My W4840 uses enough water to clean and rinse my laundry. I have "water plus" set, but not the other setting that raises the water level for soft water. If you use too much water, the clothes will float above the drum paddles and won't be tumbled.

Frontloaders' washing action makes excellent use of the low-water washing method. A large part of the cleaning action is garnered by the items (saturated dripping-wet) slapping against the drum surface. Too much water cushions the fall ... which is why delicate cycles (woolens, silk) purposely fill higher. Raising the fill level by adjusting sensors or adding water through the dispenser drawer can impede cleaning performance.

Rinsing is a combination of extraction and dilution so perhaps can benefit from a moderate increase in fill level ... but adding an extra rinse is probably more effective since an additional spin is typically also involved to extract and drain away washing chemicals.

I'm fortunate to live in an area where water shortages, when they occur, tend to be localized. But the CA drought affects such a large area, with impact on produce prices across the country, that I don't begrudge any effort to conserve water.

And, while I'll admit to not being overly fussy about the clothes, I haven't noticed any obvious differences since switching to a HE, low water washer.

The question to ask is not "Is the machine using enough water?" it's "Are my clothes getting clean?". I often see people complain about how little water their new washers, but they keep their lips zipped about the results they are getting. If you're getting bad results, there are many things that should be checked before the amount of water it's using.

Thanks for the insight on the drum surface. In my mind, mechanical agitation of clothes and the ~water~ movement within it played a huge role during the wash cycle.

I don't know what the baseline is on how cleaner or not the clothes get with the added water versus the OEM spec water level. It would be interesting to try to duplicate similar loads, specific staining on both and see how both fared out.

I would concur with Dadoes, except that the primary cleaning action is actually the clothes dragging against each other, rather than the drum. The coefficient of friction of the clothes themselves is higher than the coefficient of friction of the smooth SS drums of most front loaders. Sopping wet clothes dragging against each other is better than just sloshing around in a big vat of water for cleaning. And as Dadoes stated, an extra rinse is more effective than just a slightly higher water level. Most fills are around 7 gallons in an FLW, while an extra inch of water may only add a few gallons of water. Each dump of the water vessel and subsequent refill lowers the chemical concentration that remains in the load.

Of course each extra fill adds about 4-10 minutes depending on your manufacturer.

Live in a water rich area? Saving a gallon in Michigan does not save the farmers in California a gallon of water. Don't fret an extra rinse if your area can tolerate it. Live in a desert, by all means, do what you can to save every gallon.

Our Miele W4842 gets the clothes plenty clean on the factory settings, but I don't trust it to rinse well enough for our sensitive skin.
90% of the time, after a cycle has finished, I run the Quick Rinse cycle.

I am result oriented. Clothes come out of my Miele 3035 wonderfully clean and they come out of the dryer in great shape and often don't require ironing.

So I couldn't care less how much water is being used. Nor would I risk messing up the sensors by adding more water.

Dude, you've got a Miele. If you want high water levels use the Pillow cycle.

Cavimum, I also love that Quick Rinse cycle. It's like insurance.

Dadoes is exactly right. The lift/tumble action of a FL that uses the correct water level will clean better than if you have so much water that the clothes just sit in a huge puddle at the bottom of the washer.

Everybody who I know that has started using a front loader has said that they clean better. Also, you don't get situations like jeans tangled up in the agitator as sometimes happens with old washers.

I don't think my clothes are getting as clean with my new washer as with my old one. It spins out too quickly after the wash cycle. It goes through 2 rinse cycles. I don't know if that is necessary or not. The stains don't come out like they used to. My clothes are more wrinkled than ever after the spin cycle.

Zackey, I have none of the problems you just mentioned. What, pray tell, model FL do you own?

@chefwong,

I don't know that I would be adding another twenty-five pounds of weight to the load. I've seen and lubricated the tub shocks on the W4840 and they likely are not up to the task over a lengthy period of time. I open up and service what I can on our unit, and can tell you that the shock unit is comprised of plastic inset and spring (for compression) enclosed in an open-ended tube. I opened the front of our unit within the first month of ownership (purchased new) and was surprised to see chaffing of the plastic insets. I used white grease to stop the shocks from doing so.

I did consider the sprung/unsprung weight when I as adding the water but I figuered it would be similar *volume* if not more on a full load. Sofar, I'm doing this test on half'ish loads as the weight/volume relative on the unit was of concern.

I have a GE Energy Star. It's a top loader.

I have a GE Energy Star. It's a top loader.

I had a front loader for 7 yrs. Prior to that I had top loaders for over 30 yrs. I hated the front loader after a month, but it was expensive and supposed to save energy. Hated that I had to stoop down to stuff clothes in and they kept falling out, also hated having to pull wet, tangled (yes they do tangle) clothes out. Put up with it for as long as possible to feel I got my money out of it. Very happy with the top loader. Have you noticed how many top loaders you see in the stores now? Still they use so much less water than the older ones. It only fills the tub half full with clothes and water, which means I can only wash about haf the amount of clothes, so where is the savings really?I always use the max fill. I don't think it's a good idea to add water. Machines were made to handle a specific amount and over time could hurt it.

I have found that I get very good washing by using the "Heavy" setting on my Samsung front loader. I also set to extra rinse and extra wash (which just increased the wash time). Also most new users add way too much soap. Remember that a front loader uses vey little water. Too much soap just increases suds and is not needed. I use the first line of the soap cup as the maximum and only for very large loads.