The presence or absence of an onboard heater is usually indicated under "specifications." Those are most accurate, usually, on the manufacturer's website -- HD and Lowe's and others are often not accurate or updated.

Sanitize has no standard. It is meaningless. Allergen is a better gauge.

Tiers have to do with how much water is used. Here we like no tier or tier 1 since we like water use!

Here is a link to an article that lays it all out fairly clearly. It should help with the fine points of what to look for. How to Buy the Best Front Load Washing Machine.

Or look for an EXTRA-HOT temperature selection on the control panel.

MRB

Thank you all for the replies. Rococogurl did you write that article? It’s very helpful and I’m pretty sure the story is about our own MaMaPinky!

I’ve been out looking around today. So far at both big box stores in my town.

I asked at Home Depot what the most returned machine was, there it was Samsung, no surprise. I just left Lowe’s after looking at their returned inventory I saw Samsung, LG and Maytags that had been returned.

I looked inside the returned LG 3670 because so far it’s the one I’ve been most impressed with, it has mixed reviews but more good then bad

One iif the biggest complaints I read were that debris gathered in the boot and I do believe this after looking inside the returned one it was so gross and the smell was unbelievable even tho it had not been used much .... here it is so I believe those reviews about the debris

Neither store carries Electrolux anymore

Isn't the owner supposed to clean out the boot after using? I always did when I had my two front loaders. I looked at as the catch-all compartment so that stuff didn't end up in the pipes or stuck in the washer someplace you can't easily get to it.

I wipe mine and dry it after every use. I’ve never had anything gathered up in my Samsung front loader.