Overloaded F/L

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Cycle times

Hi Hugh-
I have the Sears Kenmore HE3t (sears version of the Whirlpool Duet). It is huge both inside and out. It is the (U.S.) standard of 27 inches wide, but is taller and deeper than most other machines. The tub is very large so tumble action is good. Cycle times are quite long. The cycle I use most is Heavy Duty which takes an hour and fifteen minutes by the time I add the extra rinse and extended spin. If I want to make sure my whites get washed in HOT water, I must use the Sanitary cycle which takes two hours and heats the water to over 150 degrees f. I have a love hate relationship with this machine. I do love the heater, because our crummy solar water heater just don't cut it for me-I like water that is piping hot at all times. I love the super fast (1200 rpm) spin dry as clothes dry super quick on the line ( I use my dryer only once in a while). I do wish it could do what it does just a bit quicker sometimes. I even tried going back to a toploader for a while-see my thread "Switching back to a Classic"
 
Guilty as charged!

I admit it....I sometimes overload the washer! I just want to get the laundry done. Remember, I am using a Maytag Dependable Care and not the Frigidaire 1-18 (Austin won't let me touch it). In that scenario, washing is a chore - not a pleasure. I do get excellent results even when overloaded (urp). Since I use detergents containing phosphates (gasp), I start the wash cycle, then let them soak for about 20-30 minutes. I then continue with the wash cycle and VOILA....lots of clean clothes!!

Jon: would you consider crafting a Frigidaire futon? ;-)

Steve, Louis, and Pete: Sounds like you all had a terrific time. I'm sure there is never a dull moment around Steve! LOL

Venus
 
Venus, I'm shocked!!! I'm afraid I seriously have to consider whether I can let myself talk to you after hearing your very shocking revelation.... LOL!!! But, knowing that you *only* have to use a Dependable Care... I think that kinda excuses you, only because you have a 1-18 in the garage. However, I do see Austin's reasoning about the 1-18 - if my mum even breathes next to my Miele I'm there like a shot ushering her away! LOL. Although, my mum always likes to boast about the fact her son has banned her from the washing machine! :-)

Steve,

They maybe room for a single mattress on top of the machines, but I hate to disappoint you in that there isn't enough room for two!! LOL. Of course, if you feel let down, you could always buy another 3 washers, and lay a double mattress on top :-). Oh, and the Fairy - it has gotta be the best detergent name around!!! I think mum using Fairy on my clothes as a kid has made me turn out this, camp, lets say :-). But, alas, it can't be any more gay than this detergent...

Take care all,

Jon :-)

6-14-2005-15-48-6--lavamat_jon.jpg
 
Quote: but I hate to disappoint you in that there isn't enough room for two!! LOL

Is that an invitation?

If it is, hold that thought till you are firmly entrenched in your 22nd year.

HA! There are two ways to a man's heart. You'll have to ask Peter and Louis ....I can definitely cook (in the kitchen). LOL ROLF LMAO.
 
Hi Folks,
Thanks everyone for your input. From what is being said it does appear that US front loaders are indeed much faster and considerably larger than their European counterparts. Yes indeed frigilux the Whirlpool top loader has no internal water heater whereas virtually all UK front loaders do have internal water heaters and of course this does lengthen the cycle times.

Jon, I like your superb Miele Honeycomb Care machine and I am delighted to hear that you do not overload it. The front loader that takes so long for me is the Hotpoint Ultima 1600 Super Silent which I bought because of its brushless induction motor which is indeed very quiet. The standard hot whites cycle times on this machine vary with load size and incoming water temp but the cycle is always a minimum of two hours. I also own a Dyson Contra Rotator which does complete a 7Kg whites load at 85ºC in 70 minutes and provides superb cleaning. I think you would like the Whirlpool top loader there is nothing quite like an agitator machine washing but I would say it is a bit too big for a bedroom.

Steve, 3 machines wide is enough room to put a mattress on top. Now there’s a great idea 3 machines all on a 1600 spin could be a lot of fun. LOL

Regards.
Hugh
 
I never overload; in fact I sometimes find myself guilty of "underloading"! There is a happy medium between the two, however. The WW Dual-Tumble, my only FL, has a small tub (about 10-12 lb. capacity I believe), but holds more than meets the eye (which, I have found, is pretty much true with most FL machines). One of these days I'm going to measure out a "capacity load" and see how it washes.

