I don't get as to why so many Americans get the impression that frontloaders cannot clean at all. Frontloaders have been around here in Europe for years and every single one I have used has been able to get clothes clean in a low water level wash. Nobody's clothes here smell (unless you use one of those awfully ineffective eco-friendly detergents such as Ecover, but then this would cause problems in a toploader just as much as in a frontloader), nobody has hunchbacks from unloading the washer (bear in mind you have to bend over anyway to unload the dryer, and from the toploaders I've used you've actually had to bend more to peel laundry off teh side of the tub after the cycle), and I don't know of many people who have stains left in their clothes - and usually when they do they're misusing the washer, in terms of either overloading it, using the completely wrong cycle/temperature, or simply using too little detergent, or a cheaper ineffective one at that.
High water levels actually compromise the tumbling action in frontloaders, which is exactly why delicate cycles in front loaders fill more - so as to cushion the laundry more from the tumbling which gets standard loads such as whites or towels thoroughly clean. Low water levels are best for washing in a frontloader, as the tumbling is more pronounced the lower the water level goes. For a standard load of towels or clothes, which have standard absorbency rates and don't require a lot of water in order to be saturated, you don't need a water level any higher than an inch or so in the bottom of the tub for good cleaning. I can get my whites white without the need for a prewash, or high wash water levels - most of my white loads are pretty grotty (I have a younger brother who goes outside in white socks with no shoes on), and with a dose of Persil, a 50*C wash, and 3 rinses, I can have a load of whites back to white in my Miele in 1:16. Sure, the cycle takes 46 minutes longer than your average TL but that is more or less only because of the long spins the Miele does between the rinses, as well as the multiple rinses, and also bear in mind that it has to heat the wash water up from cold. All stains are fully removed, the whole load is rinsed thoroughly, and I've used a lot less water than I would have done to wash the same load in a toploader.
Sure, I find toploaders are fun as any washer enthuasiast would, but the ones I've used in coin op launderettes at least washed nowhere near as well, nor rinsed as well, as any frontloader I have used, even my old shitty Hotpoint which I absolutely loathed. I'm not anti-TL or anti-FL - as I just said I like both designs of machine and both are as fun as each other - but we should stop shadowing the real truth with our enthuasiasm.
Of course, anybody with half a care for the environment and the future generation (such as the one I will have to grow up in) will understand that energy efficient measures, whether its in the laundry, the bathroom, on the road, or whatever you can think of, will help sustain future generations. Sure, some may feel that they are being dictated as to what they can and cannot use and that their freedom is being taken away, but wouldn't you rather give the freedom to future generations, the freedom of having luxuries such as electricity, the freedom of having enough drinking water, the freedom of being able to breath in the air outside? And that point aside, at this point in time anyway nobody is saying that you can't buy a toploader - but I certainly feel a lot less guilty not wasting energy to heat the wash water or using a smaller amount of water to do essentially the same job as a toploader can do which, let's face it, is simply more inefficient at doing the same job.
Mistervain - the US Miele is programmable, as all other Miele's worldwide are, with the Sensitive option. As mentioned in another thread you can mod this option to give you an extra rinse, a higher water level, or an extra rinse and a higher water level. Of course they do also have the Delicates cycle, which uses a high water level throughout.
Mickeyd - perhaps the laundry you send your shirts too is using an ineffective detergent if you are having stains left over on your collars, I highly doubt it is solely because they use frontloaders.
Shoot me all you want guys, I've already said that I like both frontloaders and toploaders equally, but nobody can deny that frontloaders are essentially more efficient at doing the same job provided that they are used properly.
Jon
