Thank-you, AKchicago, for actual information. I don't mind being disagreed with or set right, just don't find name calling particularly useful. I only piped up to begin with because I've never suffered from the bugaboos that seem to be attributed to top loaders and know that there are some reasons that some people might prefer them. I think the newer front loaders must be more sophisticated than any I've used myself, however. What you've said about the newer top loaders having the function designed out of them makes sense, as well. Mine is nine years old. What I said about ease on the back was for a machine that's the same height--work surface height--as mine. I use the top of my washer and a front loader would have to be raised. Also I'm a fiber artist, so I have other reasons for preferring a top loader, but that's a whole other story that's not applicable to this forum. For the record, I don't get clothes wound around the agitator or a tug of war (I think my machine is self-balancing or something), I have very old, much washed clothes that don't show the kind of overall wear that you're talking about (as opposed to elbow wear, and the like). And my clothes come very clean without fuss. I've had occasion to run clothes through on rinse only and don't get clouds or suds from detergent left in the cloth. This is why I've been so bemused!! My one problem--the reason I started investigating the "cleaner clothes" idea, and front loaders in general--has been hand towels that seem to get gunky with hand soap, but that's the mild detergent not the machine. When I did them during the remodel in my mother's top loader, using her supermarket powder (Tide? All? Something that hurts my skin to touch it...) they came out just fine. So now I add a little Oxyclean to the towels and they're nice and white. I don't use much detergent. I (and some of the friends in the survey) use 7th Generation free and clear, which is the same stuff for either kind of machine. I just checked the label. I use approx. their recommendation for HE (approx. because I'm not compulsive about the measure). It sounds like you would also use less detergent in your Miele ("smaller and smaller amounts"), and Petra said so too, so that does explain the discrepancy in my little survey--the others were probably just using the recommended amount, when, with all else equal, they could have used less. Questions: I know there are some European models (and maybe others as well) that let you set the water temperature by number and heat their own water. That's a definite plus! Is that a normal feature in the ones they sell here? Can you also set the water quantity for more than the sensor thinks is optimum?

I remember when I first got my FL I thought at first that the clothes were just "spinning" back and forth and would not get clean. However upon further inspection you notice as they get wet they slosh and fall. FL's dont just fill with water and start washing (like traditional TL's), they fill gradually. My FL (LG) will start a normal cycle at 55mins, by 48mins it is completely wet and sloshing pretty good. There have been some times early on where I put TOO much clothes in and even fully wet they werent sloshing, they were just turning with the drum which mean you will not be getting a complete clean load. Be careful not to overload. I have had my set for 3yrs now, best move I ever made. I STILL CANNOT GET OVER THE SMALL AMOUNT OF WATER!! (smile) I use maybe a tablespoon and a half of detergent, I switched to powder about a year ago and was using too much and started to notice a slight smell after closing the door even after 3 days of leaving the door open, cut back on my powder amount and within two weeks the smell was gone. Lesson learned. I have for the most part always used GAIN, even when I had a TL. Because of the high water extraction FL clothes coming out of the washer dont have that highly perfumed smell you may be accustomed to in TL's. They do smell clean and airy though. I noticed even when I used liquid FS (fabric softner) in the wash that the smell is almost non-existent coming out of washer. Matching dryer is good/OK. HUGE capacity which IMHO can cause some problems...at least for me. I have found that with the larger capacity some clothes tend to get lost in bigger clothes i.e. bath clothes, or hand towels in sheets and dont get dried. Did not have this problem with smaller capacity dryers as I suspect they dont have as much room to tumble. It is a trivial issue for me though and would not trade bigger capacity for smaller. This is the first dryer I've owned that has sensors to detect drying which can be a problem if you use FS sheets. Early on I noticed my clothes were not drying, I called LG thinking there was an issue w/my dryer, they gave me a quick fix if you use FS sheets (below). I use the Bounce stick that adheres to the drum of the dryer and love it, I just have to after 5 or so loads clean the sensors w/alcohol. It takes all of 20 seconds and SHAZAM!!! all is well!! ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!

I have had the Samsungs with the VRT now for 2 1/2 months and love them. Mine are on the first floor, but the only time I hear it is when if fills with cold water (for some reason I don't hear the hot water going in). Even on the highest spin speed I NEVER hear it spinning. I think these were designed specifically for 2nd floor laundry rooms. I had Maytag Neptunes before these and it thumped loudly when it was trying to balance itself. Oh, and my Samsungs are on pedestals which usually makes the vibration worse, but as I said these are way quieter than my Maytags which were not on pedestals. If I was concerned about the vibration I would have ceramic tile put in the laundry room which would limit the vibration. My sister has her laundry on the 2nd floor with ceramic tile which slopes toward a drain in case her machine would flood. Very smart idea by whoever built that house. PS - mine are the 328 Samsung models. Do a search on the laundry forum and you will get lots of responses!

I'm glad that so many of you have gad success with your front loaders. And, I fully agree, it's important to follow the manufacture's care instructions; which I always do with all appliances. I have four children and as a result, I wash frequently. All white are washed in hot water with bleach. I'm am fastidious as well and my laundry never sits in the washer or dryer. Everything is washed, dried, folded and back where it belongs within a couple of hours of entering the process. This is my experience and I've had several friends with front loaders who also have the same issues. I can not speak for their process, but I know it's been an issue for them as well. Another friend just got rid of her front loader and went back to a top loader because of the issue.