a type of machine and find it's not for them. Often when people change technology they learn a lot more about washing clothes too. If they took that knowledge back to the prior technology, I'd suspect a dramatic improvement. Allergies and sensitivities are personal things. I get a kick out of seeing people who could wear fiberglass insulation for underwear who come out swinging when someone mentions that they're having trouble or concerns with rinsing. When you don't have a skin sensitivity, you wouldn't know. And if you or I don't have the same sensitivities it's back to an apples vs oranges comparison. I'm sensitive to a lot of detergents. I found a brand that was OK for 2-1/2 bottles worth, then all of a sudden I itched like crazy from it. Tried a brand that bothered me 20 years ago but it doesn't bother me now. Extra rinses can help with sensitivities but not always. And btw, my rinse water goes clear when I dose the load properly, (and when I don't, I'm not so arrogant as to blame the machine, or worse, the DETERGENT! LOL) and I have one of those dreaded top loaders that strike fear into the hearts of so many. Again, I laugh when people overdose on a top load, go to a front load, decrease the doseage after a few suds locks then talk about how the top load never rinsed well! LOL Machines vary, even the same model. Water varies, fabric varies, allergies vary and more. My suggestion is to be sure that whatever machine you get has at least one extra rinse available for you, if for no other reason than your own peace of mind. And good luck being able to separate speculation, theory, conjecture and personal bias from fact. I do understand your frustration. I'm experiencing some myself.

I have a LG waveforce washer which is based on the GE harmony, both made by LG. Ive had it for just over a month, though I havent experienced dry clothes or excesive sudsing in my machine (rock hard Water here) I can tell you this much. Your machine senses the load by how much resistance there is when it first starts and the impeller moves back and forth. The more resistance, them more water it will use to fill the load. I can and have used my cotton/normal cycle for sheets, but I do perfer to use my Bulky/beding cycle for it. It uses more water, and the sheets move around more "freely" As far as your water being soft, yes keep decreasing the detergent amount till you get the suds under control or changed detergents. I know if I add STTP to my wash, I can turn out some major suds, at least when I had a FL, making cool whip was not a problem LOL. Currently I can use Regular Tide, not HE lavender scent with no sudsing issue. Im sure my rock hard water has much to do with that. Plus al of tide Normal detergents do have a suds surpressor in them as stated on the tide website. I am more on a powder kick these days, it smells better and seems to work the same. I mainly use Tide and gain HE Recently Tried the new Wisk HE, works as good, smells decent, not too heavy and cheaper too. Persil rules though for cleaning performance and a truely clean rinse, but you gotta pay for it, not everyone cup of tea. I hope this helps you out some and keep us posted

Hi: I am new here and new to the FL world as well. I purchased a Frigidaire FL machine a few months ago and have been experimenting with several detergents. First I tried All HE liquid, the regular version, not the 3X. It worked pretty well, but I did see some suds running down the inside of the window during both the wash and the rinse cycles. Then I tried Tide HE powder. It cleaned very well, but I found it to be very sudsy. Even with half the normal dose (half to the number 1 line on the scoop), I almost always found a suds pouf on the inside of the window when the wash was done, and sometimes streams of suds would run down the window during the spins. Next was Method HE liquid. It worked well and didnÂt make many suds, but even a scant half-capful (and the cap is tiny) left a strong scent in the clothes. Finally, I tried the Sears Ultra Plus powder that comes in the bucket. I bought the Oxi Clean version because that had the best rating among the Sears detergents in Consumer Reports. I love it! It makes hardly any suds, rinses clean, and leaves no scent in the clothes. Plus, its cleaning power is superb. I have a jacket that is more than a few years old that has had a persistent ring-around-the-collar problem. I have pretreated and washed that thing many times, and the ring has never completely come out. But once through the Frigidaire with the Ultra Plus and no pretreating, it was gone! Probably a combination of the FL machine and the detergent, but I was amazed. As you can tell, I am now a Sears detergent fan. Thanks.

I forgot to answer the original question, now that I'm the owner of a SQ, for whites, bedding and towels I have to say Tide Professional with Oxi for whites, and Mexican Ariel with Downy for colours, darks get powder Cheer...however I'm not loyal to any brand so sometimes I use whatever I'm in the mood for out of my stash, I have found STPP will make almost any detergent clean well. When I first got the SQ I thought it might kick the suds up, but I find that not to be the case, expecially compared to my old Roper (whirlpool) direct drive which could kick up a suds cake in short order.