Jon, I believe most of the 240V direct-drive Whirlpool top-loaders are 27" wide, however, you may be in good shape if you can find a 24" model (although the tub, which is narrower, holds less than its 27" counterpart). If you think 27" is big, remember that their belt-drive predecessors are 29" wide and around 200 lbs!! But despite their appearance, they are very light-weight machines (around 150-160 lbs. I believe) compared to FL's, and have easy access for servicing and to see the mechanical workings inside. Since they have an agitator coupled to a transmission and the high spin speed is 640 RPM, they're interesting machines to watch if you're used to an FL or Pulgitator and 1000 RPM spin speeds!!

--Austin
 
Did I mention that most of the wash was done at ATC -cold
(Automatic Temperature Control) so the incoming cold water was tempered with some hot.

Louis shook his head at disbelief at the low temperatures we use here.

Ah do you guys wanna S _ _ T yourselves?

(This one is for you Laundress, and for you Venus so LISTEN UP *LOL*)

I received a most gracioius set of gifts. Dutch powdered laundry detergent, Zeolite, phospates and all. And
just to cover the rest of the bases, a HUGE vial of Holy Water from a religious site in Holland. I SO KID YOU NOT.

Trying to tell me something Louis?

LOL ROLF LMAO.

Many have tried to purge the demonic.. few have succeeded.
 
Of course, what one musn't forget is that I have a dryer stacked on top of the AEG washer... so if I want to lie a mattress across washers that means I have to buy 2 more LOL.

I'll have to clear this up with my parents first; but if I did get a Whirlpool TL it will probably be the LSQ8000, which is a 27" model (they do sell a 24" model too but it only has 3 dials - no extra rinse switch which is an important feature for the family wash). And it would probably live in the garage too - no room in the house :-(, and I do kind of need space for wardrobes and a bed in my room LOL. They are also really really cheap here (like £300), compared to £450 that I paid for the AEG (which was then reduced from £700) and £660 for my Miele (which was reduced from a staggering £1100 or so). I doubt I'd use the TL as a main machine - you just can't tear me away from a good old 60 or 75*C wash!!, but all the same it'd add to my fun, and I'd like to get one now rather than later, in fear that TLs may very well be different in terms of energy efficiency and that, and the prospect of more toploaders being Energy Star. I want a water hog :-). Of course, if it goes in the garage I will also need to get a water heater of some sort to go in there etc :-).

Hugh - how do you find your Hotpoint Ultima? The shop that I work at is seriously considering dropping the new WF series of Hotpoints, we've had 15 Hotpoint washer returns since May when they were released; when before that I think only 1 WMA Hotpoint had been returned in 4 years! It really is a shame to see a brand such as Hotpoint, which used to produce IMO quite good washers, be abused by Indesit etc. Did you know that Hotpoint internals are now actually Indesit? BTW how do you find the Contrarotator? I must admit I wasn't too impressed with the general appearance of them, but I would love to see one in action as they seem so fun! Do you have any pictures to share? :-) Oh, and how do you compare the spin of your Whirlpool toploader to the 1600rpm spin of the Hotpoint?

As far as loading goes; I've found that even if the drum appears to be stuffed full when it is initally loaded; it is often compacted down due to the water in the wash; and is even more once they reach the deep rinses of my Miele. I do stuff towel loads in sometimes; but I find they always clean well, and still only take approx 1:20 for a 60*C wash, which for a Euro washer is good. (Bear in mind that includes 4 rinse cycles too). Anyway I've attached a pic at the bottom of this post which shows how much loads compact down with the deep water level.

Steve - 4 years 7 months and 1 week, but who's counting :-D

Take care all,

Jon

6-14-2005-21-15-55--lavamat_jon.jpg
 
<blockquote>[color=0000ff]westytoploader said: I never overload; in fact I sometimes find myself guilty of "underloading"![/color]</blockquote>
That's what I thought on the PP load we did in the 'tag. {grin} But then again, that's about what the F&P would come up with when using the Creasables option.
 
