<p>I envy the Miele, but have a GE front loader that is now 13 years old and running beautifully! I have never wiped the gasket or had to run vinegar or anything else thru it for smells (and heavens knows I am sensitive to anything that smells “off”) I just leave the door ajar after each use and have never had a problem (maybe since I use it almost daily it doesn’t have time to get musty!)
When we moved I needed more room in the laundry area and discovered the full sized front loader washer and full sized (although it claims to be large capacity!) dryer were stackable…very nice! Dryer and washer were bought at the same time so both over 13 years old…(I’m now knocking on wood as maybe I just jinxed my washer!!)</p>
<p>Dittoing the Bosch. I have both the washer and dryer. I also do alot of my loads on the quick wash cycle - 25 minutes - and use the hand wash cycle all the time. The extra sanitary cycle is fantastic - I wash my pillows and bed linens on that. The thought of dust mites makes my skin crawl. </p>
<p>I didn’t buy the pedestals as they were something ridiculous like $400 a piece. </p>
<p>I also love that the dryer can sense when the stuff is dry and shut off automatically when the clothes are dry. </p>
<p>I wipe out the gasket and keep the door a jar and so far so good.</p>
<p>Also, I have to put all my lingerie and socks in a mesh bag as frequently a small item gets stuck in the gasket and once the gasket came out of it’s track. Couldn’t get it back in myself and had to call a repair person. Bosch knows this and a mesh bag comes with the washer and they recommend it in the manual - but who reads the manuals?</p>
<p>Apologies for going OT re the dryer. ;)</p>
<p>I just bought a new LG set on Black Friday as well. I deliberated long and hard between the LG front loading (red set) which was on sale for $599 each or the LG Wave Force top loading set which was on sale for $624 or $649 each (can’t remember). Both sets were initially priced the same, so the front loader was a better value. I discussed the differences between the two models at length with the sales rep. The drawbacks to the front loader was that you need to leave the washer door open to air out and clean it fairly often to prevent the mildew build-up that can be associated with front loaders. (Because of the design, the top loaders drain straight down and although it’s encouraged to clean them periodically, it’s not a necessity.) The #1 reason, though, I chose the top loader was one simple feature – capacity. The biggest front loader is 3.9; the LG top of the line top loader is 4.6. It’s huge and has no pole/agitator in the center like old model top loaders. When you do a lot of laundry like we do, capacity is a priority. It has every setting imaginable. We’ve only had it for a couple of weeks, but so far we’re pleased. It’s very quiet and has cute chimes that play a little tune rather than a loud, obnoxious buzzer.</p>
<p>I am not soliciting or work. However, I am an attorney that is representing Plaintiffs in a putative class action vs. a front load washer manu. They all presently have systemic problems that cause them to all biofilm, then mold and mildew to grow inside of them. </p>
<p>I am working with very highly qualified engineers that used to work for manufacturers. They provide the following as best way to address mold in FLWs.</p>
<p>1 Use powder HE detergent. (Use as little as stated. DO NOT USE THE SAME QUANTITY THAT YOU USE OF NON-HE DETERGENT.
2 Don’t use liquid fabric softener.
3 Wipe the door gasket after each wash or series of consecutive washes.
4 Leave the door open/ajar to cause it to dry-out faster.
5 Use hotest temp water with bleach as needed to reduce the level of mold/biofilm in your washer.</p>
<p>If you are in the market for a new washer buy a new toploader. They self clean and generally do not have mold/mildew or odor problems.</p>
<p>Spent my career in the tuxedo industry as a wholesale/retail operator (including a drycleaning and laundry plant) and as the technical consultant to the formalwear manufacturers and specialists and Benleo56 is right on the money with all of his tips. Most front-load washer issues, involving mildew/residue odors are from NOT doing proper routine maintenance, using too much soap, or from additives-- just as he mentioned. </p>
<p>It is very important to do the once-a-month bleach cycle using 1 cup of bleach inside the drum on the “clean basket” setting, if your machine has such a setting or a hottest water cycle if it doesn’t. “Affresh” tabs or an equivalent are adequate but not as effective as bleach. You also want to do a “whites” load following this cleaning cycle in case any bleach is still present in the machine. As Benleo also points out, fabric softener is also “the enemy”. (Ditto for using dryer sheets in the dryer). They both leave residue inside the drum and with a dryer it can also gum up the bearings, pulleys, etc.</p>
<p>People who switch from top-loaders to front-loaders have to understand that NOW there is a little more preventative maintenance and overall care involved.</p>
<p>Are HE washers anything like the HE toilets in the way they get the job done?</p>
<p>^^Not in my experience. The HE washers use less water <em>and</em> get the job done!</p>
<p>I’m concerned by what benleo posted. My son seems to have worse allergic reactions when he comes home since I switched to a front loader. Otherwise, I love how the machine performs. It uses very little water, almost no detergent and gets the clothes clean, but I’m wondering about mold and mildew. I did the bleach clean cycle this morning, have done no laundry since, left the washer door wide open and the inside was still damp this evening. We also were not alerted about the extra maintenance until after we had finalized the purchase.</p>
<p>I have had front loaders for ten years. About twice a week, I wash a load of white towels or sheets on the highest temperature setting with a few tablespoons of bleach (because I wash towels and sheets with a bit of bleach), and I have never had a problem with mold, mildew or bad smells. I leave the door open slightly while it’s not in use. After every load I check the gasket to make sure there’s nothing stuck in there (because 9 years ago some coins wore an $80 hole in the gasket). It’s really not that difficult.</p>
<p>I have the Bosch front loader, and absolutely hate it. I use Tide HE detergent with it. The cycles take forever. And if I put in a large load of towels (like I have been almost every day the last few weeks with both sons home from college), set it for regular wash which is 60 minutes, I will come back and find it reset itself to 1 hr 50 minutes. Clearly it does not like the amount of towels I stuffed in there. </p>
