I have a top loader, and I really like it--no mildew smell at all, works great for dyes and quilts. It has a hand wash cycle that I use for quilts. But then, my youngest son, a grown man who lives with me, does most of the regular laundry.

suehenyon wrote:
We use the Clorox washer cleaner. Our machine has a tub cleaning cycle. Our basement is damp, and we had a mold buildup on the outside of the drum of our top-loader. Since I wash our bed quilts, we decided a front loader was the best option. I also use a small towel and wipe inside the gasket if DH Mike has to do more than one load in a day.

Lotti, I didn't know there was so much difference. I just assumed it was that we use mainly front loaders in UK and the States use mainly top loaders. You learn something new every day Thank you.

With these suggestions, we must remember that most European washing machines are made completely different to the ones generally found and used in North America. When we moved to Canada my mom insisted on getting a machine with a heater as we were used to, but those were still very new and took much longer than even our machines here. In Europe most machines have only the cold water connection, and then the water is heated to the temperature set, Therefore cold = 30 deg C / 86 deg F. Warm = 60 deg C / 140 deg F and hot or in our case boiling= 95 deg C / 203 deg F.
In all the machine at my family and friends' houses in Canada or the states, they have cold = whatever the temperature comes out of the cold water tap, Warm= both the cold and hot water tap fully open, and hot= whatever temp comes out of the hot water tap, and that depends on what the boiler is set to and when it was heated up the last time, probably about 130 to 150 deg F...
Whenever I forget to explain the machine and the temperature difference to visitors from overseas, we end up with lots of shrunk, and often some ruined clothing...
But, the warmer temperatures also mean we can get away with a lot less chemicals (never use bleach & rarely need stain removers), the whites generally remain white, and towels, cleaning rags, bathroom carpets and tea towels, etc get clean and 'sterilized' because they are truly 'cooked' till all the bacteria are dead.

Just saying: as we are such an international forum, make sure you are comparing apples with apples, and not apples with pears... They might look similar, but are completely different fruit

yes, some times i chatch my self laughing of those mistakes, cant argue that my brain is one of a kind

PosyP wrote:

wish my hard drive was as clever as yours, Becky

with my dyslexia, i read "with my DH - HD - so i translate it in my head to hard drive, can do the washing".

if you only wash on the really low temperatures, like the adverts on tv over here keep telling us to, then it is possible to get a build up of the mildewy smell. All you need to do is run a boil wash every so often and that fixes it, and it is probably better for the towels or sheets to be washed at the hot wash anyway in my opinion. A run through with distilled vinegar (without the clothes) can also help.

After the washing is done in my front load washer, I pull out the detergent and fabric softener tray and put it inside the washer, leave the door slightly open until everything has dried. So far I never had an issue with odor or mildew.

I was reading reviews on Sears about top-loaders with no agitators vs front loaders. Evidently there quite a few complaints about the mildewy smell from top loaders because they don't rinse and/or clean the load well. Dang, I wanted one for tub dyeing fabrics.

Now, the front loaders get mildewy around the gasket, but there is something called Washer Magic that is great for cleaning the gasket & takes the smell out.

idaho wrote:
Mine does!

Limbania55 wrote:

I also have the Whirlpool Duet front loading washer and dryer since 2006. Loved them. They are both in storage now though until we move back home.

I have a top loader (Admiral Capacity Plus) and a front loader (Miele Honeycomb Care) and I have to say that the Miele is the best machine I have ever had. I find the top loader doesn't really wash the clothes very well. And yes there is that added problem of having to use the hot tank to fill it whereas the front loader has a heater in the machine. But having said that, the top loader is handy for washing quilts and duvets. The combination of using an entire hot tank to heat the top loader and the amount of water it uses for rinses is a serious factor in these energy conserving times. I don't think I would buy one again. I have tried to sell my top loader but nobody in this country wants to buy it because it doesn't heat the water in the machine. And because we are a very energy conscious nation.