Loading a Front Loader?

[timborow]

I have a GE FL set that I bought in July. What is the best way to load a FL to keep it from getting off balance? I've tried putting big things in first and small things in first, but there are still times that it gets of balance. Is this just normal for a FL and something I'll just have to get used to? I like the machines, but I am sort of missing the TL set especially with the long wash times of the FL.

BTW we are using Cheer HE and love it. It smells great, and cleans really well.

 

[washboy2005]

TBH.... Ive seen and heard recomendations on ways to load front loaders, but as they tumble action mixes the load around in the drum I've never saw the point in loading things in a certain order!
In a top loader I think loading in a certain order is more important due to the fact that the load doesnt seem to be mixed around as much as in a front loader! They just sit in the water and stir around a bit!

I've been a front load user all my life and have never loaded in any certain order. I tend to wash things seperatley though.

Sheets - heavy flannel sheets seperate from lighter cotton or cotton blend sheets, as this is likely to cause an imbalance.

Towels - never really have a problem with towel loads.

Jeans - Ive had problems in my new front loader with washing loads of just jeans. My old front loader was more sturdy and the balance sensor was more forgiving, however my new front-loader is quite the opposite. I now tend to wash jeans mixed into the darks loads for better distribution in the drum during spinning.

I cant imagine you having too many problems as your machine should have an imbalace sensor to stop things getting too dramatic!

Hope this helps.
Thanks
Many happy years washing :-D

 

[timborow]

Thanks. I'll keep trying.

 

[dj-gabriele]

I really never paid attention to the loading of a washing machine, most of the time I simply sort the clothes, get the ball of dirty stuff and press it inside the drum all at once... done that I check for leftover clothes in the path from my room that I might have dropped and then simply start the machine.

 

[toggleswitch]

I have yet to see a front-loader go off balnce when loaded medium to full. One or two items especially of different/weight/bulk/size can be a problem however.

Were all of the shipping straps and bolts fully/properly removed?

I'd alternate big/small & light/heavy, BTW.

 

[timborow]

I'll try that Toggle. It uses very little water. I think it'd work better using a little more, but I'll have to deal with that I guess. Maybe that's why it goes off balance. Yes, I think all of the shipping straps were removed. The store installed it. How could I tell if they weren't?
Tim

 

[dj-gabriele]

You can check if the shipping bolts/straps were removed looking at the back of the machine and comparing with the pictures in the instruction book, with those is fairly easy to check. Hope this helps!

 

[MrX]

It's quite simple. If your machine goes drastically out of balance you need a new one!

To load : stuff machine full of laundry and close door.

 

[toggleswitch]

~How could I tell if they weren't?

My FridGeMore had long bolts that penetrate the back and go through the machine.
The front panel (bottom) comes off and a piece of styrofoam comes out; it holds the bottom of the drum in place.
All needed to be removed before use. Perhaps someone can tell us exactly what packing/shippng provisons apply to your particular machine.

 

[washabear]

I have the same problem with my Frigidaire FL. The instruction manual says to load larger items first, although I can’t imagine how the machine would know the difference once they are all tossed around. I have found that having items of equal weight sometimes makes the balancing better. For instance, one pair of jeans combined with lighter items won’t work, but a couple pairs of jeans combined with the same lighter items might work better. That said, however, there is no rhyme or reason to what this machine decides to do. I have leveled it six ways to Sunday, and still, sometimes it balances fine, and sometimes it doesn’t and won’t spin, no matter what I put in it or how much. I hate it! I’m seriously thinking of chucking it and getting a conventional TL.

 

[timborow]

I do like my FL. However, the cycles are way too long,and as I said it doesn't use enough water. Can valves be adjusted on GEs to make it use more water, or would that void a warranty?
Tim

 

[~sudsshane]

Hi Tim~

why on earth would you want to use more water? Isn't Georgia experiencing a severe water crisis.?
I have an LG Tromm Front load washer and find the low water levels work just fine as long as you don't overstuff the washer. As for Cheer HE liquid, it is ok..but, a rip off like most HE detergents. Just to let you know, you don't necessarily have to use HE detergent. There are a few non HE detergents on the market that work great in an HE front load machine..ex: Fab Powder,Fresh Start, Oxydol liquid and believe it or not, Tide with Bleach powder! Regular Tide and Tide HE powder suds up alot more than you would expect so I would avoid them.
Make sure if you do use the non HE detergents to use about 1/8- 1/4 a cup..that should be more than plenty to get your whole wash load clean and bright!

