FL Washers - Normal Cycle Warm Temp. Correlation to Soil Level

[niclonnic]

Here's an observation that I've made with front-load washing machines. It has to do with how exactly warm the "warm" temperature option is on a Normal cycle, and how it correlates with the soil level that is selected. This applies to the LG at my old house, as well as my current GE UltraFresh.

When I select the normal cycle and leave the washer on the default settings (warm temp and normal soil), the machine adds just a small amount of hot water to the load. Therefore, the water is more cold than warm on the "normal" soil level. Although I haven't tried this, I think it applies to the lighter soil options as well.

However, if I bump up the soil level to "heavy" or "extra heavy," more hot water enters the drum, thereby making the water warmer than it is compared to the "normal" setting.

I've also observed that this varying hot/cold ratio doesn't occur on any other cycle option. On these other cycles, the cold/hot ratio on "warm" becomes 50/50, regardless of soil level.

So, in essence:

• Normal Soil: Cold > Hot
• Heavy Soil: Cold = Hot

My best theory is that when the "heavy" soil option is selected, the washer allows more hot water than cold to enter, thereby leading to better removal of stains and dirt. Has anybody else noticed this with the "normal" cycle on their FL washers?