...and two days earlier than I had expected! I received a phone call at work from my Frigidaire dealer. He said "If you can run home and unlock your house, I'll have them in by 3:00." The phone had probably not even hit the cradle before I had grabbed my keys and was out the door.
They are a handsome pair, and at the last moment I decided to say goodbye to the top-loader as well as the dryer and front-loader. He gave me another $100 off the pair, as the TL'er is in perfect shape and only occasionally used. He'll resell it in the 'used' corner of his store.
The good news: It holds an amazing amount of clothes, and it cleans like a champ.
I should say it cleans like a champ much to my surprise, as the water temp never went higher than 110 degrees, even with options that used the heater. I was really disappointed until I saw the results, which were awesome.
The first load I washed was sheets, using the Whitest Whites cycle. It is amazing how little water there is in the tub---only about an inch at the bottom.
When you start a cycle, you hear water entering the dispenser for about 10 seconds, then a recirculating pump turns on and soapy water soaks the load. The first few minutes of the wash there is no water at all in the bottom of the tub. The clothes are fully saturated. Then it fills in a few more short bursts until there's about an inch of water at the bottom of the tub. Warm water---about 110 degrees--even when you select a hot wash. Sheets came out sparkling white.
Then, I washed a huge load of bath linens: Eleven 28" x 50" bath towels, ten 15" x 17" hand towels, and 10 wash rags (all white). I chose the Heavy Cycle and Stain Pretreat, as I'd cut myself shaving a couple of times last week, so there were some dried blood stains on the hand towels. As advertised, it filled with temp-controlled cold water, and then washed for 10 minutes, at which point the heater kicked in and it advanced to the wash cycle (no drain). To my utter shock, the water had heated to only about 110 degrees by the end of the wash cycle, even though I'd selected a hot wash.
However, I'd let it default to "Normal Soil", so on the next load (highly-stained kitchen whites plus some flour-sack dish towels which I used to wash an area of my concrete garage floor), I chose the Max Soil option, thinking it would heat the water to a higher temp with a longer wash. (It did not, by the way.) I added a Prewash (10 minutes in temp-controlled cold water, a drain and spin), then the Stain Pretreat, followed by 20 minutes of Steam. I used UK Persil Bio powder for both the prewash and wash, some Tri-Zyme in the wash and liquid chlorine bleach (which is dispensed during the first rinse.) I also opted for the extra (third) rinse. Total cycle time, about an hour and a half.
Steam Option: The washer drains and spins after the wash, then fills briefly, and tumbles for 20 minutes. I saw not one single wisp of steam anywhere in the tub. Again, disappointment. Just before the end of the steam routine, I opened the machine and the water temp was about 110, although the clothes felt somewhat warmer than the water. (The owner's manual says you may not see steam inside the washer, and that some steam may escape from a vent at the back of the washer. I saw nothing at all.)
At the end of the cycle, I pulled everything out and was astonished to find a large, old grease stain removed from a tablecloth, all stains completely removed from dish towels, chef's aprons, dish rags and bar mops, and the blackened garage floor towels all perfectly white. No chlorine smell.
I still can't explain how this was possible! I washed in much hotter water with my old front-loader, and it used far more water. The towels I used on the garage floor would have had tell-tale dark stains remaining on them with my old washer, using the same detergent and additives.
The only way I'll get a truly hot wash is to use the Sanitize cycle, apparently. I'll have to try that one on a load of whites later this week.
I also washed a big, heavy queen-sized comforter which fit easily into the machine without having to stuff it in.
The Max Fill option adds only a little extra water. Nothing to get excited about.
Somehow, this washer rinses well using very, very little water. I don't get it.
The 1300 rpm spin is awesome to watch!
Here are some pics. I'll try to get better ones later. [this post was last edited: 8/24/2010-00:39]
They are a handsome pair, and at the last moment I decided to say goodbye to the top-loader as well as the dryer and front-loader. He gave me another $100 off the pair, as the TL'er is in perfect shape and only occasionally used. He'll resell it in the 'used' corner of his store.
The good news: It holds an amazing amount of clothes, and it cleans like a champ.
I should say it cleans like a champ much to my surprise, as the water temp never went higher than 110 degrees, even with options that used the heater. I was really disappointed until I saw the results, which were awesome.
The first load I washed was sheets, using the Whitest Whites cycle. It is amazing how little water there is in the tub---only about an inch at the bottom.
When you start a cycle, you hear water entering the dispenser for about 10 seconds, then a recirculating pump turns on and soapy water soaks the load. The first few minutes of the wash there is no water at all in the bottom of the tub. The clothes are fully saturated. Then it fills in a few more short bursts until there's about an inch of water at the bottom of the tub. Warm water---about 110 degrees--even when you select a hot wash. Sheets came out sparkling white.
Then, I washed a huge load of bath linens: Eleven 28" x 50" bath towels, ten 15" x 17" hand towels, and 10 wash rags (all white). I chose the Heavy Cycle and Stain Pretreat, as I'd cut myself shaving a couple of times last week, so there were some dried blood stains on the hand towels. As advertised, it filled with temp-controlled cold water, and then washed for 10 minutes, at which point the heater kicked in and it advanced to the wash cycle (no drain). To my utter shock, the water had heated to only about 110 degrees by the end of the wash cycle, even though I'd selected a hot wash.
However, I'd let it default to "Normal Soil", so on the next load (highly-stained kitchen whites plus some flour-sack dish towels which I used to wash an area of my concrete garage floor), I chose the Max Soil option, thinking it would heat the water to a higher temp with a longer wash. (It did not, by the way.) I added a Prewash (10 minutes in temp-controlled cold water, a drain and spin), then the Stain Pretreat, followed by 20 minutes of Steam. I used UK Persil Bio powder for both the prewash and wash, some Tri-Zyme in the wash and liquid chlorine bleach (which is dispensed during the first rinse.) I also opted for the extra (third) rinse. Total cycle time, about an hour and a half.
Steam Option: The washer drains and spins after the wash, then fills briefly, and tumbles for 20 minutes. I saw not one single wisp of steam anywhere in the tub. Again, disappointment. Just before the end of the steam routine, I opened the machine and the water temp was about 110, although the clothes felt somewhat warmer than the water. (The owner's manual says you may not see steam inside the washer, and that some steam may escape from a vent at the back of the washer. I saw nothing at all.)
At the end of the cycle, I pulled everything out and was astonished to find a large, old grease stain removed from a tablecloth, all stains completely removed from dish towels, chef's aprons, dish rags and bar mops, and the blackened garage floor towels all perfectly white. No chlorine smell.
I still can't explain how this was possible! I washed in much hotter water with my old front-loader, and it used far more water. The towels I used on the garage floor would have had tell-tale dark stains remaining on them with my old washer, using the same detergent and additives.
The only way I'll get a truly hot wash is to use the Sanitize cycle, apparently. I'll have to try that one on a load of whites later this week.
I also washed a big, heavy queen-sized comforter which fit easily into the machine without having to stuff it in.
The Max Fill option adds only a little extra water. Nothing to get excited about.
Somehow, this washer rinses well using very, very little water. I don't get it.
The 1300 rpm spin is awesome to watch!
Here are some pics. I'll try to get better ones later. [this post was last edited: 8/24/2010-00:39]
......Max fill uses little extra water.......That's what I was afraid of......The Bulky cycle probably uses more. Try using bulky cycle AND max fill at the same time.....Thanks for taking the time to post all of the info.
