More Water Please!!!

[rinso]

Ladies and Gentlemen: Trust your instincts! There is simply not enough water in most energy efficient machines to reap the kind of wash performance we were used to back in the TL and Westy FL days.

CR once said that a FL machine cleans clothes by lifting them and dropping them in a small pool of suds. They obviously weren't looking through the glass very well. The only pool I see in my HE3 is the one that remains on the door seal.

To me, what appears to be happening is that what small amount of water is used, rotates up the tub with the wad of clothes. Then the clothes wad often ends up dropping on a hard surface instead of in a nice "pool of suds/water." Maybe that's why we hear about the pound with a rock analogy. In older FL machines, you hear and see the clothes splash in the water. In today's machines, what you hear is more of a slop sound.

I still have to wonder why bearings are such a problem with today's FL machines. I had a 1979 W-Westy that is still running, and has never had a bearing failure, and it fills with a reasonable amout of water. (Although it has been somewhat of a rust bucket.)

 

[toggleswitch]

Sin Agua No Puedes Lavar.

It may become illegal to SELL a top-loader in the US. But it is not illegal to BUY one or USE one.

Cananda, here I come. I've got shopping on my mind.

 

[foraloysius]

It's silly to forbid selling a certain type of washer, even in Europe we don't think about that. Put an energy label on it and the customer is very well able to make his own choice.

That said I must say that it is a bit short sighted to totally ignore the water usage. The global warming is going much faster than most people expect. Areas that have enough water now may face a water shortage in the future.

Overhere some measures are no lawn watering between sunrise and sunset and no car washing in the street but only in car washes where the water is recycled.

 

[decodriveboy]

The problem is that in America, customers are treated as if they have no ability to think and make choices for themselves.

More water than ever can be saved by limiting lawn watering and car washing to one day a week, taking short showers (get wet, turn off water, lather up, rinse), and turning off the faucet while brushing teeth or shaving.

 

[vintagesearch]

I would agree with everyone on this thread thats why in my opinion i wouldnt buy one of the newer frontloaders out now i guess the only option for me is to look for a TOL ge filter flo with great capacity other than that maybe a regular whirlpool toploader or the cabrio AGI model never,never,never a frontloader there a blasphemus washer to us! ;P

and as siad it is a good idea not to leave water running when washing dishes,brushing teeth, shaving that sort of thing, i never leave the water just running.

 

[hoovermatic]

Seems like the manufacturers of these front loaders for the US market have taken things to extremes and got it totally wrong. In the UK, we have been using FL for decades and whilst the older machines did use more water, the new machines are better (in my opinion) than ever at cleaning. I have had many different makes of machine having rented dozens of properties over the years in the UK and in Australia so have a fairly broad experience of TL and FL machines. Several of the FL have used very low water levels in fact in the Ariston FL I had, the wash water was never visible but it was there in the drum and I have NEVER had a problem with laundry not coming clean or being properly rinsed. Seems like they need to go back to the drawing board and rethink their 'water saving' strategy. It seems that if they doubled the water level in your US FL's, the customer might be more satisfied and still you would save water. Given that you are dyed in the wool TL owners I assume they did a great deal of market testing before launching these machines? Obviously not!!

 

[laundromat]

ater level adjustment/front loders

Every front loding washer has a presure valve that is adjustible by the turn of a screw.It is located in the front right or rear left area above the outer wash tub just under the removeable top.The small star screw usualy has a red mark on it.Take a small allen wrench and turn it 1/4 yurn counterclockwise.leave the top off and start the washer.If the level is down more,turn the swcrew 1/2 in clockwise and repeat the process to see how much higher the water is.If you are sattisfied,leave it be.If not,turn the screw another 1/4 inch and repeat the process . Continue this untill the water level is at your desire.

 

[logixx]

As far as I know, the benefit of not spinning immediately after the wash is that you’re not forcing dirt and detergent INTO the laundry but rather diluting it before it can be spun out. Also, hot bearings are more sensitive – a rinse cycle will cool them before they have to cope with the forces generated by the spin cycle. That’s what I’ve heard and read several times.

As far as energy and water conservation is concerned: I totally agree – no one should unnecessarily waste it. However, resent test in consumer magazines have shown that even the three rinses in Euro FLs don’t suffice to properly rinsing detergent out of the clothes. Most washers received a D or even an E for rinsing performance (on a scale from A to E). The only time a Good (B) result was achieved was when the Quick / Speed Wash cycles were tested because the load size had to be reduced to 50%.

I’d really like to see how one of those US FL would score in one of these tests – considering they only have two rinses. OTOH of course - I don’t know how much better US H.E. detergents can be rinsed out of the laundry compared to their European counterparts. Maybe they only need two rinses to be flushed away – I don’t know.

Alex

 

[sillysuds]

Top load washers

Best cleaning with top load washers and you can not beat the price.

 

[bigbubbacain]

As for the loose fitting door.......

I watched when my LG technician was here. They have a little trick for fixing that. He removed the rubber gasket, pulled out the electric lock and added a few washers to each screw on the lock. He mentioned a "manufacturing error" and the washers take up the extra space and tighten the door. It seems to help, but I sure would like more water in the tub as well. Then he tells me that in the next year or so all LG washers will have the steam option and a price reduction. How irritating!