Another FL or back to Top Load

[autowasherfreak]

I use one of each.

I wash blankets, jeans, and pillows in the front loader, and sheets, towels, and clothes in the Maytag top loader. Towels washed in the Maytag get an extra spin in the front loader.

 

[ronhic]

So, what were you saying?

What I am saying is that Fisher and Paykel acknowledge there is a problem with fabric conditioners and detergent when they come into contact with each other - so much so that they make light of it in their owners manual for top load machines. It doesn't get a mention in their front load machines.

The vast majority of machines today use polymer based outer tubs which seem to attract the gunk...they certainly don't allow it to wash off as easily as enamel or s/steel.

Couple this with less water at lower temperatures and you have the potential for a problem. Add into this the generally more 'gentle' chemical nature of liquid detergents compared to powders and the problem is exacerbated.

Additionally, I will almost guarantee that people in general have not reduced the amount of conditioner they are using in HE machines compared to 20yrs ago. Most will pour it direct into the cup in the agitator or into the section of the drawer without a second thought. Well less water means less needed, but it is like banging your head against a brick wall trying to educate the public.

Oh, and powders are far far more popular here than liquids outselling them by at least 2:1. Up until I found this site I had never heard of anyone having a stinky front load machine and only knew of the 'grey gunk' - scrud - from people who had used the following in combination:

- cold water
- liquid detergents
- fabric conditioner.

..and generally in a top load machine. I first experienced it in 1995 when I washed my (white) work shirts in a friends hoover top loader....I turned the hot tap on and put powdered Omomatic in...when I took them out, they were covered in grey globules of sticky goo..... Turns out she was a cold water washer with liquid detergents AND fabric conditioner.

I, and many others on here, wash in warm/hot water. My mother doesn't go lower than 30c and I generally don't either. Cold water washing is something that Australians have done, with increasing incidence, for 20-30yrs but mainly in top load machines as most European front loaders sold here only recently started offering a cold option and one of the benefits of a front load machine was you could warm/hot wash with only a small amount of hot water/impact on your electric bill compared to a top load machine - though I am not trying to inflame that debate, bare with me...

Combine this with the use of powdered detergents and warm/hot washes in front load machines and you have next to no incidence of 'stinky washer' as liquid detergents have really only started to become available, on our market, for front load machines over the last 10yrs or so....but at least 75% of the market is still powder/front loaders.

Now with top load machines, the majority of washing (with an increasing incidence), has been cold water and with powder. I would have to ring a washing machine repairer to find out, but I would bet that there is an increase rate of gunk in these machines when fabric conditioner is used in conjunction with cold water and liquid detergents...

 

[ronhic]

Oh and ...

...I am talking about the Australian market and my own experience here....

 

[launderess]

When Miele decided to no longer to fight the USA trend for LCB, they had to change the outer tub material from the SS they were previously using. One, they could go with another grade of SS, say one commonly found in commercial and laundromat washing machines, which can withstand repeated and years of exposure to LCB, or follow the lead of many USA washer makers, and go with some sort of "plastic".

Enamel on porcelian wash tubs are expensive to produce, especially when done well enough not to rust for say 20 or so years. Such tubs are also not the most environmentally friendly to produce as well, IIRC; even today much of that work happens on parts made outside of the USA, then shipped.

Really good enamel on porcelain tubs would not only often out last their warranty, but often the washer as well, long before becoming rusted out.

Plastic tubs offered top loading washer makers, and then front loaders an inexpensive material when compared to better grades of SS, that would not rust and could stand up to repeated LCB use.

 

[toploader1984]

the main problem with mold is because front loaders have no air circulation when the door is closed, i kept the door open on my LG open when not in use all the time from the day it was new, the problem is, not everybody can have a bulky glass door hanging open in their walking path. i got sick and tired of all of my clothes including dog blankets for example coming out with a bunch og hair and lint still on them, and all these companies putting those pointless "air gaps" in the back of the machine, they do absolutely nothing, you are better off leaving the door ajar.

 

[ronhic]

Toploader1984...

....you are correct...

The door should be left open, but need not be 'wide' open...pushed to with an old, dry dish rag hung over the top of the door will leave more than enough air circulation

 

[mrb627]

Spin-Drain

It sure seems that a machine that does a spin/drain is more self cleaning than a machine that does a neutral drain. Neutral drains allow soils to cling to the outer wash basket. Of course, the best machine is probably a solid tub machine because once the dirty water is thrown from the wash tub, it can never cross contaminate the following fill.

Malcolm

 

[douglasdc6]

Although its a hassle .

I always run a load through at least 2 cycles & use warm or hot water.

In some situations I continue the cycles till the water goes clear.

I`ve never felt a second rinse on an HE machine was enough.