Here is a trick to get as hot as possible wash for your whites if your water heater is a distance away from your front load washer without an internal heater. Just purge the water line. A similar principle as running your kitchen faucet a minute on hot before running the dishwasher. With the washing machine empty, start it on a hot wash and let water enter the tub until the window steams a bit (it takes mine about 20-30 seconds.) Stop the machine and cancel the cycle. Start it again set at "drain and spin," and cancel it as soon as the tub drains. Then load the machine with clothes, reset for hot wash and you are set. This whole little process takes about one minute and I pretreat any stains on the clothes while I do it, so no time wasted. And you get a piping hot wash for whites. A heater in a washer can heat the water much hotter than what is delivered by the water heater, good for sanitizing laundry. But I wouldn't advise passing up a good deal on a machine without a heater just to get a true hot wash for a load of whites when you can this.

Yes, these washing machines are a Total JOKE! Your clothes smell because there is not an adequate amount of water. Clothing is NOT SUBMERGED in soapy water. Instead, they are splashed with a puddle of water that supposedly cleans them. It does not. Samsung, if you think it does, then tell me which scenario of cleaning would be preferred A or B? Scenario A) Your aging father who recently moved in your home is bedridden, incontinent & will sometimes have an accident. Today was a different story. Today he's in your bed while his is being replaced, he not only pees in your bed but he souls himself with a large amount of loose stool (diarrhea) all over your bed. So you toss the smelly, poopy & urine stained bedding in your Samsung so your blankets can be splashed with soapy water. with this method, NONE of your bedding is submerged in water, nor is it agitated. Instead it gently flops back and forth as it is similar to being tossed around in a shallow puddle. A water limit of 13 gallons will be used and reused to get them "clean." Scenario B) Everything above is identical but instead of using your Samsung, you use a MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE ( about $800 less ) top loader. This machine will COMPLETELY SUBMERGE your poopy soiled linens in plenty of hot soapy water while it rapidly oscillates and strongly agitates the laundry as soapy water is forced through the fibers repeatedly. Finally, as it's draining soiled water it fills with clean water then partially drains and filling is repeated until clothes are submerged in fresh clean water. So now I ask you this: Which of the 2 above loads do you choose to put back on your bed? Because I can assure you, if you tested both previously soiled sheets upon removing each from the washer, that the first one would test positive for fecal matter. I am lucky enough to have purchased a latest model, regularly priced at $1400 Samsung front loader For $300 used. I'm also lucky my bf can build/modify just about anything and hacked to water level and also installed a hose with hot or cold water right next to it so I can fill it with the amount of water necessary to clean clothes, Not just wipe them down. Because that's pretty much what they do, lightly pat off the dirt. That does not clean the fabric that is why your "clean" laundry stinks. These machines are unacceptable in my book! If you have one of these front loaders, try this: take a laundered item and get a clear bucket, bowl, tub, sink, anything which will show the water and wash your item by hand and see what comes out of it. Water will be tan to brown. Rip-off!

You don't say whether your FP washer is a TL or FL. In my opinion and experience, having to buy ANY washer & dryer these days is a dilemma in itself. If you buy some Top Loaders you can have some control over the water level; otherwise, forget that with any and all Front Loaders. My Speed Queen FL (cost $1800) is built like a tank and works like a charm except for the water level (13.4 gal split between washing and rinsing!???). San Diego Steve will tell you that is plenty and he has even posted that he sold that model and bought the newer one which uses even less total water per wash cycle (11.xx gal I think). He and I are in complete disagreement on how 4 gal of water can rinse a set of King size sheets that remain in a wad. So FL vs TL is the first hurdle. I'm not sure how much water a SQ TL uses, but that would be my first question. My FL spins like crazy. I would have bought an FP but they are not sold anywhere in the Dallas, TX area. Maytag used to make a Centennial model which my daughter in law has and it has a deep rinse which fills the tub, but might no longer be made. Sorry not to have any more helpful information. The Chinese factor would scare me off as well with the FP. Good luck and please post your final decision with the outcome. It will be up to date and may help others.

Here’s Why I will never go back to TL washer again! it’s been awhile since I’ve had to use a TL and my recent usage only emphasizes the difference from FL washers. I used to have a mid-1980s heavy duty large capacity TL washer by Kenmore, which is the same that my sister has. I’ve been here for almost 2 months helping her while she’s undergoing cancer treatments, so lots of laundry. I didn’t remember how little the TL capability was, even though the dimensions of both type of machines are 27” wide, almost 3.8 cubic ft. The TL Kenmore probably is maxed out at 10.0 lbs - adding more laundry and it’s incapable to thoroughly clean it and rips them up. It uses about 50 gallons of water per load (25 gal wash, 25 gal rinse) but if you’re like my sister and need to do a 2nd-rinse to ensure detergent residue is gone then it uses about 75 gallons per load of 10.0 lbs laundry, which really isn’t that much - about 8 large bath towels (30” x 60”), or 3 queen-size bed sheets (2 loose, 1 fitted) with 2 pillow cases. For bulky items, it’s even more restricted. I could only fit a light full-sized comforter. I currently have a 2009 Bosch Nexxt 500 plus and its’ capacity is also 3.8 cu ft. It is rated at 8kg, so just under 18 lbs. It uses 13.5 gallons of water per load (4.5 gal wash, 4.5 gal 1st rinse, 4.5 gal 2nd rinse). I’ll do a 3rd-rinse so that brings the total to 18 gallons of water per load of 18 lbs of laundry. 18 lbs laundry is about 15 large bath towels, or 3 queen-sized bed sheet sets (3 loose, 3 fitted, 6 pillow cases). WATER USED (for 18lbs of laundry): TL - 150 gallons = 75 gallons per load x 2 FL - 18 gallons DETERGENT USED: TL - 250 ml for 18 lbs of laundry (125 mL per 10 lbs load) FL - 22.5 ml per 18 lbs load TIME USED: TL - 220+ minutes to do same 18 lb load; 110+ minutes for full wash cycle and additional 2nd rinse that requires user to be there to reset machine for the added rinse x 2 FL - 110 minutes for full wash cycle and additional 3rd rinse that can be programmed at start of wash In my instance, my FL will use 1/8 water; 1/11 detergent; 1/2 time