LG WM4000HWA coming Wednesday!

[DADoES]

 
The only instance I've used pods was a frontloader (a Kenmore-badged LG) at a friend's place in Sept 2023 when there for his son's wedding.  I ran three loads of this-and-that.  I had noticed that the bath linens had a moderate musty odor.  I loaded in what was in the guest bathroom, accumulated in the laundry room, and a few more clean items in the nearby linen closet.  Upwards of fist-space-at-the-top size of load.  Kirkland/Costco pods of some variety.  Tossed in two, directly into the drum, not the dispenser drawer.  Paused when fill was complete, water not slippery.  Added another.  Note that the fill level was quite low, enough to saturate the items dripping-wet and a small puddle in the drum when paused.  The other loads were somewhat smaller so two pods on them.

The bath linens came out with noticeably less odor.

 

[ryner1988]

Bob, so if I select Turbowash on a cycle on which it isn't automatically selected, like towels, it'll remain selected from that point forward? Do other cycle parameters, like spin speed/temp, stay at the desired selection, or do they return to the defaults and need to be selected again?

You say there are no spin sprays on towels/bedding. In your experience, would it be better to use other cycles for these items instead?

 

[appnut]

Those two cycles execute flawlessly as they're designed. Towels defaults to 3 rence

 

[appnut]

Bulky betting is intended for items. Such as comforters and blankets, not sheets.

 

[ryner1988]

Just did a load of towels, using the dedicated cycle. Eight bath towels, the thinner, standard size ones from Target not the big thick type, several washcloths/dish towels, plus I threw in the sweatshirts and pair of jeans that I left out of the other load. Only thing is, it doesn't look like towels provides an extra hot option, so I just left it on warm. That load is in the dryer now. First load of mixed clothes dried in just over 30 minutes, that load used to take close to 60. It would seem my 7 cu. ft. Whirlpool is keeping pace nicely.

Bob, what's a good cycle for sheets? I have three sets of full-size sheets/pillowcases that I plan to do later tonight or tomorrow.

 

[appnut]

My "go to cycle" is not Normal, it's Perm Press with high speed spin selected. Or you could use Whites cycle and change wash temp to wwarm. I always add an extra rinse since Turbowash does two spray rinses and one deep rinse in the middle.

 

[mark_wpduet]

I totally missed this. Dang.. .that was fast!!! Glad it went well. FL washers are quiet...the only real sounds I hear from mine are when it's filling and when it's spinning... that's it.. and most of the time the spins are pretty smooth...but the occasional more rough spin here and there. You may notice less lint on the dryer screen too. Give it time.. you will adjust to it...Let's just hope it operates smoothly for you for years to come.

 

[ryner1988]

Bob, I'm using permanent press now with a load of sheets. Enabled Turbowash, added one extra rinse, and changed the spin to high. At least, that's what I think I did. I kind of have to rely on knowing the defaults of the cycles, for instance that permanent press starts at a medium spin, and push buttons accordingly. Since the machine's beeps all sound the same know matter what button is pressed, I just have to trust that one push of the spin button moved it up to high. One thing that's helpful when it comes to me using this machine non-visually is that if I lose my place making selections, I can just turn it off and back on and start from scratch.

Mark, yeah I was surprised how well it went. Guys got here a bit before 11 this morning and were gone by noon. I had some other things to take care of after that, but I was doing laundry by 2:00-ish.

BTW, towels were dry within about 45 minutes, in my TL they took about 70.

The only thing that's hard to get the hang of is detergent. I'm still using pods, but it's hard to know how much is too much and how little is too little, especially with the hard water conditions here.

 

[appnut]

Good goin' Ryne!!

 

[mattl]

I go back and forth between pods and liquid.  My stuff is never really dirty so for a mid range load I use one pod and go from there.  With liquid Persil I use 1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons. I love the steam option, it got stains out that had been around for years.

 

 

Ryne, have fun with your new toy, sometimes we need not to be the adult...

 

[ryner1988]

Matt, thanks for validating my desire to just say hell with it and try something new. Due to a combination of circumstances, this is going to end up being mostly if not totally free to me, so I couldn't think of any reason in the world not to jump it.

That being said, the VMW top loader is still here, hanging out in the corner of my living room. I unhooked it last night and dragged it out here myself, so I wouldn't have to pay Lowes a $50 haul-away fee. Plus, I might still attempt to find a cheap board on eBay, throw it in there, and resell that machine for a couple hundred bucks. I practiced the removal/reinstallation process on the faulty board a few days ago, so I believe I know how to do it. If I can't get it done for whatever reason or I don't find a buyer for the washer, I'll load it onto a dolly and drag it outside. Guarantee it'll be gone within a day. So, no harm, no foul and I may even end up coming out ahead.

 

[ryner1988]

My final thoughts for the night, especially to Bob who has been actively engaged with this conversation for most of the day.

Normal cycle works ok, but something like permanent press works even better for regular laundry. It would seem that more water is used and that warm is actually warm on that cycle. Does the machine's heater engage on permanent press to raise temps to warm, not just tepid? If so, that seems like a win to me. Also, I'm a bit confused as to how rinsing works with Turbowash. On permanent press, I selected an extra rinse, but what exactly does that mean with Turbowash active? Is that one deep rinse, and two sprays? I did not select an extra rinse on towels because it defaults to three, which seemed sufficient to me.

I'd like actual hot water for my towels sometimes as I don't use Tide Professional and also want to make sure the machine stays clean and mold-free. Does whites give me the option for extra hot, which I know is just hot on older machines? Towels only goes up to hot, which I believe is just warm.

