Skin Allergy Sufferer
Written: Nov 05 '00 (Updated Nov 05 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: ROCK SOLID HARDWARE
Cons: ENGINEER'S SOMEWHAT MISSED THE MARK
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| Housekeep-1's Full Review: Frigidaire FWT449 Washer |
Length of Ownership: Twenty-two months.
Mechanical Failures: None.
Why I Purchased a Frigidaire Galley Front Load Clothes Washer:
In consideration of my kind landlord who understands that I have severe skin allergies and suffer when my clothes are washed and dried at the laundromat. My landlord wasn't planning to (nor has he since) charged me for the additional water consumed in my having a clothes washer.
There is a very small and old septic system here too.
Other Brands Considered prior to purchase:
I also looked at the Maytag Neptune. I couldn't see any sense in spending the extra money for the Maytag. The cabinet is a monstrous thing, and it's stylized to a degree that provokes the thought of Cadillac automobiles- an "in your face" image I find foul.
Further, the reports on the Maytag Neptunes' poor performance were starting to come out, and Maytags claim of having the "largest capacity" calculates out to be that of ONE bath towel.
I would have considered other brands of front loaders if they were in the stores. But, these seem mostly to be imported from Europe and raised the parts availability/repair costs question in my mind.
Overall: This machine is great, and it does a good job on my clothes.
Laundry Products and this machine:
You will not even need as much as the "50% less detergent" claims for front loaders, or the amount Frigidaire suggests in the owner's manual. Don't waste your money on special detergents made for front loaders. Use powdered detergent, it has more kick, so requires even less.
With my skin allergies, I've been using Arm & Hammer Perfume & Dye Free. About two tablespoons of this will wash the biggest load of cottons the machine will hold.
Back off on the bleach and fabric softener too.
The machine uses a very small amount of water. Five gallons per fill, plus however much the clothes will absorb.
MEASURE YOUR PRODUCTS FOR FIVE GALLONS OF WATER! The "50% less" claims are far too much and you'll be off to the dermatologist within weeks.
Capacity:
On the showroom floor the tub looks alarmingly small.
This is mostly an optical illusion. The overhead lights in the store won't illuminate the tub as they will a top loader, so it's rather dark in there.
The tub is smaller than a top loader because it doesn't require the additional space needed for the agitator.
This machine holds as much as the "super capacity" top loaders.
Removing clothes:
The tub opening could be bigger.
It took me about ten wash loads to learn the position I should be standing in to remove the clothes. While awkward at first, don't buy another machine for this reason. You'll learn the best way to do this (for you) within a short time.
On the plus side the tub does move freely and easily by hand so you can check for items that might be remaining without much bother.
Bending/Squatting-
Those with physical limitations will want to have a local welder build them a nice sturdy stand to mount the machine on thereby getting it up to shoulder level.
As a side note to this, be sure to have the stand built to hold the dryer too, as the washer will then be too high to mount the dryer on top of it.
Be sure you have the stand well secured to the wall behind it! The force of a front loader going into the spin cycle is tremendous.
Enjoy the storage space beneath the machines.
Lint Management: Superior.
Front loaders don't rough up the clothes like a top loader. So there's very little lint generated. The fins in the tub pick up the lint and hurl it into the outer drum, where it's carried away during the drain and spin cycle.
As mentioned earlier, I'm on a septic system here. For this reason I would have preferred a lint filter that requires manual cleaning, but these seem to have fallen by the wayside as I haven't seen them offered on clothes washers built in the past few years.
I did, for a while at least, put the drain hose into the sink and catch the lint with a screen before it went down the drain, but there was so little of it I can't see the bother in doing so.
Important consideration:
How far apart are the washer's hook-ups and your water heater?
This machine uses so little water that hot water might not reach it before it's filled. The best resolution for this problem would be to add a re-circulating hot water system to the washer's supply line. Or install a sink next to the washer, and use this to run the hot water up to the machine before you start it. The latter wasteful, yes, but you're still going to be way ahead on water savings.
Unusual Circumstances:
This machine will NOT effectively rinse out dense amounts of soap/detergents/cleaning products.
I own a small premium housekeeping service which caters to a line of clientele that fall just short of having a butler or maid. Paper towels, sponges and rags are out of the question in this genre'. All cleaning tasks are performed with white light weight 100% terry cotton face cloths, like the ones you may have seen at a really awful and cheap motel.
