Long cycle times for full loads... short cycle for half load
I understand you want to go back to top loaders because in your case it would be more of an ergonomic choice... although I'd personally find it more disruptive because of the way I'm organised to do my laundry... but let's not go into that.
If that was the only reason for your claim, then, well… I guess… I can only zip it... but claims about wash times and other unfounded claims made by some repressed automatic users are just unacceptable. If your particular model of front loader lacks some facilities commonly found in most other front loading x-axis washing machines... then I'd say... trash that machine and get another FL.
FL are all about the art of washing... every single component... or rather every single inch of its entrails is designed to serve a specific purpose for pampering your laundry delivering unparalleled cleaning and the best treatment for your most precious items, the least impact on your pocket as well as the environment and to top it all off it even adds a touch of style to your living space (although the latter might be less important).
There are quite a few processes going on in you FL every time you press the start button: the superior and comprehensive dynamics involved in the cleaning process are more than meets the eye: the drum motion provide tumble action which gently allows all fibres in your textiles to expand and contract during the lifting/falling operations; the back of the drum is designed in a such way to provide an additional cleaning action by extreme gentle scouring enabled by the falling of the clothes past it, and even the deemed insignificant glass bowl wards off the load while simulating a very gently scrubbing action. The tumble action would be replaced in the case of a 'full to the brim' load by a gentle time enabled filtration (hence long cycle times).
All of the properties I described above will have different effects in combination with the size of the load. If you have a particularly grubby batch of garments then you will have to allow all these actions to be combined by reducing the size of the load to 3/4 or less. If you pack your front loader full with clothes (up to its max capacity or more) then you will have to lower your expectations in regards to washing a heavily soiled load as some of the cleaning actions I was describing above will not occur, still, you'll be able to benefit of some kind of filtration achieved by the water and the detergent contained in the tub which will go through the clothes as the drum rotates as well as the gentle scrubbing properties of the drum front/back: these agents in combination with long cycle times are capable to wash a normally/lightly soiled load without damaging it (should this scenario be allowed in a TL V-axis washer shredding/tearing would most definitely occur).
Contrary to what some folks have suggested... you can safely choose the longest available cycle with a full load of clothes in a FL and rest assured that wear and tear will not happen (just think of a dishwasher spraying water over static items for hours... when clothes are packed they are nearly-static in respect to the drum action which is likely to yield results relative only to the existing water being circulated through the items by means of the g force given by rotating/lifting/falling). Should damage occur in this situation (rare) it can only be attributed to the fact that some items might not be fully contained by the drum during the spin cycle (with an over-stuffed drum) resulting in continuous beating against design protuberances within the rubber bellows (like the clothes retainer you mostly find in the upper part of the seal).
The cycles lengths are all there... why should these be regarded as a minus... most models offers a wide range of cycle lengths (short, medium, long), it's up to the user (hopefully with a minimum of commonsense and know how) to choose the most suitable for their laundry needs... granting that front loaders’ short cycles are still longer than top loaders cycles by a few minutes... or even a quarter of an hour... I’d say: what difference does it make if you have to spend 3 times as much for drying poorly spun clothes? I know... I know... there are TL machines out there today which spin up to 1200rpm... but only the top ranking ones.
Yet… if you don’t like long wash cycles… or you can’t set your washer on a timer or time delay (guess what… you can have you clean laundry first thing in the morning) just don’t bother with them… do your laundry on short cycles and fill the drum ¾ max (same old problem… your washer hasn’t got short cycles… well, it sucks… but just like anything else, within a given range of products there is always a stock of different options available/unavailable across the range: in other words not all FL washers suck... like... I guess I could say the same for TLs).
My 1 penny (energy efficient) worth!
