Do top-loaders truly wash clothes better than front-loaders?

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niclonnic

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Sorry if this question has been frequently asked on this forum, but here's an observation that my family made the other day.

My dad, his SO and I have declared that a top-load washer, like our Frigidaire, cleans clothes better than a front-load washer. I think it's due to the fact that top-loaders utilize a tub full of water, along with an agitator, to suspend and wash the clothes. On the other hand, a front-loader, such as my old LG, tumbles the clothes around in a very small amount of water, which is generally not visible during a wash cycle. Perhaps we're old-fashioned and believe that the more water the washer uses, the cleaner the clothes get.

Is this true?
 
My experience, after owning both Whirlpool Duet and Frigidaire Affinity front load machines, is that they do a superior job when compared to a top-loader.  The Duet replaced an Amana (Speed Queen clone) top loader and it got out stains that the Amana could not with wash after wash.  The first time the stained item went through the Duet, the stain was gone.  That was all I needed to convince me that the wash action of front-load machines is far more effective than the swishing around you get from a top-loader.

 

 
 
Not only

do I feel like they wash/rinse better.....but they are more gentle on clothing (less lint on lint screen)

Keep in mind, I've only had ONE FL washer. A WP duet from 2005 that is STILL WORKING (LOL)

It took me some getting used to at first....but after having had front load washer all of these years...It would be extremely difficult for me to go back to a top loader. I mean, I could do it...It would just be difficult.

I still like some of the TL washers though. I like the SQ's before they redesigned them. If I were to have a TL washer, it would be a SQ before the redesign. I hated the looks of the updated model. I don't keep up. Maybe they changed them back to that? But last I heard, the latest SQ TL's weren't good, but the ones before that were fantastic.
 
I agree with Ralph and not because his name is Ralph..

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">I had my first front loader in 2002.  Previous to that, was all top loaders of different brands.  The last top loader I had was a Maytag and it did a horrible job compared to the F/Ls I have owned.  It could have to do with my own habits.  Maybe I used too much or too little detergent, maybe it was my water who knows.  What I know is my clothes are very clean in a very little bit of water compared to any top loading machine I owned.  My F/L does multiple rinses which I think also helps.  And they still use less water for the entire load than a Top Loader with one rinse.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">My guess is you may get as many opinions as you will get replies and many will disagree with mine and that's OK.  It won't convince me to go back to a Top Loader.</span>
 
I had a Whirlpool 4000 series front loader from 2009. Hardly any options. I now have a 2017 speed queen top loader. My Whirlpool removed stains better. However, it left a locker room smell on some of that under armor type fabric. This is the reason I went to a Speed Queen top loader. If the Whirlpool had an extra rinse option I probably would have stayed with a front loader. In fact, I’m probably going to go with a speed queen fl washer and dryer set pretty soon.

While more water may logically seem like it would clean clothes better. I think having less water concentrates the detergent more and turns a front loader into a stain fighting machine. Also because of their gentler wash action, you can run a main wash cycle on front load washers for a longer amount of time giving enzymes more time to do their job.

So a front loader with an extra rinse gets my pick.
 
I too am one in the front loader is better group. I had a Frigidaire from 2006 to 2011. Then have had a Whirlpool Duet from December 2011 to the current. The Duet has excelled at complex, The concentrated detergent solution coupled with longer wash times helps that. Plus I firmly believe an onboard heater that helps maintain or increase warm and hot water temps increases the effectiveness. And my garments are lasting much longer. I hope I never have to go back to a top loader.
 
The front loaders that do a excellent job are the Dexter and Speed Queen commercial washers they use in laundromats and those will get a load of laundry done in 30 to 35 minutes time. Not all front loaders are bad but I live in a rural area and I happen to live on a acre of land where outside yard work never seems to end and my shorts and jeans get pretty dirty along with my t shirts after all of that outside cleaning not to mention it gets quite dusty where I live. Usually wash all of my stuff in my Maytag A606 for a 6 to 8 minute wash along with a warm water wash and never really have any issues with things not coming clean same thing with my 1963 RCA Whirlpool Imperial Mark XII since it has the Surgilator agitator in it.
 
I agree that FL machines do a better job now

In the olden days a Top Loader like a GE Filter-flo with Hot, actual Hot water and phosphate detergent did an excellent job cleaning. In those days we had little in the lines of Front loaders to compare.

