Some Folks Likes To Make Busywork For Themselves
If one is doing a load of wash say of bed linens and there isn't enough to fill the Miele, then yes will grab whatever else is in the hamper (undies, T-shirts, etc..) to make a full load. Since all our bed linens are whites and or colourfast pastels wash temp is going to be 120F to 140F anyway. This plus a decent dosage of activated oxygen bleach with a good detergent is all one feels is required. And no, am not worried about myself nor the household coming down with Unga-Bunga disease or anything else. Aside from the washing the heat of the dryer (garments) and ironer (linens) is all.
Front loading washing machines are at their most efficient in terms of energy, water and product use when fully loaded. To separate out loads based upon this or that to do many smaller washes is just silly IMHO. But again if you are the sort of guy or gal that likes busywork, knock yourself out.
Washing full loads on "Normal" cycles is actually better for most front loaders as the machine has an easier time of balancing. Small loads can and often do lead to unbalance issues which can and often do cause wear on the machine.
One sometimes thinks persons have gotten ahead of themselves just because mod cons are so frequent now along with the water and power to use. If persons had to pump or haul water, heat it on fires, use vast amounts of physical labor to wash and mangle the laundry, then hang it to dry and finally iron/fold and put away you'd see allot different ideas towards sorting and or even wearing clothing.
Off topic tidbit: Historically one of the reasons mothers/housewives gave bedwetting children such a hard time was that it took several days to wash, dry and iron linens by hand or even with a semi-automatic washer. Imagine you had done all that work planning on leaving those sheets on the bed for at least a week (yes, that was normal, sometimes longer, only those with big money changed linens everyday), and bam, on the first night the linens are soaked with urine. So now you are presented with an issue. Change the soiled sheets and create more laundry, or simply "air them out" and put back on the bed. *LOL*[this post was last edited: 7/21/2013-21:08]
