Originally published on April 28, 2019, I’ve added some additional material and significantly expanded on my original comments and explanations.

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Front Load (F/L) washers use much less water and energy, yet clean better and are gentler on clothes.

• ENERGY and WATER SAVINGS: They use much less water than a top loader; this  also means less water to heat, thus also saving energy as well as water.
•  CLOTHES LAST LONGER: Front load washers are gentler on clothes and give superior cleaning. Plus, the absence of a harsh agitator puts less stress on fabric, resulting in less breaking of fibers. The tumbling action cleans better and does less damage. You can see this effect by the reduced lint in a dryer filter.
• WHY DO FRONT LOAD WASHERS CLEAN BETTER?: A conventional top load washer only actually cleans when the vanes at the bottom of the agitator snag the clothes and swish them back and forth; the rest of the time, the clothes are just soaking. A front load washer is constantly tumbling the clothes through the water. This constant tumbling action, plus the gentle abrasion from clothes rubbing against each other, leads to constant cleaning action for the entire duration of the wash.
• HOW ELSE TO FRONT LOADERS SAVE ENERGY?: Front loaders typically have much higher spin speeds than top loaders. Thus, they spin out more water before going into a dryer; this means faster drying times using less energy.
• WHAT IS HIGH-EFFICIENCY (HE) DETERGENT, AND WHY DO FRONT LOADERS NEED IT?: Front loaders (and other low water use washers)  require high-efficiency detergent because it is low suds-ing. Low-suds detergent takes up less water to make suds (bubbles/foam), thus leaving more water for the actual cleaning. Low suds-ing detergent is a major way that front loaders can do better cleaning with less water.
• HOW CAN I PREVENT MILDEW FORMING IN MY FRONT LOAD WASHER AND AROUND THE DOOR SEALS?: All washers have some propensity to mildew, and F/L washers are a little more prone to this problem. You can avoid mold and mildew by never fully closing the washer door when it’s not in use. If you don’t want to leave the door wide open, this can also be accomplished by leaving the washer door ajar when not in use. (BTW, top loaders should also keep the lids open for the same reason.)
• WHAT IF MY WASHER DEVELOPS MILDEW?: Modern front load washers usually have cleaning cycles, and the user manuals usually address this problem. In my personal experience, if you just have a mildew problem on the front washer seals, you can resolve this problem by putting a bit of disinfecting bleach on a rag or paper towel and wiping down the seals that you can reach. Be sure to also wipe inside the folds of the seals.
• MY WASHER IS PLUMBED TO BE ON THE RIGHT AND MY DRYER CONNECTIONS ARE ON THE LEFT. WILL THAT MEAN FOREVER GOING AROUND THE WASHER DOOR TO LOAD CLOTHES INTO THE DRYER?:  Not necessarily. Dryer doors can be flipped to open to the left (the same as refrigerator doors), but washer doors cannot be swapped. That’s why, when I was selling washers and dryers and presented with this problem, I sold my customers extra-long water, and electrical/gas connectors. I then instructed them to put the washer on the left and the dryer on the right, and simply criss-cross the connections. In over 10 years of recommending this, no customer ever reported being unhappy or having a problem with the result.

AS ASIDES:

• F/L washer capacities are listed in cubic feet, just like top load washers, but this is not necessarily a true volume. In an old example, the physical volume of a top-loader tub may be 3.1 c.f., but the agitator takes up about 12% of that, meaning that the usable volume is nominally more like 2.7 c.f. The original classic front-loader (White-Westinghouse) was rated a 3.1 c.f., but was physically a 2.7. It’s about comparability of load capacity, but in fact, the smaller actual volume of a F/L is much more useful and effective in the absence of an obstructive physical agitator. (You can effectively wash a small comforter in a nominal 3.1 c.f.-rated F/L washer.) This is not so different from how TVs are measured diagonally because picture tubes were originally round. Additionally, modern front load washers are often much larger than their top load counterparts, and can often wash king size comforters without a problem in the absence of an agitator. (In my opinion, no high-efficiency top load washer will clean as well as a front loader, especially bulky items like comforters. The agitator disk at the bottom simply doesn’t turn over the laundry as effectively as the tumbling action of a front loader.)

  You can get more information of washer tub sizes and size calculations here.

• NEVER DRY ANYTHING ON HIGH. High heat shrinks cottons, even if they have been pre-shrunk.  Also:

  • High heat ruins elastics in underwear, socks, etc., shortening their useful life dramatically.
  • Even if a cotton or other garment won’t shrink in high heat, the thread stitching likely will. This is often what causes puckering in the shape and hems, even of towels and other items that you might think are fine in high heat.
  • In short, never dry above medium heat unless there is some compelling and overarching reason.
• ABOUT FABRIC SOFTENERS: If you like using fabric softeners, be aware of the drawbacks. Whether you add fabric softer in the wash cycle or as a dryer sheet, the effects are substantially the same. Fabric softeners work by coating your laundry. In the case of items like towels and wash cloths, this will create a residue coating that over time that will inhibit their absorbancy.  If you value cotton clothes for their wicking ability, fabric softener residue will  inhibit that action also.  If you add fabric softener as a dryer sheet, you compound the problem by also coating your dryer filter over time. This inhibits the flow of hot air though the machine, thus using more energy and taking longer to dry your clothes. When I was selling laundry machines, I was taught that you can test for this by running water through your dryer filter. If you have a residue  problem on that filter, water will not easily pass through it; washing the dryer filter with water and perhaps mild dish soap can remove this coating. Presumably, you can also remove fabric softener residue by washing clothes without using fabric softener.

I hope you have found this guidance helpful. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please leave a comment on this blog post.