I got my Front Loader In 2009 replacing a Maytag Top loader. I will say the front loader no only handles a larger load, but the clothes come out cleaner than they ever did with the Top Loading machine.

with what we have to choose from in the arena of affordable Top loading machines now, I would buy another Front Loading machine without hesitation.
 
I know that I’m gonna be in the minority here but I prefer a TL with an agitator over the current breed of FL’s.  Before they began building the current generation of FL’s with computer boards I loved FL’s, back when most disparaged them.

 

 The old FL’s up to the Frigidaire's that were released in the mid to late 90’s were excellent machines.  They cleaned well, used less water and completed a cycle in about 50-60 mins with no drama.  They always went into a spin, no endless hunting for a sweet spot to balance.  

 

The last FL that I owned was a BOL LG that I purchased in 2015.  It took 90 to 120 mins to complete a load, and often would refuse to go into a spin, especially with heavy towels.  The most disappointing washing machine I’ve ever owned, and I’ve owned over 20 different washers since ‘72.<span style="font-family: -webkit-standard; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">  I may be retired but I have no interest in spending all day to wash three loads of laundry.</span>

 

My current BOL Roper TL completes a normal cycle with hot water in 34 mins., never refuses to go into a spin and the heavy weight towels from Restoration Hardware that a couldn’t wash in the LG come out perfectly every time.  It cleans thoroughly, removing even the toughest stains the first time the items are washed.  I’ve been very pleased with it.

 

Now if they ever start to build the old style FL’s again I’d consider buying an FL again, but the new ones on the market, not so much.

 

That’s my two cents worth.

 

Eddie

[this post was last edited: 11/30/2020-17:35]
 
In general

H-axis washing machines out perform top loading on most if not all metrics; and that is just a simple fact.

This has been known since early in last century when washer makers like Thor touted their "cylinder" washing machines as the best way of achieving a clean wash without wear on textiles.

Furthermore almost from the start commercial/industrial laundries have always gone with some version of H-axis washing machine. You won't find a top loader outside of laundromats (mostly North America), and some on premises laundries.

There are two main ways of doing wash; you either move water through laundry, or laundry through water. H-axis washers perform the former; gently forcing water through material while tumbling causes flexing which helps to open up the weave of fabrics.

First thing most persons notice when doing wash in a front loader that was routinely done in top loading machines is how much detergent and perhaps soil residue comes out wash water. This from laundry that appeared "clean".

Top loaders can perform well under certain conditions, but unless one is willing to go back to pre-treating and or soaking/washing front loaders give better performance overall.

Can put even badly stained items into any of my front loaders and things come out clean. No muss, no fuss, no chlorine bleach.....[this post was last edited: 11/30/2020-17:41]
 
front loader.  Whites are white without use of LCB.  Pre-treating is not needed.  More flexibility in cycles. Concentrated detergent/water solution along with longer wash times helps remove unwanted odors.  Clothes last longer.  Less stress on water /sewage system (especially if you have a well and/or septic system).
 
Eddie raises a good point.  Front loaders have earned a well-deserved reputation for balancing issues that drag out cycles or, in extreme cases, fail to complete them at all.  My Affinity did just give up without spinning when handling things like throw rugs, but the Duet never did.  I currently have a 2014 Maytag Neptune, and it does a much better job of balancing to the point that cycle length is almost never extended by attempts to balance.

 

Speed Queen front loaders are supposedly the best at balancing, but other makes may have improved their systems over the years.  Speed Queens are prohibitively expensive though, so I'd have to find a killer deal on one if I were in the market. 

 

The reason I didn't mention the Neptune in my first post is because I don't think it's as good at cleaning as either the Duet or Affinity was, but it was here and came with the house we bought a couple of years ago, and I love, love, love analog knobs and dials, which the Neptune has.  It does clean better than my 1987 Maytag top loader, though, which I have held onto for jobs like throw rugs, shop rags, anything with cat fur on it, etc.

 

 
 
Front Load Hands Down:

I was a STAUNCH! Direct Drive guy for many years and with good reason. They do an excellent job of washing and rinsing for a TL and are not bothered by large or heavily soiled loads.
Then I bought my Speed Queen FL set. I would never go back to a TL again. The SQ washer does an amazing job of washing and stain removal (I don't ever use Shout anymore) just some bleach for the whites. As good as our 1996 WP DD was this washer is better hands down. Our clothes get cleaner and with much less wear. Utility bills also dropped with these machines.
WK78
 
Front loaders for me from now on. As much as I liked our old GE FF, once we got that first Duet frontloader and now the LG frontloader I wouldn't go back to a toploader again as the main washer or only washer. And as for which type washes better I'll go with what Consumer reports says,, frontloaders do. You can't argue with scientific lab results which can be repeated over and over again.
 
