LGWM3900 Washer Rec. Settings & Water Level

[jbrady3324]

Hello,

Long time reader of the forum and have found invaluable information. I have been using my LG WM3900 for a few years now and I have been very happy with the machine except for pilling of clothes. I use Perm Press on Warm or Hot for just about all of my clothes except for towels, bedding and delicate clothing. My Perm Press cycles are generally 30-35 minutes long with Turbo Wash enabled. Occasionally I will use Normal or Sanitary to gain access to Extra Hot. I only use powder.

I have noticed pilling on our clothes. This is likely due to the washer as I hang dry most of our clothes and then finish with a 5 minute air fluff in the dryer.

Is Perm Press the recommended setting to use or should I be using a different setting? Is it possible my loads are too small? Is the water hack/adjustment worth it?

 

[appnut]

I have a WM4200, I thnk Towels cycle uses more water. And it gives 3 automatic rinses as default.

 

[jbrady3324]

I find Towels setting to be too long with all of the extra rinses for regular clothes. I suspect longer wash cycles would result in more pilling? Or is it possible Perm Press doesn’t use enough water so there is too much friction (against the drum and other clothes) causing pilling?

I should add I wash all clothing inside out, and closed zippers/buttons. Typically I wash zippered clothing separately.

 

[appnut]

I'll give you another hin. Add 4-6 cups of water to the tub before you add garments for the load. that will "trick" the machine into thinking it's a huge load and adds additional water per fill. I do this when I use Normal and Heavy Duty in particular. Also Whites. Adding the water doubles ewach rinse cycle and can increase final spin time. As example, Whites rinse cycles is 2 minutes after it finishes adding water, will end up being 4 minutes. On Normal, each 1 minute rinse is doubled to 2 minutes after it finishes filling.

 

[ryner1988]

Reply #3

That's a good hack, but this is precisely the sort of thing that turns me off of modern machines and a major reason I'm always hesitant about them. One should not have to hack/trick the washer, it should just do what it's supposed to do from jump.

Ryne

 

[lakewebsterkid]

OP

The Permanent Press cycle is actually a good one. If you do not dry clothes, from what I understand, there is a greater chance that the 'pills' are not fully removed after washing. If you even dry the clothes once, I would expect a noticable difference. However, a detergent with Cellulase will help remove the pills and prevent them from forming. Keep us updated. 

 

[decodriveboy]

Water hack

For the OP is the water hack worth it? For myself, I am happy with it. Clothes wash & rinse to a satisfactory level and the machine is still very economical on water usage. I found the Permanent Press cycle to be pretty underwhelming on my LG (model 8900 series) so I recommend the Bedding cycle as it uses more water and does 2 default rinses. Towels will do 3 as previously stated and also has a higher water level. Not an expert, but I suspect fabric pilling may be coming from the friction of clothes tumbling over and over again without a deeper pool of water to land in.

 

[mark_wpduet]

@ appnut.. isn't your machine out of warranty? Just curious why you don't adjust it to use a little more water like a lot of others I've seen...

 

[jbrady3324]

I am going to try the water hack. Should I be concerned about settings like Towel using too much water after the hack?

Are there any powders formulated to remove pills?

 

[rinso]

I can't tell if you have a front- or top-loader LG. My top-loading LG also causes pills on synthetic and cotton knit shirts. I found that if I turn them inside-out before tossing them into the washer and dryer, the pilling is reduced significantly. They seem to get clean anyway.

 

[logixx]

Miele make Cotton Repair capsules that are supposed to be used on a long, warm cycle. Essential an cellulase enzyme soak. Don't know how effectively it would work in an American washer, unless you can get a wash for about an hour or two maintained around 100F. Being Miele, it's also $23 for three capsules.

Personally, I'm a big fan of these lint or fuzz shavers.

Miele - WA CCR 0302 L – Detergent

Miele Detergent | WA CCR 0302 L ✔ CottonRepair capsules 3-pack of special detergent for cotton fabrics. EasyOpen. ✔ Special Miele formula with Novozymes technology | Buy online now

www.mieleusa.com

 

[appnut]

No, 1.5 quarts (6 cups) causes no concern at all. Towels cycle will be fine.

