Facts and Myths of HE Washing Machines

CLUNK!!!!!  

What in the world just happened in the laundry room?  The washing machine just ended in the middle of the cycle, and my quick diagnosis is that the transmission just took a direct hit from a hand grenade.  The machine is pretty old, so it's time to go shopping.  Little did I know that the world of laundry had changed drastically between 1996 and 2007. 

Last time this happened, the whole ordeal took less than 3 hours.  We just bought a fancier washing machine that had about 16 cycles.  It even had hand wash, which was pretty big stuff back in '96.  The price tag approached $500 for a super nice machine.  Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy as my son would say. 

This time, we hit the usual stores and took in all the details.  2007 was fairly early in the days of consumer grade HE frontloading machines, and my head started spinning from all the details.  Sales teams are all well versed in the gospel of HE: less water, less power, and less time doing it!!!  Oh, and spend at least twice as much.  Hmmmmm.  We opted for an offsite meeting at Applebee's to digest all this new info and make a decision.  Happy hour appetizers usually help out with this kind of thing.  Since both of us were pulling down a paycheck (yes, we were DINK's back then) , we decide to spend the bucks and take the HE plunge.  The model we picked was the Frigidaire Affinity series, which a good middle of the road brand.  If you've got more money, step up to a Bosch set.  They actually have suspension built in to make the spin cycle quieter.

After getting to know the new machines and doing research along the way, I've assembled the facts and myths of HE machines.

First the facts.

FACT #1:  Although it may be more aesthetically pleasing, a new dryer is not necessary with a new HE washer.  They don't make HE dryers, but a matching dryer is usually much larger than your run of the mill dryer.  We bought one, because we had the cash and it looked way cooler than my old one.

FACT #2:  A good deal of profit margin is built in, so be prepared to negotiate for the best deal.  We picked a locally owned store that gave us good pricing and some extras. 

FACT #3:  HE washers and dryers are built to sit on pedestals.  Very expensive pedestals (about $200 each).  In theory, you could set them on the floor, but the reality is that you need them.  Otherwise, you're crawling on the floor doing your laundry.  The store threw in one of these for free. 



Pedestals = very expensive storage drawers

FACT #4:  The units use less water.  According to the marketing material, a full load uses about 15 gallons, compared to 40 gallons for a conventional washer.  I had some trouble benchmarking the water usage, because my first son was born at about the same time.  Our water usage didn't seem to go up much, so the washer and baby must have cancelled each other out.

FACT #5: They will save you time and electricity.  IMHO, this is the greatest benefit of all.  The drum on the washer spins water out of the clothing at around 2,000 RPM's.  If you're sitting in our basement, the sound is similar to a helicopter landing on the roof.  Not a good idea to wash clothes while people are trying to sleep, but the clothes really do come out drier than conventional machines.  With the old setup, drying a normal load took at least 1 1/2 hours, and a big load of towels could take longer.  No joke, even  a huge load of towels takes no more than 45 minutes to wash and 50 minutes to dry.  Sound too good to be true?  Believe it.  Our record is 12 loads in a single day.  Since the dryer is a big consumer of electricity and runs about half as much as before, it's a no brainer that you're going to save power.

Now for the myths.

MYTH #1: HE detergent is needed.  Remember the tidbit of using less water?  Less water = less detergent, right?  Imagine my surprise when I found out that HE detergent is the same price for the same amount of loads.  The detergent makers say that HE detergent is specially formulated to clean better with less water and produces less suds.  Some units will even tell you that conventional powders will void your warranty.  WARNING! USE THIS INFORMATION AT YOUR OWN RISK.  What in the heck did laundromats use before HE detergents became available?  I found a post by a laundromat dude with the answer:  "We used less soap".  For a normal load, about 3 tablespoons of conventional powder (Tide Free) does the trick.  You'll need to adjust the amount based on load size, because the washer senses the size of the load and uses less water for a partial load.  A new box of Tide lasts us a long time, and I've been running the same stuff in our HE unit for years.


One time the dishwashing detergent came
with a scoop that was the perfect size!

MYTH #2: HE washers don't clean as well as traditional units.  Our 2 and 5 year old boys test this myth on a weekly basis.  For the little buddy clothing, we add Oxi Clean powder to the detergent tray, select an additional rinse cycle, and treat the tough spots with Oxi Clean spray.  Oxi Clean has powerful enzymes that do a great job of breaking down pretty much anything yucky in the laundry.  Be careful about getting Oxi Clean spray on your fingers.  The enzymes can also start breaking down the skin on your fingers like it did to me one time.  Be careful with the spray and wash hands right after use.  Note: the instructions say to add Oxi Clean powder directly to the drum of the washer, but the clothes seem to do better when adding the powder to the detergent tray.

Oxi Clean spray
takes out the tough
stains.

Oxi Clean Powder - Good Stuff!!

MYTH #3: Fill the scoop up with detergent.  No way!!!  I've noticed that most detergent makers put giant scoops in the box.  More is better right?  No, it just runs out quicker and makes detergent companies richer.  Read the instructions, and draw a line on the scoop with a sharpie.

Stock scoop from the Oxi Clean box.
  Believe it or not,that line I drew at the bottom
is the marker for a full load!

Our Frigidaire units have worked out great, and the best feature is the huge time savings.  If you've got the money to spend, HE is the way to go.