Tuesday, August 19, 2008

"HE" Washer Problems - Stinky Cloths

Front Loaders,
This was copied from a post, I'm including it because this person has come to the same conclusion that I have about "High Efficiency" washers, and indicates what I found when working on our front loader. They don't use enough water to do the job.

Re: Stinky Towels Syndrome
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ripple
Those "oxy" detergents are pretty good at getting out odors. Not sure how they trap the oxygen in the detergent, but it seems to work. Maybe diluted hydrogen peroxide would work for small jobs such as running shoes?Europeans have been using high efficiency front load washers for decades. I've never heard of any massive outbreaks of staph anywhere in Europe, and I haven't seen vast numbers of people running around in dirty clothes when visiting England, France, Germany, or Croatia.The washers you see in Europe are standard front loading washers that have been around for about 60 years. They filled at least ½ full of water during the wash and rinse cycle and work quite well. Although they were very successful, they are also so expensive that they were used mostly for the commercial market. However the so called “High Efficiency” (HE) washers were developed in the U.S. and first entered the world market in 1998. HE machines use about 15 gallons (or less) for the entire wash/rinse cycle and they are the ones with the mold/mildew problem. HE washers were developed by U.S. appliance makers in response to the California drought and water shortage from 1987 to 1991. Whirlpool’s Calypso was the first HE top loader and it came out in 1998 and was withdrawn from the market in 2004 following a storm of lawsuits claiming it generated a huge amount of sludge and left clothes "stinking like dirty gym socks". The main problem was that the Calypso didn’t use enough water to wash clothes and also purge residue from the machine.I was the expert witness for the law firm that handled the complaints from buyers of the Calypso machines in California and a federal judge consolidated all the suits into one national class action and a settlement was achieved in 2006. However, the other brands of HE front and top loaders (involving nearly 50 companies) still have the same problem as the Calypso (they don't use enough water to thoroughly wash or rinse) and there are going to be literally waves of new lawsuits over these machines also.
Last edited by Dolphin 2 : July 7th, 2008 at 12:03 PM.

Things are really starting to heat up now with these so called “High Efficiency” (HE) washers.

http://whirlpool-dueling-with-duet.blogspot.com/

http://mikes-duet.blogspot.com/

4 comments:

Gilmer County Historical Society said...

I had one of these washers for years, until my house burned down, and did laundry for 9 people - several loads a day of all kinds of things from delicates to greasy work clothes. I never shut the door tight between loads, because the INSTRUCTION MANUAL for the washer said if you let moisture build up inside, mold will grow...it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why someone's clothes didn't get clean if they always closed the door after doing loads. I've been doing laundry with all sorts of washers for years and they ALL say leave the door open!
If you have a well, like I do, the HE washers are wonderful as you can do more than two loads a day with one. The get clothes cleaner than any other washer I have ever used and spin out more water, making less drying time.

Unknown said...

Will this issue cause an F20 error code?

Unknown said...

Will this issue cause an F20 error code?

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