if you add heat
You can reduce time.
However with poorly designed huge capcity machines with heaters running at 110V you only ever increase time.
My new Miele does a quick wash in 30 mins at 40degC, a normal wash with a 12 minute wash tumble takes 40 mins at 50degC with 2 rinses. This 40 minute cycle works perfectly on 99% of everything I wash. Lately I've added the extra rinse which adds about 8-10 minutes.
All these wash times are cold fill only.
If I have grimies however I push the intensive button, and I get a 2hour wash. If its really bad and I want to soak, I can push it out to 4 hours with a 2 hour autosoak. Its rare however to need to go that far.
My old Miele from the 70's uses lots of water and takes about 70 minutes for a normal cottons cycle. Most of the extra cycle time is due to the fact its heating about triple the water of the new machine. It however has an increase in element size from 2200w to 3600watts. At times if I overdose I find it struggles to remove the soap, because even though it rinses 5 times at a high level it only spins 3, and by the 5th rinse there can occaisionally be foam left in the drum. However I will admit that my towels come out of the older one far fluffier than they do from the new machine.
In regards to large amounts of time taken to balance and distribute, these seems to a problem only with the large capacity or poorly designed machines. Both Miele's old and new never get stuck distributing. On the old it goes from a tumble which lasts about 10 seconds, directly up to 900RPM and I've yet to have it stop the spin and tumble again. On the new Miele, it goes from a tumble to about 400rpm and then ramps up on a continuous curve until maximum speed. Again with this machine I've never had it stop and go back to redistribute. The tumble to 400RPM takes probably 15-30 seconds and then its straight up to max RPM.
I agree that TL machines don't shred, however they do cause more wear. Collars on business shirts in particular. The collars now last indefinitely where as with a TL machine washed once per week in a BD whirlpool on slow speed, every 6 months, my shirts would be relegated to the rag bag when the celluloid in the collar would start to poke through.
My recipie for washing shirts and towels with a TL was with hot water (Which usually was warm by the time the machine absorbed the heat) Detergent and oxygen bleach, I would pretreat the collars and cuffs with a stain remover 30 mins before loading and I would soak for usually an hour before letting the cycle progress. My collars and cuffs would usually come out clean, but nothing more than that. There would still be shades of grey. Now just with detergent and a 140dseg F wash, in 1.15 I get brilliant whites with no hint of grime or greyness on the collar. It sounds silly, but you do find a new level of clean.
I agree that TL machines are more fun and hands on, who hasnt stuck their hands in to feel the currents while agitating. However for a daily driver, I'm now converted and would never wash clothes in a TL machine. I save my dark towels and sheets for that priveledge when I feel like a play.
To each there own, and I must remind myself to stop getting so emotional about such a silly thing
Hugs
Nathan
