When on thinks about it, front loaders will clean better with less water inthe wash (IMHO, this has limits), because the washing action is both mechanical (beating laundry against the drum), and allowing the concentrated detergent/water solution to flow through laundry (during the pauses).
Tumbling laundry round and round in lots of water is not good for washing, unless one is laundering delicates or woolens. In which case you want a more gentle washing action, and less stress to laundry. Duvets, pillows or other items that then to float and are difficult to get evenly wet, also require more water.
You want low water levels for washing, and high for rinsing. Problem is once one starts going down the "wet wipe" path of laundering, chemicals play an more important role. Too much of any sort of chemical in the wash will be that much more difficult to rinse away.
L.