<p>I am terribly smell sensitive and find it to be moldy/mildewy smelling. I dry it out after every wash, leave the door ajar, and keep a t-shirt in the rubber area where water collects to try to absorb all dampness. No matter what, it still smells off to me, and I feel like me clothes smell. None of the men in my house notice it, but they are an oblivious group. Towels in particular don’t smell fresh and clean.</p>
<p>After two years of being unhappy I think I am going to go back to a top loader and write this one off as a bad investment. :(</p>
<p>"… keep a t-shirt in the rubber area where water collects to try to absorb all dampness"</p>
<p>My recommendation: please stop this practice since it is not a good way of keeping the mold out. Wet cotton t-shirt left in a cramped space is a much better substrate for mold growth than the rubber gasket material.</p>
<p>I never use bleach in my washer since we are on a septic system, but I do keep the washer door open just a bit, and have never had any mold issues. I use Woolite Complete (works for both HE and normal washers) and Downy softener, and once in a while check the detergent tray and wash it (leftover fabric softener can stink).</p>
<p>This thread is timely- as we are now in the market for a new washer/dryer. There was another thread about this a while back-- but I cant seem to find it. Can someone link it here?</p>
<p>For me, the most compelling reason to own a front-load washing machine is to have clothing with such low moisture content when the cycle is complete (assuming a medium or high spin speed). I hang dry many of our (better) clothing items or dry on lower heat settings and, either way, they get dried very quickly. Before with our top loading washer, I had to lay the clothing on a towel to dry or risk dripping/growing/stretching. Now I can just hang all the items up right out of the washer.</p>
<p>Itslfs: you said "And if I put in a large load of towels (like I have been almost every day the last few weeks with both sons home from college), set it for regular wash which is 60 minutes, I will come back and find it reset itself to 1 hr 50 minutes. Clearly it does not like the amount of towels I stuffed in there. "</p>
<p>As an experienced user of the Bosch frontloader, let me suggest that you’d get MUCH better results if you tried to wash less per load. Front loaders don’t use much water, and they’re not designed to be stuffed to the gills. If your towels don’t smell fresh and clean, they probably aren’t, and it’s probably because you’re overloading the washer. Try washing four towels at a time on the hottest setting. I don’t use the Tide HE, I use regular (liquid) detergent but 1/4 of the recommended amount. That works fine for me.</p>
<p>As for the mold smell, I’d lay bets your washer is installed with a drain pan under it. We had one of those… it collected water in the corners and it reeked. You’re doing everything right with the washer–check the drain pan or the drain. You might want to pour some bleach down the drain (or baking soda or vinegar (or baking soda <em>and</em> vinegar)).</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice regarding the drain pan. I am not mechanically inclined, actually from the “Call The Man” school of home improvements, so if you can be more specific and tell me what to look for I would appreciate it. And if I do have the drain pan setup, any idea if it can it be changed to something else?</p>
<p>The concept of the machine seems more contradictory to me than ever. It is supposed to be “high efficient”, yet it takes forever, and needs to do more loads than the top loader to do the same amount of laundry. I find I am spending more time than ever doing laundry with it. Very frustrating.</p>
<p>High efficiency has nothing to do with you: it’s all about using less water and less electricity. </p>
<p>As for the drain pan, look under your washer. Is there a pan that sits underneath the washer, that looks like it might hold water if the washer overflowed or something? There’s a photo here: the washer farthest from the photographer has a drain pan: <a href=“http://i490.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/rr265/garyh1227/0224laundry.jpg[/url]”>http://i490.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/rr265/garyh1227/0224laundry.jpg</a></p>
![http://i490.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/rr265/garyh1227/0224laundry.jpg[/url]](http://i490.photobucket.com/albums/rr265/garyh1227/0224laundry.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>You don’t necessarily have to get rid of the drain pan, but if it’s holding water and the water is moldy, you want to mop it up and add some bleach so the mold dies.</p>
<p>I just had a problem with a Whirlpool Duet leaky washer and I found a “you tube” video that took me step-by-step on how to open the washer and and find the drain area. It was clogged full of crap–coins, paper clips, lint, paper…and it stunk!! I was able to clean it out easily but it was still leaking. It ends up the seal of the front load washer was torn (probably by leading it too full) and the whole bellow had to be replaced. But, now I know how to clean it our for the future, Mr. Repairman said it should be cleaned out one a year.</p>
<p>My newer front load washer has a drain trap commonly found on the front, at the bottom center. (This is different than the drain pan hole that is in the center of the pan that sits under many washers.) The 4" (h) by 6" (w) door pulls down after pressing a release. You remove an inside cover and there’s a threaded screw cap that pulls out. Make sure you not only clean the threaded “cap-trap”, but the pipe that the trap goes into. I clean mine once per MONTH. The only tool you need is something to release the door with, such as a screwdriver. You can even use a thin coin. I cover the blade of my screwdriver with masking tape so as not to scratch the finish of my washer.</p>
<p>No drain pan that I can see. My machine actually sits on top of a drawer, don’t see anything resembling a pan. Can’t see anything to open up either. I guess I will have to have someone handier than my H and I take a peek.</p>
<p>As for efficiency - I certainly see that it saves water, but how can it save electricity when the cycles are longer and there needs to be more of them to clean the same amount of clothes?</p>
<p>Anyojne have an opinion on the GE’s? I can get them at a discount so just wondered.</p>