I would never go back to a TL, I’ve been in love with my Maximas. Even going to the laundromat the Dexter coin op units I’ve used have still provided for excellent cleaning with fast turnover. I think the end user makes a big difference too. I had roommates in my old residence not long after I got my Maximas and they shoveled all their nasty laundry in one load and ran the machine on normal with cheap soap. As noted the before the normal cycle is hobbled by regulations and didn’t do the best. They would have been better served by an old school TL for their habits. However I fastidiously sorted and used the higher performance cycles with high quality detergent and got superior results from the Maxima.
 
One reason top loaders held on for so long as state of art far as American domestic laundry is concerned is they can be built rather inexpensively. Their designs were simple and by 1960's or certain 1970's pretty standard. Yes, you had the outliers such as GM Frigidaire's "jet action", and a few others including Philco, but otherwise top loading automatic washers were just improved versions of semi-automatic wringer machines.

What kept front loaders back was same thing we all mostly know; it takes quite more effort to design and build a washer where suds container is horizontal. Water must be kept from leaking, machine must be stable not just during wash/rinse but extraction, etc... All that R&D, building and so forth cost money which naturally is reflected in final cost of product.

Bendix got there first far as domestic fully automatic H-axis washers are concerned, but others soon followed. Across the pond however post WWII state of the art was H-axis washers for domestic use and they never looked back.

Miele and many other front loaders from Europe late as 1990's were darn near commercial/industrial quality. Built to last and rock solid. My older Miele W1070 doesn't mess about far as spinning is concerned. It will attempt to balance load best it can, but when timer says "let's rock", it's off to the races.

Miele washers then between their cast iron cradle, robust suspension and other bits could handle OOB loads in all but the most dire situations. Much of that has changed.

To bring price points down not just in Europe but USA and elsewhere all sorts of washing machines have suffered quality decline. Instead of being built to withstand OOB loads, front loaders today simply try to avoid that happening if at all possible. So they spend ages balancing/redistributing loads in aid of extraction. If that process starts and things are out of programmed parameters, machine stops, and starts pfaffing about again with redistributing........ If this goes on long enough many machines will just give up extracting and move on to next portion of cycle.

Other issue is that in aid of offering increased capacity suds containers for domestic front loaders have gotten deeper and or wider often taking up far more room in cabinet than of old. However because washing machine sizes are pretty much standardized those larger suds containers must fit inside same size cabinet making for far less clearance.

Keeping the above in mind it is far better then that washer not spin when OOB because chances for damage now are greater since there isn't much of a buffer when it comes to suds container movement.

Electrolux, Whirlpool, Miele, etc... all know how to build front loading washers that are built to last because they all have commercial/industrial divisions.

However a "small" 18-20 pound capacity commercial washer by say Dexter, Wascomat, or others will run several thousands. However you get a washer that will outlive you and probably your children. It can be easily repaired onsite and even rebuilt.

https://laundromat123.com/Laundromat_Washer_Comparison.html

https://www.statewidelaundry.com/39...xtractor-comparison-speed-queen-and-wascomat-
 
I wouldn’t mind having a older Westinghouse front loader from the 70’s or 80’s since they have all mechanical controls, but I am not sure if I’d ever buy a newer front loader from a big box store since like Eddie said is they have issues with balancing and add quite a bit of time to the cycle since is has to distribute everything just right for it to be balanced. Reason why commercial front loaders such as the Dexter and Speed Queen front loaders in laundromats don’t have any issues with balancing is because they are bolt down machines and that explains why they don’t take very long to get a load of laundry done.
 
". . . will give up and move on to next portion of cycle

Yes, and in the case of the Affinity attempting final spin, the next portion of the cycle was "end" with sopping wet items left in the drum.  Annoying, but it didn't happen much and hey, those sopping wet items were for sure cleaner than a TL machine would have gotten them.  Some rearranging, setting for "spin only" and making the sign of the cross would usually do the trick.

 

The other thing I didn't mention was FL machines' superior rinsing.  I couldn't believe the suds that kept coming out of clothes that had been last washed in the Amana TL upon their first run through the Duet.  Of course, Amana/Speed Queen's piss-poor rinsing set a low bar, but I'd wager that with even stricter efficiency requirements for TL machines these days, they're not even in the same league as FL machines in the rinsing game.

 

There's really no contest, as the replies above have overwhelmingly indicated thus far. 

