I’ve noticed the “gentleness” scores for front-loaders in CR’s tests have dropped the past few years as Normal cycles at the heaviest soil setting have become uber-long.
While front-loaders almost always scored “very good” or “excellent” for gentleness when cycles were 40-75 minutes, some of those scores have dropped to only “good” or even “fair” as cycles blew well past the 90-minute mark.
Many normal loads don’t require the heaviest soil option, which can drop cycle time significantly, especially in US machines that aren’t required to internally heat water from the cold tap. I recall that the Normal cycle on my 2015 Maytag Maxima was 40-50 minutes until you got to the heaviest soil option, at which point the cycle time took a huge jump.
Even Speed Queen joined the club with their TC 5000 top-loader—the model with traditional agitation. The maximum agitation time on my 2017 9-Series is about 14 minutes on the Heavy Duty cycle—a couple of minutes longer on the Whites cycle. Selecting the heavy soil option in conjunction with the Normal cycle on the TC 5000 boosts wash agitation time to nearly 40 minutes, which accounts for the machine’s improved cleaning score and decreased score for gentleness.
I have to admit I’ve become spoiled by the quick cycle times on the 9-Series. Many of my loads can be washed using the light or medium soil level settings, with cycles clocking in between 29-33 minutes. Combine that with the dryer’s high drying temp and an 8-lb. load is washed and dried in just a bit over an hour. Two loads (one being washed while one is in the dryer) are finished in an about an hour-and-a-half.