Hi Jon,
You’re a man after my own heart, a perfectly loaded machine and not even a fingerprint on the chrome door.
I don’t like the Hotpoint, it is way to slow for my liking it lacks quality, although its induction motor is very quiet and smooth it is not enough to compensate for the flaws. I have had it for 6 weeks now so probably to late to return it.
The Dyson although rare looking to say the least is a truly superb design and very well made, it has the best spin efficiency of all my washers including my Hotpoint Supermatic De Luxe Twin Tub which spins at 3100 RPM. The Dyson washes superbly with fast cycle times and is very quiet on top spin; you do hear the gearbox when its contra rotating but its not noisy as such just sounds a bit unusual.
All the best.
Hugh
 
Cycle times

I have recently replaced my old machine with a slimline Hotpoint TL and am AMAZED at how long it takes. The 'quickwash' cycle takes 90 mins and I find that it is more that sufficient for virtually all washes. My old machine could do a hot cotton wash quicker than that. I can say with some shame that I am guilty of occasionally overloading my machine but I am quite selective about it. Ideally I should only wash 5 or 6 workshirts in a load but I frequently do 10 at a time and they still come out clean. I would never overload things like towels 'cos of the additional strain it puts on the machine.

Jon : After much experimenting I have established what is, to my nose, the perfect combination of detergent and softener. It is Fairy Liquid and Lenor (the yellow one only). It is such a sexy smell and lasts for ages. Have you tried the new Persil with 'hint of Comfort'? It is very reminicent of the old pre-biological Persil, when it was a true 'soap powder' circa early 1970's. VV good
 
Hoovermatic,

I *LOVE* Persil with Comfort, that's one of the detergents I'm using at the moment. I love the almost vintage smell of it - it smells like what washing powders should smell like! Same goes for Fairy too. Although, I've found that the Fairy powder and tabs smells nicer - the liquid seems to be fragrance free to me (although in the bottle it smells like Fairy used to!). I'm more of a Comfort person - my favourite is definitely Comfort Blue, followed by Pure and Lily & Riceflower. I've got a bottl of Lenor Spring Awakening, but not really used it that much, but I liked the smell of that too.

Steve,

They are actually my sisters panties :-S. And I only have the one pink T shirt thank you very much LOL - although I do have a purple one too - does that count?? :-p

Take care guys,

Jon :-)
 
I've never seen a machine that could be loaded to its rated capacity and wash properly, and that includes the biggies at the laundromats. I checked this out by weighing loads on a platform scale and found that actual capacity is usually 50-60% of rated capacity. This is not terribly surprising, nor terribly bad news, it's just an empirical factor that can be dealt with.

What I typically do: For front-loaders, i.e. at the laundromat: best bet is to not load above 75% of actual drum volume, and 60% is better (slightly above the centerline) for getting the best washing action. For top-loaders (the Hotpoint auto and the Danby twin-tub), loosely-loaded to about the waterline level or slightly below: drop the stuff in until it comes up to the right level.

Overload story #1: When I lived with my folks, I got used to a certain amount of laundry being a full load (big top-loader, can't remember the make/model). Went to college, with communal coin-ops in the dorms. Tried to put my normal load in the first time. It hardly moved. That was when I discovered that washer tubs come in different sizes:-) The ones in the dorms were about half the capacity I was used to. I quickly figured out what the problem was and didn't repeat that performance.

Overload story #2: On a trip to the laundromat last year. This cute hippie-looking couple come in with a big hippie backpack full of laundry. Somehow they manage to cram most or all of it into one of the smaller FLs in the laundromat. Along with lots of detergent, to be sure. This I discovered when I heard the motor groaning, and went over to look. It was compacted in there in such a manner that it would have surprised me if the water ever made it to the center of the load. Hey, at least they saved on dryer time!:-).
 
Under v Over

The rule of thumb when loading a FL is (according to a very dominant German trainer from Siemens in the 80`s) was to load cottons to the top of the drum with space to slide your hand over the laundry at the top of the drum.

When washing mixed yarns, man made fabrics etc fill to the 3/4 drum size.

When washing woolens / delicates 1/4 drum size no more than 3 large woolens etc..

works every time...

6-17-2005-02-23-53--chestermikeuk.jpg
 

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