I now understand why some people were disappointed with very low water use front-loaders that didn't have a recirculation jet. The super-concentrated detergent environment of the recirculation during first few minutes of the prewash or main wash reminds one of the Whirlpool top-loaders Catalyst cleaning system. The bonus of the front-loader's version is that agitation (tumbling, in this case) can also take place during the "catalyst" action.
The low water level really allows clothes to do the perfect lift-and-drop, too.
What I wasn't expecting: I washed a load of dress and summer shirts/pants/dress shorts last night, and decided to try using liquid Tide HE With Bleach Alternative, just to see how it would behave in the new machine. I have a couple of bottles of it to use up. I was pleasantly surprised to see relatively little bubble-action in the final (second) rinse. It's not as clean-rinsing as UK powdered Persil or SA8, but noticeably better than in my former washer. Maybe that machine's higher water level encouraged such tenacious suds when coupled with very soft water.
Clothes did not emerge from the washer feeling under-rinsed, nor was the scent of detergent prevalent. And ring-around-the-collar was removed from the shirts without the aid of Spray 'n' Wash stain stick, something that was always needed with my previous washer.
I will say that the default wash times for the Normal, Casual, and Heavy wash cycles are too brief. I've set the soil level for those cycles at Max, which adds six minutes to the wash time. I can see why Consumer Reports rated cleaning at only "Good" for the washer using the default times with their highly-stained test load. The Normal cycle also defaults to the Energy Saver mode, which uses even cooler water. I've cancelled that, as well.
The low water level really allows clothes to do the perfect lift-and-drop, too.
What I wasn't expecting: I washed a load of dress and summer shirts/pants/dress shorts last night, and decided to try using liquid Tide HE With Bleach Alternative, just to see how it would behave in the new machine. I have a couple of bottles of it to use up. I was pleasantly surprised to see relatively little bubble-action in the final (second) rinse. It's not as clean-rinsing as UK powdered Persil or SA8, but noticeably better than in my former washer. Maybe that machine's higher water level encouraged such tenacious suds when coupled with very soft water.
Clothes did not emerge from the washer feeling under-rinsed, nor was the scent of detergent prevalent. And ring-around-the-collar was removed from the shirts without the aid of Spray 'n' Wash stain stick, something that was always needed with my previous washer.
I will say that the default wash times for the Normal, Casual, and Heavy wash cycles are too brief. I've set the soil level for those cycles at Max, which adds six minutes to the wash time. I can see why Consumer Reports rated cleaning at only "Good" for the washer using the default times with their highly-stained test load. The Normal cycle also defaults to the Energy Saver mode, which uses even cooler water. I've cancelled that, as well.