 

[appnut]

EuGene, it's a front loader.

 

[jbrady3324]

I have a front loader. I just completed the water adjustment “hack”. Super easy to do. Very happy with the results in terms of increased water level. Have not tested washing clothes yet.

 

[jbrady3324]

Decoydriveboy Water Hack

I adjusted the screw about 1.5-2 turns. The water level during the wash cycle is below the door gasket by a good 1-2 inches. However the rinse cycle is above the door gasket. Have you observed the same?

 

[mark_wpduet]

Well that's what great about LG front loaders is that they use MORE water to rinse than they do to wash...and I don't think a lot of people realize this because most people don't watch their machine do it's thing...I think they see the wash and quickly assume that's the max fill for every fill.

I've seen some videos of cycles of LG front loaders using A LOT of water in the rinse and that wasn't adjusted at all by the user... so if someone adjusts it they need to keep that in mind. Washes will be higher... but rinses will be even higher than that.

I wish I could remember the video I saw of the guy sitting in front of his washer. I think it was bedding. And it went into rinse and the water was getting really deep and he's like "Wow... enough water already".. so it was even using TOO much without being adjusted at all. I think it was one of the square door model LG's.

When I watched Eugene's video about adjusting the water level, he said to make sure you give a reference point so you know exactly where it was originally if you're not happy with it..

I think Eugene adjusted his LG water level because it didn't have turbo wash. I feel like I remember him mentioning that he didn't think you needed to adjust it at all with models that have turbo wash.

 

[jbrady3324]

Turbowash + Water Level

@mark I have definitely observed the increased water during rinse. I decided to turn the screw back a tad and now the water is right at/below the door during the rinse cycle. Occasionally slightly above. I have run about 3-4 wash cycles now on Perm Press and Towels. The clothes/towels lift and fall and everything is coming out noticeably cleaner in terms of smell, vibrancy, and softness so I think I have found the sweet spot although I may turn the screw back a tad more. Based on what I have observed so far, I do think LG machines with Turbowash benefit from the extra water.

I can’t make any conclusions regarding pilling just yet. I will be able to report back after a few washes of the same items.

I do have concerns about long term wear.

 

[mark_wpduet]

Long term wear: One of the giveaways is if you notice less or more lint on the dryer lint screen. When I got my duet FL back in 2005... I remember that's one of the first things that struck me...way less lint on the dryer lint screen. I really don't think that should be an issue. I've never noticed pilling but I always use the dryer.

I wonder what just 1/2 turn would do...

I'm really cautious after I tried this with my duet years ago before putting it back. It's sort of given me PTSD when it comes to adjusting them because here's what happened when I tried to do it. Hopefully this wasn't the case with yours

I turned the screw like a quarter turn...checked the level and I saw zero difference... another quarter...same... another... same...I was following the exact instructions online...after doing this a few times a change started to happen...the water wouldn't stop filling until it was 1/2 up the door... there was no in between.. It was all or nothing. So I moved it back and never messed with it again...I remember when I got it back I was praying things would go back and I hadn't screwed something up royally. I was so afraid I ruined my machine.

It sounds like these are totally different...Do you remember how this worked? Say, when you were adjusting it.. did you just turn the screw all the way around right out of the gate? Or just a little at a time? I wonder if moving it a little at a time makes a difference or do you have to at LEAST turn it one full rotation? For me personally, I would only want about a gallon more per fill. No more than that.

 

[decodriveboy]

For JBrady

Hi there, definitely you’ll notice the rinse level to rise up to the window with the hack depending on the cycle. Normal does this, as it uses about 3x as much water for the rinse compared to the wash. Some of the specialty cycles will as well. I use Normal, Bedding, and Towels the most. The last two have a consistent water level regardless of wash or rinse. My hack was 1.5 turns which is more than enough. Even with the water level not reaching the lip of the drum, this is already plenty IMO as the drum is so large and deep and the clothes are fully saturated with more to spare.