Sspye, we received our set yesterday and have run the first load (after the initial empty wash recommended by the manufacturer), and I find it awfully noisy when it's getting the water and even just the overall noise during the wash. I used to have a Siemens UltraSense Plus until we moved, and that was so quiet you just didn't know it was running except during the spin cycle. As for the dryer, I can't get excited about a dryer. I've only ever needed the normal option, so I guess I don't take advantage of any special features.

My washer will do 2 rinses as default, or 3 if you select Water Plus. I've noticed that with some detergents you can get away with using just the 2 rinses and not have any soapy residue, but with the majority of other detergents you have to use 3 rinses otherwise laundry feels soapy and scratchy afterwards. BTW, I've found that using just the water plus function without the extra rinse - i.e. 2 high level rinses (the button can be programmed to add an extra rinse, do high level rinses, or both), that rinsing is improved on towel loads over 2 rinses at the standard level - however 3 is still the optimum. As the saying goes, three is the magic number :-). I have used 4 and 5 rinses before mainly in my older machines (my AEG could allow you to select up to 5, but it wouldn't spin until after the 2nd rinse), but have noticed no marked difference between 4 and 3 rinses no matter the load or detergent, whereas with some loads/detergents you can always notice the difference between 2 and 3 rinses. Some here argue that the standard rinse cycles on their machines rinse perfectly well, which I don't doubt. However in my opinion and through my experience rinse cycles do actually need water, and I've always noticed a considerable difference in performance between low and medium/high level rinses in terms of dog hair & lint removal. As well as the correct water level, another major factor in rinse cycles is how fast and how long the laundry is spun for. My particular machine spins laundry for 4 minutes at 1000rpm after the wash, and 2 minutes at 1000rpm after the rinses and the spins help no end too with the performance of rinsing. These high speed interim spins are important in today's front loaders, which only do a double rinse as standard versus triple or quadruple of yesteryear, and at a lower level. Jon

[This Appliances FAQ article was moved to the Laundry Room FAQ on 28 December 2004.]

[Information posted by Bob (Bob_F) on 9 July 2002 in the Appliances Forum "Hettie" threads - many thanks for the helpful tips, Bob!] ------------------------------ I don't know if I've seen a checklist, per se, but here's my list. This is from memory so I'll let the other Forum members fill in what I might miss. 1) As truck arrives, *run* out and inform the delivery team that the transit bolts are not to be removed until the washer is within 3 ft. of the install location. You have to do this quickly because these teams work fast. 2) If your washer is going to be on a pedestal, the transit bolts should not be removed until *after* it is mounted to the pedestal. BTW, if your machines are going on pedestals, be sure to ask for and retain the screw-in feet. (These come off when the pedestals are bolted in.) 3) Inform the delivery team that you want to retain the transit bolts. (Their install instructions apparently tell them to discard these.) 4) Do a walk around of both machines ("both", if you're getting a washer/dryer pair) to look for cosmetic damage. Do this before they are installed *and* after. My DuetHT seems to have suffered damage to a trim plate as it was installed. I didn't catch this until after they left. 5) Grab the plastic pouch that comes with the washer, tear it open, and fish out the plastic bolt hole covers. Hand these to the installers and ask that they pop them in after the transit bolts are removed. I totally forgot this one and it only occurred to me after reading a comment about it on this Forum. 6) The delivery guys are supposed to level the machines by adjusting the screw-in feet. I left a bubble level nearby in case they needed this. 7) Make sure the drain hose has been secured to the hot and cold water inlets with the supplied tie-strip so that it doesn't accidentally come out of the drain pipe. ------------------------------ [first added to Appliances FAQ: 1 October 2002] [moved to Laundry Room FAQ: 28 December 2004] [last edited: 28 December 2004]