Another new user to front loader washer machine question.
always1stepbehind
last year
last modified: last year
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Front Loader Washer = No Mold; Does One Exist
Comments (100)millmacc, I wonder if it is your water supply. I know where I live in TX there is so much limestone and the water is extremely hard. Even with a water softener there is more buildup than I would like. I have kicked around installing a whole home water filtration system. We have a filter on the refrigerator and I notice the difference in taste in water from it versus other faucets. We do have a water osmosis system but I have never really delved into why they installed it since it seems to be only at the refrigerator and kitchen sink....See MoreNew LG HE top loader washer using too much water?
Comments (14)Considering that it's only my wife and I and we don't do that many washing loads, we're very satisfied so far that the LG will meet our needs and expectations (won't know how it holds up until later). With the different cycles available and the ability to modify them to a reasonable extent, we can always pretty much match water level to something that works well on any load we would wash. On the cycles that have a high default fill we will just add enough clothes to match. No more loads than we do, the water usage is not that important to us, and we prefer the choice of using a cycle (and/or the water plus selection) that will use enough water for great results, but use very little water when it's appropriate. On the water temps, we're perfectly satisfied as well. Machine cold (not tap cold which is about 62 deg right now) 80-82 deg is fine, well above detergent performance level. Warm around 102 deg tested after fill with clothes) is fine also, and having 120-124 deg hot water available on hot without using the heater (still haven't tested on sanitize or bright whites with heater available) seems unexpectedly good on an HE washer with a hot water heater setting of 135 deg. Don't know what the future holds, but everything considered, at this point we couldn't be more pleased with both washer and dryer (particularly after reading many HE experiences folks have had). It definitely pays to learn the 'ways of operation' of your particular machine. I'm not sure though, after observing a few wash cycles, our washer even knows what it's doing half the time... but it seems to work out well. Thanks... Quinn...See MoreWasher Recommendatrions - Top Loader vs Front Loader
Comments (12)Shawn1972ut: "Front loader complaints of smell, long cycle times, inefficient rinses, poor electronic components, and failure rates at less than 5 yrs concerns me. " It is necessary to separate issues of front loader vs. top loader from issues of generations -- both generations of people and generations of manufacturing. The numbers would be difficult to aggregate, but, with a fair degree of certainty, it can be said that a majority of the automatic washing machines ever made have been front loaders. Front loading automatics have been around since the 1930s, but top-loading machines did not lose their mangles (those wringer arms that you see atop older top-loading washing machines) -- that is, they did not become automatic, until after World War II. Like tail fins on automobiles, top loading automatic washing machines became all the fad in the United States in the 1950s, but never caught on elsewhere in the world. In the United States, though, some consumers mistakenly think of top-loaders as "traditional." There is a high correlation between those who refer to top loaders as "traditional" and those who simply do not know what they are talking about. A couple of generations of housewives (that is not sexist, just the way society was organized), brought up on the post-WWII top loading machines, were educated to think that you need at least 40 gallons of water to wash a load of laundry. And that much water required at least a cup of laundry detergent; and if one cup is good, aren't two cups even better? When those consumers encountered later generation water-conserving front-loading washers, they continued to use their two cups of detergent per load, and that detergent overload is the source of a lot of the negative comments you see about front loading machines. Now, getting to your question, there are two kinds of "features" in washing machines. One kind of feature is choice of materials and construction techniques. Speed Queen washing machines are rightly often praised for construction quality largely because of choice of metal bearings in place of nylon bearings, heavier gauge steel where it counts, etc. The other kind of features are multiple selectable cycles, programability, LED screens, etc. You pays your money and you takes your choice. Personal opinion: one of the better "features" is a dimpled stainless steel drum. When a washing machine's drum spins for water extraction, fibers of the laundry inside the drum are drawn through the water drainage holes in the drum, and that accelerates fabric wear. Miele pioneered the "honeycomb" drum, with the drainage holes positioned in small domes in the drum surface to minimize the fabric pull-through. Samsung rather blatantly copied that feature in its "diamond" drum. So far as I am aware, no other maker has followed Miele and Samsung down that road. Our family, starting with my mother, has owned only four washing machines in over 75 years; they all have been front-loading washing machines. The first three lasted, on average, over 20 years each in moderately hard use. We purchased the fourth machine a few years back, and the deciding factor in our purchase was the dimpled drum design; we selected a Samsung over a Miele for price considerations. HTH....See MoreWashing Machines : Front Loader vs Top Loader?
Comments (53)FL vs TL debate will continue LOL I am 60 years old and always used a TL until recently. When after two ddeliveries of Speed Queens proved to be lemons...I decided to take the leap and buy a Whirlpool Duet FL. ..lets back up a bit....I had a routine in my TL'ers...I always added boiling water after the load was started and filled with hot..for whites, bedding, bath, and kitchen towels by dumping soup pots of boiling water into the machine to boost the temp...that started to really become a chore for this old carcuss to cart those heavy pots, I started dreaming of a FL'er with a onboard heater. The more I thought about it the more desirable it sounded..BUT I was concerned about low water levels, HE detergent, and reports of mold....but this heater was really getting my attention. ..than the good folks in the Laundry forum started nudging me towards a FL...I was scared, understand laundry is my thing..I enjoy laundry and all the challenges it can present...so I gave up my ocean of water for a heater...I can now choose between cold (I dont use cold) to hot, and I am talking 154+F...and everything inbetween......no more pots of boiling water. My textiles are clean, stain free, soft, fluffy and so fresh smelling, with much less work on my part. As far as moldy machines..it only takes a few seconds to wipe out the door seal and leave the door open when not in use. The use of hot water at lead t for your whites and bedding will also keep the machine clean. I won't go back to a TL'er....my whites have never been more white....See Morealways1stepbehind
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