HaHa. The machine runs fine with just a few items. This salesman has probably taken the concept that the washing action is produced by clothing rolling around against each other, to an absurd extreme. You can overload it. I have never gotten an error from the machine, but I have packed it so full that even when wet, the clothes had little room to slosh around and "clean". Didn't hurt the machine, but didn't do a good job of cleaning, either. Some items, like comforters don't get much smaller when wet, so they are more difficult to wash. Same concept applies. I load it to about 4/5 full of loose dry clothing, which when wet, takes up about 1/2 of the tub. I'm sure this is rather universal with Front Loaders. Rigbybrowndog: You will have to try the settings out to see what situations to use them. The LG uses little water in a normal wash. I like to use the "water plus" option often. I like the results. I don't mind spending the $$ for a little more water. A little more sloshing action. Its better than not having any control over that at all. You will need to find these things out for yourself. The manual gives general guidelines. Practically, you may find you like certain combinations of wash/steam/stain/waterlevel/clotheslevel. I tend to believe that the SteamWash function was an afterthought. I think they wanted to have a SteamFresh clothing steamer, so they built in a steamer assembly, and then they thought, well, we might as well activate it during a wash cycle, too. PS. I got a lot more info out of the Service Manual than I did anywhere else.

Well, "smaller" is a relative word. I have both 5K and 6K (kilo) Miele machines and an Asko which is somewhere in between that. I do an extraordinary amount of wash and I've never found size limitations of the machines to be a problem. I regularly wash queen and king sized bedding, with the exception of no down comforters of any weight in king size (king sheets, mattress pads, cotton and wool blankets do just fine) and no heavy weight queen-sized down comforters. The few times per year I do those items, I go to a laundromat. I well remember on this forum before the XXL-sized FLs appeared how much effort was made to get people to understand that the dishwasher-sized true horizontal axis Euro FLs could take as much laundry as they can. I must have written down the recommendation to actually weigh your current laundry load dozens and dozens of times. I got the feeling that even if people did that, they still couldn't wrap their heads around the unfamiliar loading parameters of Euro Fls. Plus they seem to be operating under the common US compulsion to choose the extra-large sized option in most instances. And maybe we've gotten so overweight in this country that we need huge machines to wash our duds. I don't know. As for the temps: most people may not care if their machine go above 140-160F. (Heck, some people apparently wash all their stuff in cold water; fortunately these people are also usually dedicated dryer-users so at least some heat is applied!) But if you want really white cotton and linen fabrics without having to bleach the devil out of them (or use a lot of chemical additives) then being able to go much higher is a distinct benefit. It seems absurd, wasteful and, even, dangerous to me to be advise people to raise their water heater temp to heat all their household water that hot when they need it for only a few gallons per load on the few loads per week. A beefy on-board water heater seems like the ultimate in energy savings since most of these machines can be fed unheated water, and then only heat the very few gallons need per load. It seems like perfect energy titration: only what's needed and not an ounce nor a degree wasted. As always, YMMV. L

Hi, I haven't posted in here before because I'm a renter and laundromat user. I do have a non-flammable way to get that gunk out. I have tried various deodorants. Not happy with any of them. I am a sweaty animal and need the anti-perspirant. I've been using Degree at just-below clinical strength. I turn the shirt inside out, wet it, sprinkle the buildup with a bit of oxi powder (currently All Free and Clear) and scrub it in with a brush. Then another sprinkle and another scrub. Let it sit for half an hour or so, then wash on a normal hot setting with a normal load of laundry. I do this on colors as well as whites and repeat when it builds up again. So far I haven't had bleach damage.

eponymouse I live in Sweden and we already have the new line of Asko washers you are talking about. What I have seen in test of earlyer machines fron asko are that they are about midrange in cleaning and rather low at rinsing how that will be in the new models time will tell..... Have read the top of the line manual and there are stuff you can program. There are a more water option, do not know if it ads even to wash or just rinse. You can ad 2 more rinses. Both these are not awailable in all programs. What is it you want to know specificly, but we have to remember that it can vary from Eu to Us, I will gladly read more of the manual if you want me to.