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Did any of you bother to read the instruction manual and become familiar with the controls? We've had a Maytag top load HE washer for a few years now. It has a setting for level of soil. At first, my work clothes weren't coming out clean. Read the manual and found I may be using a soil level too low. Increased the soil level for my work clothes and haven't had a problem. Only items I put on "bulky" setting are blankets, comforters, or pillows. It also does use hot water which I use all the time for my whites. Once a month we drop in one Affresh tablet and turn on the cleaning cycle. I also check the agitator for loose objects stuck like coins and remove them. They not only save water, they also save electricity by the clothes coming out the wash dryer thus less time to dry clothes.
I decided to do a little research of my own in regards to these HE, low water washers. What I found was an eye opener. The old washers had an agitator and it's called that because it used the water to circulate the clothes to the bottom of the tub where the agitator would swish the clothes around in the detergent water. The new ones don't work like that at all. The clothes in the new top loaders basically stays in the same place where you put them. The "agitator" does nothing more than to mix the water with the detergent. The detergent supposedly being more concentrated, just magically cleans the clothes with no agitation. It's no wonder my clothes come out just as dirty as they went in. I wish I could find a vid I came across that shows an HE top loader with a glass lid- the clothes never move in the tub even though the center portion or "agitator" is going back and forth. So if you're happy with your NEW and IMPROVED washer- good for you. This weekend will find me looking for hopefully a new but old style washer. This is almost a bad joke. If you have the bucks to spare and NEED a clothes washer, Speed Queen still makes the old style washer. No, it's not a water saver, it's a washer.
While not the vid I saw, this is close to what your clothes go thru in an HE washer.
On bulky the clothes move around (window on mine too) but not at all agressively....they kind of swish float aorund due to all the extra water. On normal settings they didn't really move at all.
I heard (and not sure its accurate) that ALL new washers will be HE for 2014.
Did any of you bother to read the instruction manual and become familiar with the controls? We've had a Maytag top load HE washer for a few years now. It has a setting for level of soil. At first, my work clothes weren't coming out clean. Read the manual and found I may be using a soil level too low. Increased the soil level for my work clothes and haven't had a problem. Only items I put on "bulky" setting are blankets, comforters, or pillows. It also does use hot water which I use all the time for my whites. Once a month we drop in one Affresh tablet and turn on the cleaning cycle. I also check the agitator for loose objects stuck like coins and remove them. They not only save water, they also save electricity by the clothes coming out the wash dryer thus less time to dry clothes.
Yeah, we did. And we tried every setting and clothes were not getting clean. We washed the cloth shower liner, which we always did with our old machine, and it came out still dirty (hard water marks showing on it). Wash it again; still wasn't clean. Got a non-HE washer and washed it and it came out clean.
I know it SAYS it uses it hot water, but it does not. What it calls hot is actually warm. It does not let you use just plan hot water. Again, when we got ours we tested it extensively before we sent it back. I always was towels, washcloths, etc. in hot water and it was just not possible with the HE washer. It would let you set it to hot, but you could actually put your hand in the water because it was not hot, it was warm.
About them coming out of the try almost dry. Yeah, that's partly because they hardly even got wet to begin with. And personally I don't like my stuff coming out of the washer partly dry because then it has creases that don't come out in the dryer.
Funny you mentioned Speed Queen...my parents just bought a new set and I think I am going to swap out mine for theirs if they decided to sell there house in the not so distant future.
I have a Speed Queen (with agitator and simple controls), bought it two years ago. Love it! I have no issues. It works flawlessly. Speed Queen is the only W&D still made here in the USA.
They aren't available at the big box stores. I had to go to a local mom & pop appliance store. I bought all my appliances there. They have a great service department (have only used for my refrigerator ice maker), with easy access to parts, unlike LG or other foreign made brands.
I had the front load HE and thought it was OK.
From what I read, they only use enough water to get everything wet then they spin slowly to agitate the clothes against each other. The biggest drawback I found was the height off of the floor. I ended up building a platform to raise both the washer and dryer up. The musty smell wasn't bad considering it was in a basement.
I thought I saw one with a tilted drum, not quite a front or top load... that's the one I would be interested in next.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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We had the Whirlpool Calypso and loved it the first year or two until it started to fail for various reasons. A friend had the same machine but Kenmore version and had the same problems. We recently went with a Samsung front loader and love it. I built a pedestal with storage underneath for both the washer and dryer and
it's nice to not be able to keep so many things out of site. The biggest advantage is the dryer, we are saving $30/month in electricity because the new one dries in under 1/2 hour, even towels, and the old one took 2-3 cycles even when new.
I have had my Whirlpool Cabrio top load washer for a few years now and I love it! I only use HE detergent. (I've heard that the warranty is void is you use regular detergent.) Very happy with this machine.
i have a ge top load he washer ... didn't know about the low level of water and the different type of "agitation" until i brought it home ... initially kind of skeptical about the low water usage compared to the full immersion of the old style washers but now am very happy after owning it for two years, all my clothes come out very clean (i have a dog blanket that always comes out like it's new).
I have a Maytag Bravos top loader, and it has worked fine for me. I use He detergent. I leave the lid open between loads so it won't grow mold. My chief complaint is that I can't do real large loads in it, such as a comforter. It isn't big enough. Other than that, it is fine.
I use OxyClean on whites and some other items, for max brightness. I will very occasionally use bleach. Switch to Tide or All He (high efficiency detergent) and see if your laundry improves.
i forgot to say i wash twice a week and use so little he detergent that a 100 ounce bottle of liquid tide lasts more than a year.
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