Will I regret getting a front loader?

[mimie]

We are moving to a new house, which needs a washer and dryer. Front loaders have gotten sooooo much cheaper, I really can't stand the idea of buying an old energy-water-hog top loader. But I have a baby due in May, so I'll be washing dipes. Will I HATE the front loader, or will I find a way to make it work?

FWIW, these are the models we are looking at:

LG

Amana

[Rico'sAlice]

I love my frontloader- but for me the most important option was having a built in heater. A little more expensive, but having the option of a "sanitary cycle" is absolutely fabulous for washing diapers.

The main thing with frontloaders is to remember to leave the door open a bit when not in use so it doesn't get funky in there and wipe out the door sealing ring every so often.

ETA- Since I use that sanitary cycle I've never done any pre-washing, soaking, etc. for diapers. Just dump them in and go. Post-solids I did start scraping/dumping poop into the toilet beforehand, but still no pre-rinsing needed.
And I've never bought HE soap (for diaper washing or otherwise) I mostly use soap nuts. But for clothes washed on cold I just use tiny amounts of regular liquid detergent. (I just use whichever eco-friendly brand is on sale)

[LZP]

we recently got a front loader, and I had the same fear. There are lots of FL laundry routines posted on here if you do a search for "front loader" in the diapering section.

SOme of the routines seem kind of long (IMO) but I guess you ARE saving lots of water still, even if it's running for more time.

Most recommend a cold prewash, then a hot wash with a double cold rinse. that's my plan (except our Bosch doesnt have a pre-wash, so we'll do a cold soak instead with a hot wash on heavy duty cotton cycle with a double rinse.)

I think the savings you'll see in all the other laundry you do might be worth it. We got our washer ... Hmm, in July maybe? I had some leftover regular detergent, so I just use 1/4 of what I usually did, which was not much to begin with... and this container has lasted me almost a year. (it's a 70 load container or something, so we'll get 280- loads out of it!)

I do find that stains need to be pre-treated since there is less water with the FL... but over all, our clothes seem to get just as clean or cleaner. and drying time is cut WAY down!!

[mimie]

Oh, that's good to hear two who are happy with their front loaders... some of the FL washing instructions have really worried me (adding extra water, for instance).

And it's good to hear that I can use regular detergent in small amounts. We use Costco environmentally friendly detergent for everything and I would like to keep using it if it seems to work well for dipes.

[Lil'Momma]

I use an extra rinse or two at the end of my cycle, but otherwise, I love my FL, but you do want to be careful with the detergent... if you use a regular detergent with your FL use VERY LITTLE or the extra suds won't come out of your dipes and could ruin your FL. I'm not saying it will for sure, but SIL had to buy a new one after six months and the company wouldn't uphold her warranty because she didn't use a low sudsing HE detergent. Just a word of warning... otherwise, I love my FL for my dipes.

[LZP]

Originally Posted by Lil'Momma

I use an extra rinse or two at the end of my cycle, but otherwise, I love my FL, but you do want to be careful with the detergent... if you use a regular detergent with your FL use VERY LITTLE or the extra suds won't come out of your dipes and could ruin your FL. I'm not saying it will for sure, but SIL had to buy a new one after six months and the company wouldn't uphold her warranty because she didn't use a low sudsing HE detergent. Just a word of warning... otherwise, I love my FL for my dipes.

this is very very true! Luckily, our manuals do say that you can use regular detergent if you use 1/4-1/2 the recommended amount; so our warranty won't be voided. I use ALL or something like that right now, since we're not washing dipes yet. it's full of perfume, dye, and other junk. I have to admit, I like my laundry to smell like detergent! The "regular" amount for a top loader was probably like 1/4+ cup. When we had a TL, I used half that, and still got really clean clothes. Now, I might use 2 tsp of detergent total, if that. even with the HE detergent, I use half of what they recommend, at most, and still get clean clothes.

To prep the fabric I've purchased for diaper making, I wash it in hot, with purex free and clear (not HE) and just use 1/4 of the recommended amount with a double rinse.

I also do an extra rinse on almost every load too, and I think that gets clothes cleaner than any extra detergent ever could.

[cristeen]

I love my FL, and I've been washing CDs almost daily for 4 mos now w/o problems.

[Chamomile Girl]

I agree with all the FL love. I love mine too! I use mostly prefolds, and they come out really clean and nice. I have a sanitary cycle but I don't use it because I read that it is really hard on the dipes.

[mimie]

Woo hoo! Bought the LG tonight. It is so awesome, it has options to do pre-wash, extra water, extra rinse... so basically I can set up a whole dipe wash routine and not have to come back to run any more cycles. With my top loader it took three steps (pre-wash, regular wash/rinse, extra rinse) to do diapers.

I am ridiculously excited about this washer and dryer. I need to get a life.

[LZP]

Originally Posted by mimie

Woo hoo! Bought the LG tonight. It is so awesome, it has options to do pre-wash, extra water, extra rinse... so basically I can set up a whole dipe wash routine and not have to come back to run any more cycles. With my top loader it took three steps (pre-wash, regular wash/rinse, extra rinse) to do diapers.

I am ridiculously excited about this washer and dryer. I need to get a life.

congrats! all I wanted to do was laundry when we first got our new W/D too... it IS exciting.