 

 
 
Yes Sean, I’d like to have a Westinghouse FL again too.  I had an ‘87 Westinghouse for 7 trouble free years and it was the best washer I ever owned.  Back then Consumers Reports wasn’t crazy about them or any other FL for that matter and most of America felt the same way about FL’s then too.  I love them, but not the new ones.  Too much time to wash a load and not enough water used in the wash cycle.  

 

The concept of FL’s has been ruined by over zealous energy restrictions, and I believe in conservation.  The old FL’s used much less water than a TL, but enough to get everything sloshing in water.  The LG I had barely got the load damp and in my opinion didn’t clean as well as my current energy efficient Roper TL with an agitator. 

 

Eddie
 
The Speed Queen top load washers only do a single spray rinse for about a minute much like the older Maytags like my 1973 A606. If they simply added more spray rinses on the Speed Queen top loaders, and did 6 seven second spray rinses like the older Whirlpool belt driven washers, they would do a much better job at rinsing but since Speed Queen never bothered adding more spray rinses will explain why they don’t do the best job rinsing. Not to mention the first spin is slow on all newer Speed Queen washers which doesn’t spin out enough of the soapy water and detergent which won’t allow for good rinsing either.
 
I really do think it depends on user preference and experience- while some front load as well a top load performed better or worse from its competitor

Example
I owned a 2015 whirlpool duet. Normal cycle did ok. It wouldn’t clean up food that was on clothing that I KNOW would come off.

My current LG 4370 normal cycle cleans really well, not to mention it gets a load done in 30 min...

But by default settings, I felt the duet cleans better on heavy duty cycle, than LG does.. in the end, changing the controls and options on my LG. The LG performs better.. way better!

Some of these machines have so many bells and whistles, it overwhelms the user. They just spin the dial to what looks good and roll on.

Ps.. I can’t tel you how many people default to the “quick” cycle, simply because they didn’t want the washer to take an hour to wash.
 
Huh?

Isn't having owned and properly used three makes of FL machines a form of evidence?  Is there no confidence in what members of a site like this share about their experiences with -- wait for it -- automatic washers?  Does arrogance run in the family or what?
 
Thank you Ralph!  Just because I’m not an appliance service tech doesn’t mean that I haven’t got 48 years of personal experience in owning and using almost every type of washing machine.  I’ve paid close attention over these 48 years as to what I like and don’t like.  I’ve owned 2 Westinghouse FL’s, 3 Frigidaire FL’s and an LG FL.  The Westinghouse’s and first 2 Frigidaire FL’s were excellent machines.  They weren’t temperamental and while they used much less water than a TL they still used enough water to wash and rinse every load. thoroughly.

 

Back when I first owned FL’s most people hated them, because they’d not used one.

 

I’ve owned and used two of the new generation FL’s. a Frigidaire Affinity and a BOL LG.  The Affinity used an adequate amount of water but I couldn’t get heavy items like throw rugs or bath towels to go into a spin reliably, had to go to the GD laundromat to wash these sometimes.  

 

It really disappoints me that FL’s aren’t the simple, fast and water saving appliances that they once were.  But at least my current energy efficient Roper TL reaches a happy medium in water conservation, is fast and washes and rinses thoroughly.  I feel the clothes are cleaner than they were with the LG.

 

For those that love their modern FL’s I’m very happy for you!  These machines are expensive so the owner/user SHOULD be happy with their machines.

 

One other thing that makes the modern FL’s a no go for me is the depth of these machines, unless you purchase a compact model, they are too deep to fit my laundry closet, and I don’t want some jerry rigged curtain covering them when not in use. I want to keep the bi-fold doors on this closet as it was designed to be used.

 

I've put a great deal of thought and experience into my choice.  Just because my choice differs from the majority doesn’t mean that it’s wrong, its right for ME, and I’m the one paying for the machine and using it so I’ll please myself.  I’d prefer having an FL, but NOT the ones sold now.  

 

Eddie

[this post was last edited: 12/1/2020-15:28]
 
My experience

is that front loaders do a good job, despite the low water levels. This is especially true for the lg pairs that I have, one of which being a Kenmore elite set with accelawash. This is thanks to the water recirculation and high-pressure rinse jet at the top of the door.
 
Ralph,

I've just read a few too many posts where unless there is an agitator involved and each garment is rinsed in a swimming pool then its not clean. Many of said posts are made by folks that would never consider trying (and learning how to use) something different.

Sorry you missed my point
 

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