Am I on the right track?

For now though, laundry is done for a while, and I'd say the first day was a win. I love the shorter drying times in the dryer, and I can do larger loads than my top loader could tolerate.

 

[appnut]

You can pause the cycle, change wash temp to hot, and heater will come on. But may reach above 100 degrees to 105 by the time wash cycle ends. Remember max temp on hot is 112 degrees. If you want hotter, you have to seleect extra hot on Normal, or Sanitary and lightest soil to erach 130 degrees to 140 degrees. Allergiene will raise temperature to between 160 & 165. [this post was last edited: 12/19/2024-06:23]

 

[combo52]

Congratulations on a new washing machine

Hi Ryne , wow, a new washing machine and a dishwasher all in the same year.

I think you're gonna love having this front load washer. The efficiency gains will slowly take care of the cost paid for it, lots of good advice of not much more to say you can put as much in the machine as will fit or as little usually half full or better is good for these machines

What did you do with the old washer? Are you going to try to fix it after we talked? You said you were able to remove the board from the old one.

Definitely smart to keep the whirlpool dryer, there's really no reason washers and dryer should match. You should always choose the best product when picking appliances.

Good luck with the new washer and dishwasher. I hope you and Stacey have a great holiday.

John

 

[mark_wpduet]

@ Ryne - I did 4 loads yesterday and they were all colors or darks...except I had like one white bath towel and several white socks and I normally would't do this, but I sinned and threw the white towel and few socks in with a load of colors...It's like I wanted every stitch of laundry I had to be done and if I didn't do that, I would have this random towel and a few socks... for whatever reason, this go around there wasn't nearly enough whites for a full load of whites..

anyway - those dry times are crazy compared to your old washer.. I knew it wouldn't take as long but I didn't think it would be THAT huge of a difference

@ Bob

So before staring the cycle, when selecting perma press, you can't initially choose hot? In order to get hot on that cycle, you pause it and then it lets you choose hot? Am I understanding that correctly?

@ Combo 100% agree as long as the appliance is the same color (at least for me).. I literally wouldn't bother me if all the appliances were different brands.. as long as they're the same color.. I will admit having a matching set is nice though and I don't blame people for wanting matching sets.

 

[appnut]

Mark, I'm sorry my coment wasn't stated c;ear;u. bit as usual, select the wash temp as part of setting up any cycle before starting the machine.

 

[ryner1988]

Reply #32: John, I still have the VMW top load washer. I wasn't about to pay Lowes $50 for haul away so the night before the front load washer came I unhooked the old machine myself and since it's so light I was able to drag it out to my living room. It's now sitting in a corner by my TV, LOL.

You are correct I was able to get the board out and back in, so I know the process. Thinking about still buying a cheap board on eBay and trying to resell the machine. If I don't get a buyer I can just put it outside and someone will surely see it and pick it up.

Yeah I definitely didn't see any reason to switch dryers. I've always had really good luck with Whirlpool-built 29-inch dryers, it's all I've ever owned because they just work so well. Mine is a 7 cu. ft. model so it actually handles the large loads from the LG really well. After all, the matching LG dryer is only 0.4 cu. ft. feet bigger, so there can't be that much of a size difference.

 

[lakewebsterkid]

Cycles

I know I have said it a lot here, but I am not a big fan of TurboWash. Rinsing suffers. The whites cycle is great overall and is what I use 90% of the time. No extra hot as previously stated. “Hot” on my model is 45°C. I have found this to actually be good enough for most loads, though Sanitize is a great cycle if you need more heat. Whites with TurboWash cuts rinses from 3 to 1, using spray rinses during spins. Though, the interim spins are much weaker. It occasionally messes with tumbles too, and I prefer the regular ones. Bulky/Bedding is OK. Towels is good, but uses a shorter wash and higher than necessary wash water level, so not great for all loads.

Largely, it comes down to trial and error to see what works best for you!

 

[gizmo]

Hi Ryne

 

I'm glad you are liking this new LG washer.

 

Once you become more comfortable with using this machine, can I suggest you contact LG head office in Korea and give them some suggestions for future models in how to make their machine more user-friendly for blind people. For example, different chimes for each cycle or option selection; tactile controls; and so on. I also wonder if a "talking user manual" would be useful as a phone app? I'm sure you could give them several very useful suggestions, and mention to them that these improvements would most likely cost NOTHING to implement. It is just a matter of them taking the time to consult blind and vision impaired people, and then allocating some engineer time to solving the issues raised.

 

I would also point out that Samsung already have better usability for vision-impaired people, that might give them some extra incentive to improve.

 

I would also suggest that if they choose to adopt your suggestions, they could show their gratitude to you for helping them improve their product by proving you with the new improved version at no cost.

 

As my Mum used to say, you don't get if you don't ask.

 

[combo52]

Appliances for visually impaired users

Very good suggestions Chris, with Rynes great knowledge and enthusiasm for laundry appliances he could be a great asset to a manufacturer.

I would even consider reaching out to Speed Queen with suggestions. Never hurts to try. You might get a free Speed Queen who knows that would be the ultimate washer. The Speed Queen control panel with its simple design with one pad for every function would be very easy to put a braille overlay on. Maybe they already have one for it. I should look into that.

Yesterday I had a customer with a 20 year-old Maytag gas Neptune stack, the bearings went bad in the washer and it's in the basement now so the space is not a factor so we put in a Speed Queen front loader next to it. She's just gonna keep the Maytag to use as a good gas dryer.

But she just instantly loved that washer seems so sensible in design and cycle selections compared to theMaytag it'll be interesting to see how she likes it after a few months.

John