Cloths used for cleansers, such as Bon Ami, are rinsed out at the site. Other products used, such as a mixture of Simple Green, glass cleaner, and disinfectant are not rinsed out.
While I hate using my personal machine (the Frigidaire Gallery Front Loader being reported on here) to launder cloths for the business, periodically this has been necessary.
When laundering these housekeeping cloths I've run this machine through as many as three full rinse cycles-with the extra rinse feature set, and still had soapy cloths returned. That's TWELVE fill/tumble/drain and spin modules, plus the (approx.) one and a half minute jet stream at the start of the rinse program.
This has never been a problem for me with a top loading machine, one extra rinse does it.
While tumbling clothes through a small amount of water is completely effective for washing, it is a dreadfully inefficient way of rinsing them. A good flushing is what's required, and there needs to be a higher volume of water for this.
Again, this is an unusual circumstance. If you'll be using the machine for regular laundry, go ahead and buy it with confidence.
Engineering:
As I mentioned earlier the hardware in this machine is rock solid.
However, engineer's are not housekeepers and they somewhat missed the mark here, because this machine could be so much better in the following area's:
1) The programing.
After the wash cycle and subsequent drain, the machine should immediately go into the maximum speed spin. Doing so would greatly aid the approaching rinse cycle.
2) Increase the volume of water per fill.
And thereby reduce the program to one rinse instead of three. (Four with the "Extra Rinse" set)
Having all this filling-and-tumbling-and-draining-and-spinning that occurs in a full laundering cycle is ridiculous. It causes a longer than needed run time, and this probably results in more mechanical wear than would the additional weight of using more water per fill. It also results in a less than ideal rinsing.
3) The tub opening could be bigger.
Again, engineer's are not housekeeper's, and the front loaders of today are not like the big 1950's Westinghouse front loader that my Mom had, with it's deep fill- one wash- one rinse effectiveness. I doubt that old machine used more water than the front loaders built today.
How is it the engineer's at Westinghouse knew how to rinse clothes fifty years ago?
To the accomplishment of the Frigidaire engineer's, I do marvel at the sophistication of the computer system in this machine. I have actually witnessed it's control of slightly slowing down the sampling spin in order to drop one piece of clothing to another part of the tub, and then slightly speeding up again to hold it in that new location for further sampling, in order to have the balance be within the set parameter for spinning. Amazing.
Humorous side note-
One morning when I was about six years old while enjoying a bowl of cereal for breakfast, that big Westinghouse front loader went into an unbalanced spin cycle. I was mortified to see it begin stomping out from the wall, toward me with all its girth and clamor.
I managed to screamed "Mommy!" just an edge away from being speechless. At which my mother ran into the kitchen, and hit the control switch to OFF.
Out of all the frightening things that must have happened to me during childhood. I have never forgotten how my mother saved me from that approaching monster.
End of Cycle Buzzer:
The first thing you'll want to do after your very first load of wash is disconnect the buzzer.
I believe it was designed for use in nuclear power plants to warn of an impending melt-down.
It's very easy to disconnect.
(I wanted to let "SteveR1960" who also commented, know about this but can't find a way to e-mail him)
Follow the manuals' instructions for installing the dryer on top of the washer to learn how to remove the top of the washer. Once you have the top off, the buzzer is a little box situated behind the control panel. If you don't know which "thing" in there is the buzzer, set the machine toward the end of a cycle and wait for the buzzer to identify itself when it sounds off. Then disconnect one of the wires from it. (I think I recall disconnecting the "Gray" wire) Be sure to securely cover up the end of the wire so you won't chance electrical conduction going through the machine when the timer sends out the signal to the buzzer.
Bottom Line:
BUY IT!
Unless you have unusual circumstances like I mentioned above, it's unlikely you'll be disappointed.
Fun Observations:
Men in the household will get hooked on hearing the cool jet engine sound it makes during the spin cycle!
And watching through the door's window while it's running induces a calming effect like meditation~~~~
I will post comments on the associated dryer, and other products in the future.
Please feel free to contact me with questions:
mnr@javanet.com ( but please, do not send attachments or binary files- text only)
Best,
Nick
Recommended:
Yes
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Housekeep-1
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Reviews written: 1
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