I also grew up....
....with a top load washer and we certainly had clean clothes - I inherited my clean clothes mantra from my mother
They are, or at least were, very reliable, though consumer magazine feedback has now narrowed this to within a couple of percentage points. i.e. There's nothing in it now.
From a repairers point of view, they also tend to be easy to work on with generally very good access, much of it from the front, which is something that most front loaders don't offer with most being serviced from the rear (Miele excepted).
From a 'clean' point of view, they can certainly do that but it is interesting to note the washing practices of many/most Top load users to that of many/most front load users. Some of this is also North America V's European washing practices.
In many cases, Top load users soak, use various additives AND cholorine bleach to ensure thorough removal of soil....et voila
The above, minus the bleach, was certainly my mothers routine and you can add in there 'hard to shift stains hit with a hand scrub with Sunlight soap' too.
In most cases, Front load users might 'spray' collar and/or cuff but then just bung it in their machine with the appropriate powder....et voila.
Actual wash time is definately faster in a Top loader (anything up to 75% faster), but then there may be the additional time where washing is soaking or effectively being 'prepped' to wash. But even the water concious machines of today still use substantially more to achieve the same results as a European Front loader.
...and there are other factors to consider too...
- Culturally, people in North America tend to do multiple washes sequentially AND run them through a tumble dryer.
- Most Europeans tend to spread washing over a week or wash at night to take advantage of lower electricity rates etc. and consider also that many hang their washing out or up inside on airers and you realise that there is only so much space which limits how much washing you can do in one hit - longer cycle times don't matter when you can only dry so much at a time.
There are many other factors I'm sure, but ultimately, it is horses for courses.
What I WOULD like to know is the actual 'useable' capacity of the machines that people use in a format that is understandable by the rest of the world. The 'cu ft' measurement system is not a good indication of capacity compared to pounds or Kilos. So, my North American friends, how about doing an experiment or 2 for 'the rest of the world' and, based on YOUR usage of YOUR machines, tell us how much you actually wash in them in pounds...
Here's what I suggest....
- Fill machine as high as you would do to do a FULL Load with highest water level...small and larger items.
- Remove items to a basket and weigh using the bathroom scales and yourself...
- Tell us the difference between you and you + clothes...
It would be good if several people had the same machines or same make/capacity but different model- we could get an average then.
It would then be useful if those of US that use EUROPEAN designed machines i.e. 60cm/24" cabinet width front loaders, did similar so we could compare our rated capacity to that which we actually use....
Much appreciated. I can certainly see the difference between the 2 here and can imagine your Kenmore having better results. But still, all I see are clothes swimming around in water, and not much agitation going on. This is agitation. 