Good Luck!

 

[lederstiefel1]

Tide with bleach

We brought a package of it from the States last year but we cannot use it in our FL at all; it foams like hell! The machine will overgo after a while.
Also we can't use it anyway as we are allergic to the perfume as I had said already a while ago here in the forum and do not like the strong smell either. Each time the whole attic "stinks" of somewhat named "mountain-spring" when hanging the clothes up there for drying! LOL
In the end we found it suitable for doing the washing of our doggy's blankets and cushions and are now going to use it up for that purpose in our top-loaders (american SpeedQueen and english Hotpoint Electronic DeLuxe 1050)!

Ralf

 

[vivalalavatrice]

Alternate!

The right manner of loading a FL (as it has often been recommended on FL owner's manual here) is to ALTERNATE big and small pieces...

It's true that tubmling the machine could reach a point of balance during the wash that can be the same until the spin...but it wouldn't be always so...

Apart from that (and this is what I said on my tesi and what I've said to anyone has asked me whether a FL were better than a EuroTL) if you tumble clothes in a drum with 1 bottom only, the other side represented by the windowed lid cause the twirling of the whole load and I guarantee you tha the biggest items will collect all the others like a "fagotto"...while in a EuroTL this doesn't happen because that drum has the 2 bottom so is not like doing a "polpetta"...

I tried them both... in the FL the bedsheets collect all the underwears you put in... in the TLHA it doesn't!

Well check out at end whether if you got some problem with the suspensions...

 

[toggleswitch]

Ma che cosa?

fagotto
polpetta

What are these, please?

Molto Grazie.

 

[aquarius1984]

Faggoto - Faggot (UK) - Meatball (English American) Faggots are what us brits call meatballs made of various offal, hearts liver kidney minced up with herbs spices etc. To add more confusion I am near Stoke on Trent (home of various pottery makers such as Churchill, Etc) where Faggots are also known as Savoury Ducks pronounced Savry Ducks. Despite sounding awful they do taste very nice! But then im very fond of Liver and Kidney anyway in most ways.

 

[rapunzel]

"In a top loader I think loading in a certain order is more important due to the fact that the load doesnt seem to be mixed around as much as in a front loader! They just sit in the water and stir around a bit!"

Not at all washboy. There is no need to load a TL in any certain order. You just throw in your clothes, add detergent and Bob's your uncle. Things get mixed around and turned inside out good and plenty, unless it's an 'overload' of course.

Greetings from Oz

Rapunzel

 

[irishwashguy]

Wow!

i am with MRX, if the machine is off balence, you need a new one. GE makes lemons as well as washers sometimes, not on purpose. That was the case with my old Neptune, it was always dancing into the wall, my poor house! It finally went the way of bye bye, and i bought a new washer and dryer that I do not have to be particuar about loading, just not to use too much soap. I have briliant results. The only place that I do not miss water is on my bill.I always recamend a little oxyclean with a load if your soap does not already have that in it. i just get the big one from Costco. As far as the long wash times, it is not a big deal, i always tell myself that perfection takes time, plus the three rinses maker sure that all of the soap is out.

 

[tomturbomatic]

There are smaller tub front loaders and larger tub front loaders. The larger tub machines can have more difficulty distributing a load evenly around the drum. The smaller tubs have less peripheral area for the load. There are certain things that are more likely to present balance challenges in either machine. Fortunately, if the tub can reach even minimal spin speeds a few times, the water that is extracted lightens the load and makes it tumble more freely allowing the load to fall out and distribute evenly.

Toggle gave good advice. In the larger tub front loading machines, larger loads of similar weight fabrics are more likely to distribute evenly. Towels and sheets will be trouble in most anything. I discovered that many top loaders will "sort" items of different weight simply because of the resistance to the water currents between heavier and lighter weight items. Sheets would often wind up on one side of the tub and towels on the other.

It is a common misconception among long time users of tumble action washers that top loading agitator washers just barely stir the load. What they do not realize is that the agitator fins produce powerful currents that move the water through the fabrics as well as move the fabrics through the water. If anyone wants a demonstration of this, watch a top load agitator washer fill for rinse and start agitating. Within the first few strokes, the clear water becomes sudsy or cloudy as the rinse water in flushed through the fabrics.