what? do you use delicate?

[vintagesearch]

HI everyone

hope everyones enjoying there weekend and valentines day(yawn)

So my question to you guys and gals is how many of you use the delicate cycle on your washer? while me and my friends were talkin' about laundry habits very few used the delicate cycle or even knew what delicate was on a washer LOL! some just wash certain things by hand or run the normal cycle on the "short" or "light" setting and then complain about pilling and shrinking and tearing. I use the deliacte and handwash setting often it thats what the tag says thats how i put it! and if it doesnt just to play safe i will wash it delicate or handwash setting. I guess not everyone cares or does that.

V

 

[frigilux]

I use the gentle wash action on my Frigidaire top-loader for all my dress clothes---shirts, dark slacks, etc. I don't necessarily use the Delicate cycle, which has a maximum wash time of 6 minutes.

On the other hand, I rarely use the Delicate cycle on my Frigidaire front-loader. The tumble speed is slower and it tumbles only about 20 seconds per minute during the wash portion of the cycle. When washing a full load, that's not enough action to get rid of ring-around-the-collar on my dress shirts.

I find using the Short Wash cycle (6 minutes or regular speed tumbling; 2 rinses) works very well for those loads. And tumble agitation is so gentle to begin with, that I have no problems with wear and tear on shirt collars or fading around the edges of black slacks.

 

[ronhic]

Never....

However I have a front loader...

Use

cotton 40c (100f) quick for the vast majority of clothes and towels (40m wash, 2 rinses total 68min).

cotton 60c quick for sheets (48min wash 2 rinses total 75min).

synthetic 30c quick for work trousers and some casual shirts together (20min wash, 2 rinses. total 46min)

Wool cold for wool....though I can't remember the times...

 

[alr2903]

Delicate works well for bathroom rugs with that latex backing, it does not demolish the non slip backing, or whip up alot of suds. I just give them another high speed spin, after "delicate is over". also works great if you do have any of the old school Pinch pleat drapes ( we have them in a spare room) delicate will keep those pleats nice and not all bent up. I have never used it for any of our clothes.

 

[brettsomers]

Yes, in a top loader (like Maytag) Gentle Action is great for cotton blankets and fragile bath rugs. You can let them stew for a full ten minutes and not worry about shredding. I always used Gentle Action for washable sweaters and slacks too.

I rarely worry about wear on clothes when using the commercial Dexter FLs.

 

[brettsomers]

What i wonder is: am i the only one who uses Gentle Action when using low water levels? Regular Action on low water level is just too violent IMO.

 

[tolivac]

When I had my "Shredmore" DD washer used to use "delicate" top prevent my clothes from looking like I put them into my Vita-Mix.But the turnover was LAME!

 

[gyrafoam]

Oh, I don't like to use a regular speed on low water level unless I am using a reduced washtime and/or the garments are pretty sturdy. Besides, with my penchant for using Mexican detergents, the risk of sudz-lock is too high. The 1-18 sounds like turbo-plunging a toilet and the "Filter-Ring" Hotpoint flings every drop of water in the tub up to the lid with every forward stroke of the agitator!

I like to use Gentle for dress shirts, sweaters, blankets,etc.

 

[maytagbear]

It's my usual setting.

My usual setting is gentle wash with fast spin.

Most people have no idea how old my (very) old clothes are.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[panthera]

I agree with

Lawrence, the right agitation cleans but doesn't kill the clothes.

Except for Thumpers, those agitators just twist and beat the hell out of less sturdy clothes. Rayon is even more easily damaged than silk, so gentle agitation is a must.

Thumpers have great turnover and they don't beat up silks if you use enough water. Rayons in a thumper, even if she is Pank! is asking for trouble.

The only thing which cleans cashmere and rayons without destroying them is a FL on gentle.

Now, the spin is where, I think Europeans and Americans disagree. I spin my silks out at 2,800 in Germany as well as my cashmere and woolens. Rayon is only drip-dry spun (about 300rpm) and then carefully smoothed to dry.

 

[appnut]

When I had my DD LK Shredmore, I used gentle for everything but towels and sheets. I'm like Lawrence, I have many old clothes because of gentle. with the front loader, I don't worry all that much.

 

[animasinsulinpu]

Duet

Hi Randy. I've only used the delicate cycle on my Duet when I found a Kirby G-4 at the Goodwill for $9.99. The bag smelled like dog skank and vomit. The water level on that cycle goes half way up the door!!! But it only spins fast enough to make the bag stick to the tub. That was 2 yrs ago and it still, the vac, smell like Downey when I use it.....Bill in Az....

 

[danemodsandy]

Yep!

I use the Fabric-Matic delicate cycle on my LA 108 centre-dial 'Tag a lot. It's great for bath rugs, and I also use it for the compression hose and bandages my partner must use; he has end-stage heart failure. When washing his stuff (all of which is elasticised), I also use what is called a lingerie bag - it's a zippered, open-mesh bag that protects the contents, and keeps them from slithering into the washer pump.

The "Low Temp" and "Normal Dry" buttons on the matching DE 608 dryer (an electronic-sensor model) do an excellent job of drying these items. They come out with just the tiniest touch of dampness, which air-dries out very quickly. I use a sweater-drying rack for the purpose.

 

[peterh770]

Yes, used for darks. I admit to using it more as I get holder.

 

[autowasherfreak]

I use the gentle cycle on my Frigidaire fl for lace curtains and that's about it. Come to think of it I don't even use half of the cycles on my washer. The ones I use the most are Normal, Heavy, Soak, Permanent Press, and sometimes Rinse and Spin as a pre-wash.

 

[autowasherfreak]

I also use the Bulky cycle for thick blankets and comforters.

 

[lavamat_jon]

We've always washed most loads between Minimum Iron and Delicate cycles on our machines... very rarely do we wash clothes on the cottons cycles. The Cotton cycle only really gets uses for towels and sometimes jeans - the gentler cycle do as good a job, often in less time, and with longer lasting clothes

Jon

 

[pulsator]

I use the delicate cycle on my toploaders when the tags on things ask for it, but otherwise, I only use the delicate cycle on my Miele front loader. The only time I use the delicate cycle on the Miele is for when I'm washing something that needs a lot of water, like a full load of towels, blankets, or rugs. I wish I could get the "Sensitive" button reset to simply raise the water level on both the wash and the 2 rinses rather than add a third rinse!

 

[spankomatic]

I have used gentle cycle in the past for loosly woven placemats so they will not shred. Worked well.

Jim