Front Load Washing Machine

[RweTHEREyet]

princess ariel, are you saying that you use 1 1/2 Cups of regular tide in your front loader? would that be a regular measuring cup or the measuring cup that comes with the detergent? They may be the same measurement, not sure. I would think, based on what I have learned in the last few days, that amount to be about 5 times the amount needed.

 

[PRINCESS Ariel34]

Yes 1 1/2 cups. I use the cup that comes with the detergent. I purchase the Huge Tide that dispense the detergent with one push. Hope this helps.

 

[Dan Murphy]

We have had the Neptune washer and dryer for a number of years and Marie really likes them. Good purchase. Our original Maytags, from when we were first married, lasted about 26 years, making the Neptunes an easy decision.

 

[MarkRG]

Hello! I forget how fast posts move on this forum

I really don't have a wide amount experience with the current crop of residential front loaders, to reccomend one over the other. Speed Queen makes one I know intimately, and, from its example, and what I've seen of the others, they all seem to be scaled down versions of industrial washers. I would go with information on places such as the aformentioned Consumer Reports, or direct info from people like Dan! I have been seeing both Neptunes and the Sears model in a few places for doing small runs, and nothing but positive responses on both.

Now, about the laundry chemincals a bit more. I do mean you need to scale back on all chemicals, not just detergent. And yes, you can use any off the shelf detergent in this type of washer, you just need to lessen the amount. Because of the type of dispenser used, liquids do work better, but as long as you break up a tab, I see no reason it won't work either, just don't stick a whole one in the dispenser. A good visual gauge would be that you have just a small amount of foam on the surface in the first wash of the cycle. If the cylinder is filling up with foam or it's beginning to look like an old rerun of I Love Lucy, you've got too much soap As an example, the 60 pound load industrial washer I pictured above uses about 3-4 ounces of industrial soap for a full load. They have specific machines that look a lot like the devices used in hospitals to meter drug injection that are, and have to be extremely accurate, to guarantee consistancy thru a day of wash loads. The level of technology in all the washers mentioned in this thread are just amazing to me.

Oh, and as a sense of scale, the washer I pictured costs about $8,000 dropped at your door

 

[RweTHEREyet]

I did my first load of "big" things like comforters and pillows last night. I did the queen comforter and some sheets in one load and 2 pillows and some towels in another load. Not a bit of noise or getting out of balance. In my old top loader, the whole house would have been shaking. I was very pleased with the results. I did re-position one of the pillows one time when I thought it would not correct itself, but that was more for peace of mind. So far, I could not be more pleased with this purchase.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

MarkRG, quick question, is there any reason you should not put a whole tablet of detergent into the washer with the clothes?

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

Thanks for sharing your experiences everyone... and for the technical info from Mark!

We will definitely be purchasing a front loader soon!

 

[MarkRG]

You're all welcome, if there's any further questions, feel free to drop on in!

Now, for the tablets, you do need to break them up, as they were designed for a washer with a large amount of water for them to dissolve in. Because the way a front loader fills, it's not going to get as good a shot at dissolving the tablet, so, crumbling it up will help distribute it. I don't recommend putting tablets in the dispenser, the type of flush they use is designed for liquids or powders, but a crumbled tablet should work ok too, make sure it is crumbs, no large pieces that could possibly clog it. But putting it crumbled in the wheel directly would work best.