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teachingmyown
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| Posted: April 28 2008 at 9:21pm | IP Logged
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Laundry is the bane of my existence. Stains,in particular, drive me batty. I have tried everything: stain removers, detergents, home-made detergents, home-made stain solutions, etc. I really feel that I invest way more time and energy into this task than should be necessary.
My big question, then, is whether front loaders are really that much better at cleaning. I want testimonials here!  Especially from those of you with well water who have struggled with getting clothes clean. 
I am thinking maybe I should stimulate the economy some when that check comes in. 
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In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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Mackfam
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| Posted: April 29 2008 at 1:21pm | IP Logged
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I love my front loader Molly! We got it about 2 years ago when our sad Amana exploded. I'll tell you what happened with stains in our house (and I was totally amazed,) but first a little background...we live in north Alabama. There is no dirt here - only red clay. Typically, when something is stained with red clay, it is just stained...forever. Our water source is well water, and we have very, very hard water. So...imagine my shock when I washed my son's white shirt that he had stained with red Alabama dirt and took it out of the dryer un-stained. This was not a new stain - no - this was a stain that was set and had been washed and dried several times over. The shirt was washed like normal, and when I took it out of the dryer to hang it up I couldn't find the stain!
A lot of the clothes after being washed in the front loader got a lot cleaner. I didn't change anything, most of the time I didn't even use a pre-treater. I just washed like normal. Now, if I have something really dirty, I wash in really hot water and throw in one of those color catchers (they really do work and the clothes will bleed color a lot on the hot water setting because it is REALLY hot.) I usually don't have a problem with stains. There are two boys in this house and one oil magnet dh, we find lots of ways to get dirty here. I wouldn't trade my front loader!
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MacBeth
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| Posted: April 29 2008 at 1:24pm | IP Logged
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I love my front-loader, too. It uses soo little water, and gets clothes perfectly clean (I do use Shout for tough stains).
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MacBeth in NY
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Nina
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| Posted: April 29 2008 at 1:42pm | IP Logged
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I also love my front-loader.We have the LG steam washer.It has a sanitary cycle that is great for cloth diapers.I also save money on not having to buy detergent so often.We don't have well water,but we do have very hard water in our area and the clothes come out very clean,especially the whites.I would recommend a front-laoder.
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Carole N.
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| Posted: April 29 2008 at 3:36pm | IP Logged
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I loved my front loader washer. I had a Kenmore He3 in the states and just thought that it was the best thing since sliced bread. I told my dh that I would never have to buy another washer again!
But then we moved overseas. The current washer (in our rental), is a Siemans and it has a smaller capacity. It is a bit tougher on our clothes. So I am looking to purchase a washer with a larger capacity (like my He3). I think that Bosch makes a very good washer and it is sold in the states as well.
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Kristie 4
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| Posted: April 29 2008 at 5:04pm | IP Logged
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Love my front washer. No stains- when we went to Ontario this summer I noticed how quickly my childrens' clothing got stained using my mother's regular top loader!! Makes my life easier. ALso the front loader spins the clothes much drier so that they take a lot less time to dry (and we hang everything).
Another plus is that they use so much less water!! Better for the environment and for our budget as we pay per the gallon.
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Lara Sauer
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I love my front loader and will never buy any other kind ever again. It gets the clothes clean and I get wash a load in 35 minutes and dry it in 35 minutes, even towels, because the front loader does such a great job of spinning out the water. Sometimes the clothes almost feel dry coming out of the washer!
However, you must remember to keep the door of the washer slightly ajar, so as to allow it to air dry between loads...otherwise it can start to smell a bit musty.
Happy shopping!
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Stephanie_Q
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I am not in love with my front loader at all. My problem is likely linked to the incredibly high level of manganese in our well water, but I feel like the old top-loader did a better job - or perhaps it was because I didn't have kid-stained clothes to wash at that time and I took more care to pre-treat stains before I had so much laundry to do. Perhaps a different front-loader would be better. We have a Maytag Neptune (free to us b/c it kept breaking on my MIL so my husband fixed it) and those have been notorious for being not-so-great machines.
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Fuzzy
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| Posted: April 29 2008 at 6:15pm | IP Logged
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Do any of you have a problem with soap suds remaining on your clothes from a front loader?
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Fuzzy
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teachingmyown
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So, what brands are recommended? I feel guilty even considering it because my current washer still works, although not very well.
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In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: April 29 2008 at 7:09pm | IP Logged
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the front loaders are supposed to be able to rinse clothes cleaner as well..
But that's partly the fact that you use less soap in them.
Some of the dingyness of clothes is simply from the soap left in them.. and soap attracts dirt so you end up with clothes that not only don't get so clean but seem to get dirty just by looking at them.
I tend to use half the amount of soap the box says to use anyway. And that does help my clothes rinse cleaner. Even with my top loader.
Fuzzy - I've heard that sometimes you need to wash things several times without soap to get the residual soap out of them.
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SusanJ
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I have also heard from several front-loader owning friends that they needed to run all their clothes through with no soap for a wash or two to get all the residue out and then had no problems afterwards.
Susan
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Lara Sauer
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I have a Whirlpool Duet, which was the top of the line 5 years (YIKES!) ago when I bought them! Wow! I can't believe my "new" washer/dryer set is already 5 years old!
Anyway, they are still in great condition and they have a super huge capacity. Think 12 towels at a time, washed and dried in a little over an hour...it's a beautiful thing!
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mom3aut1not
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I have a friend with 17 kids (12 still at home) with two front-loading washers. She loves, loves, loves them. She has had some issues with them needing repairs, but she loves them even so. (I have heard that if you get German brans, they don't usually need repairs.)
In Christ,
Deborah
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Front loaders that much better?
