Hi-- Let me start by saying that I do not own a HE Top Loader washer, only front loaders. I would never own a HE top loader. However, I do know quite a bit about laundry and washers. All HE washers, top and front loading, have long cycle times. The final spins are much higher, and the loads they can handle are much larger than the old school top loader. Higher spins means less dry time, which cuts some of the time off per load. Drying times should not ever exceed an hour, unless the load is huge and heavy. In all honesty, with the newer washers, you just cannot wait a week, and plan to do a ton of wash in one day. A load here, a load there works best for these washers. As for the mattress pads....I am assuming they are restricted because they are not absorbent, and can unbalance easily. In my opinion, you could wash those. HOWEVER, I would highly recommend you get to know this washer first. Delicate cycle would probably be best, even though it will probably will not let you wash in hot, and the spin speed would be slower. After that cycle completes, you can always run a separate spin cycle to get all the water out for faster drying. Speed Queen washers are good washers. However, they are basic, and do not have the capacity that your HE washer has. You will still end up washing more loads with short wash times, versus larger loads and longer cycle times. The only brand washer that has the traditional top loader cycle times are the Speed Queen, the rest of the manufacturers have gone the high efficiency route, and the times have been extended. Laundry takes longer to get clean with reduced water and larger load capacity. The HE TL has the potential to wash very well, IF you follow the instruction manual's recommendation for cycles and use a good detergent. Try not to be so discouraged from the beginning. If you hate it after trying it out, exchange it within a reasonable amount of time. Laundry is a big job for most families, and an expensive investment these days. In my opinion, you should only use a washer you love, making laundry less of a chore. I hope this helps!!

If you like flannel but are frustrated with the pilling you might consider LLBean. This is such a great store that if after you use them for a few months and they pill they will take them back. True. They have a policy from 1920 or something. My mother is an LLBean fanatic. I have LLbean flannel sheets and I love them. They are 4 years old. No pilling. Gosh, I need to get new ones. I did buy the jersey sheet from JCP for my son's room. I do not like them. He loves them but the sheets seem to be stretchy. They have not retained their shape. JCP does make great products to check them out and see. I just wanted to mention that there are companies that make good flannel sheets. ~boxerpups

One of my sisters washes everything in cold water for years. Her old-style (1984) Maytag toploader carried a smutzy odor. She was always loaded-up on dryer sheets and highly-scented detergents. I couldn't convince her to at least use warm because "our t-shirts will shrink" she said. They took the grandmother's machines when granny died, being some years newer. The bro-in-law connected them up and got the hot/cold hoses reversed ... so they were washing (and rinsing) in HOT for several weeks without realizing it. The washer would beep an error code every time they ran it for not getting cold water but they thought the beeping was normal behavior, until they brought it to my attention and I figured out/explained the problem. No mention that anything had shrunk in the interim ... Happenstance came along and now they have a frontloader, given to them by friends (after a catastrophic failure due to bad usage habits), and which I completely disassembled and repaired last February. I gave sister instructions to run hot and/or Sanitary cycles on a regular basis, and the machine's cleaning cycle (which heats to 130°F) monthly. She's not doing any of that. Last time I was there, the machine had slime and mold around the door seal and an odor, developed in 7 months after I had it refurbed to pristine condition. Go figure. Toploader, cold washing, smutz. Frontloader, cold washing, smutz.

I am looking for advice on the colour and type of stain/paint to use on our new exterior tongue and groove clear cedar ceiling. The natural colour does not work with our choice of new siding. I'd like it to be lighter in colour - on the greige side, I think...? Or white washed? Any special instructions for white washing tongue and groove cedar that is already installed?