Sanitize or Allergene cycle for sheets and towels. Hot/boiling water works; I'll only consider washers with an onboard heater. Double and triple rinse; I won't buy a washer without multiple rinse options. Get a washer with super high spin speeds to extract as much soapy water as possible with each rinse. The drive toward energy savings, specifically less water and cold temps, has resulted in filthy laundry with detergent residue. If the detergent were really being rinsed out with just the standard cold wash, one rinse cycles, why would so many people need "Free and Clear" detergents? I actually read advice online that said when your towels start to smell bad, you know it's time to replace them. Huh? Send them through the sanitize cycle with a commercial laundry detergent instead. If washers have gotten so energy efficient that we're throwing out perfectly good towels, you have to wonder just how much eco-savings we've achieved.

I have the Maytag MAH2400AWW washer (2.4 Cu.Ft.) and the companion MDE2400AYW dryer in a stacked configuration. After about six months, I am very happy with the machines as they have been flawless. The size is adequate for a family of three. The dryer, being on the small size takes longer to dry than a larger machine. There just isn't the room in the drum for good tumbling. I often split the wash load into two dryer loads (towels & clothes that tend to wrinkle). This actually saves total drying time. You save on detergent with this washer too. I use either All Small & Mighty HE or Wisk Dual Action HE. (Same size bottle, 32 Loads) The "normal" amount is just right. I use 1/2 scoop of Oxy Clean product too. I imagine you would have to use more in a larger machine. I did look at other compacts such as Whirlpool (no bleach compartment) and the 3.1 capacity Kenmore-GE-Frigidaire machines but I felt that the Maytag had the most features and appeared to be of higher quality. Also, It has been said that the Maytag is actually made by Samsung. The small imports were just too expensive. I purchased them from HOME DEPOT. They had the best price around. Here's a link to Maytag. http://www.maytag.com/mths/products/product.jsp?model=MAH2400AWW&cs=0amp;BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

newmama, I own a Maytag Bravos washer. It is the best washer I've ever owned and I highly recommend it. It rinses all my laundry very well. You could add an extra rinse (an option on the Bravos) if you wanted to be sure the diapers were rinsed well. Whether you use an extra rinse or not, using white vinegar in the final rinse is a wonderful way to be sure all detergent is fully rinsed out of laundry. I would recommend you get a washer with an internal water heater, regardless of what washer you buy, so that you can be sure the water is hot enough to sanitize the diapers. I used cloth diapers, and this is what I did to make laundering them quick and easy: I used a 5-gallon diaper pail for soaking them between washings. I filled it up with hot water, 1 cup borax, and 1/2 cup Clorox, stirring well to dissolve. When I took off a soiled diaper, I dumped the poop in the toilet and put the diaper in the soak pail. When I took off a wet diaper, I put it in the soak pail. When the pail was full and/or I was low on diapers, I dumped the whole thing, diapers and soak water, into the washer and used the Spin cycle only to drain the water out. I washed the diapers with hot water and Ivory Snow (I don't know if that's available anymore). I used white vinegar in the final rinse to ensure there was no detergent residue. (This was recommended by a nurse even for a traditional washer w/agitator.) 1 cup of white vinegar in a traditional washer and 1/2 cup of vinegar in an HE washer would be sufficient. The diapers always came out of the dryer very soft and fluffy -- no vinegar odor at all. Hope this helps! :-)

The Kenmore had a bad bearing..about $400 but the store had it hauled off..bummer. I am getting another Speed Queen ...a model TR5000 with water levels you can set..They hadn't informed me of the auto setting with rinses being cold water. I have my water heater set pretty hi. I WILL get this washer to do what I want..not what it wants..Cancel the wash and reset so I can get it to agitate several times..some fiddling cancels the warranty..but since the machine is supposed to last 20 years..maybe a chance I will take. I can handle machines and can do major repairs though as I said I've done plenty this life time..I'm 68. It is pretty pathetic that machines are no longer made to suit our needs. And that our government has become like a helicopter parent..Some idiot blows it and the rest of us suffer. Front loaders are more dangerous than top loaders anyhow. Most of the accidents I found were do to parents not watching their kids. One was where a washer fell on a kid?? WTF how the hell does that happen? Or parents set a baby in a carrier on top of the washer and the kid fell off. And don't get me started on refrigerators ok then flat screen tv's..seems not much is made to last anymore..try finding towels or sheets that last 20 years anymore..just a crabby old woman complaining about how it used to be!! hahaha