I wash everything on a normal setting except for my delicate blouses, which I wash on the delicate cycle, along with my good underthings. No problems.

Delicate cycles barely move the clothes around. A perm press cycle is a great cycle to use. It has good agitation and a slower spin than normal wash. Make sure you are using warm water washes. Cold water just is not as effective for getting sweat and body oils out of clothes.

Use a good detergent and call the detergent manufacturer telephone number on the box to ask for cleaning suggestions. They have a team set up just for these questions. They will also send you coupons for your next detergent buy.

I'd be much more concerned about wear on clothes when using a dryer than with a washer, even an ol' school top load agitator.

The delicate cycle isn't extracting enough water from the clothes, so it never rinses out properly. I'd save all the kid clothing for a hot normal wash.

Try different detergents. We found that there is a good amount of variation in how well detergents work. It's not unheard of for a detergent that works well in one washer to absolutely not work in another one. So, experimenting is worthwhile. Also, for more obvious stains spraying with OxiClean 5-10min before washing makes a huge difference. It's a really powerful tool for cutting through the messes that kids can make.

Most detergents these days are suitable for high-efficiency washers and they rely on enzymes to do the hard work. But it still wouldn't hurt to check if they are labelled with a HE (high-efficiency) logo. Also, if you have a young child, look for a detergent that is fragrance free and avoid things such as softeners or dryer sheets. Kids' skin is more sensitive and fragrances/additives can trigger allergic reactions or rashes.

We generally don't bother buying anything that is "difficult" to wash. So, I don't think we have ever used the "delicates" cycle. Everything goes into "normal", and we have adjusted temperature settings to something that works for us and that doesn't use excessive energy. I think, in our case, that's "warm & cold", but that can vary a lot depending on your brand of washer, your domestic water temperatures, your detergent, your water hardness, and probably a couple of other factors. You could consider picking the "heavy soil" option, which extends washing times and gives the enzymes more time to do their job. "Hot" obviously works as well, but not all fabrics like that, and it does use noticeably more energy (and with kids you'll be washing so many times, that that's going to be noticeable in your utility bill).

We don't take the effort to sort light and dark fabrics. The downside is that whites tend to get a little greyer over time. But in a household with kids, we feel we can't be bothered to be this picky. We do pay attention though that more fragile items will be washed in a laundry bag (essentially just a fancy pillow case), and some items will be air dried instead of tumbled (e.g. the kids' waterproof mattress protectors, or the kids' swimsuites).

Thanks all for the replies. So to confirm the suggestions come down to:

• make sure we're using warm water (hot is probably bad for some fabrics/colors and also drive up the utility bill) for grown-up clothes, and hot water for toddler clothes
• try Permanent Press and Normal settings
• try different detergents. But yes, the ones we're currently using are for HE machines. And we're actually using 3! tide (original), ecos hypoallergenic (for my toddler's clothes), and something called Tandil Premium
• we also use Downy softener for grown-up clothes

We'll run some experiments and report back, but it seems that it's sounding like "user error", that is, we're washing stuff wrong (which was never a problem pre-HE machines)!

The only curious thing is that it was getting odors out properly when it was brand new...

Toddler clothes tend to be terry cotton among other things and more water absorbent. A low spin speed does not help.

Maybe the toddler has changed and not your washing machine.

Delicates are usually silk (delicate silk anyway - industrial ones from the home of silk tend to be a lot tougher) which is not absorbent and wool which you do not want to wring out anyway.

I reread your original post and forgot that it is a HE top loader. The thing to watch for is how the rinse is being done. Some of these washers have a low water usage rinse setting that sprays (recirculated) water on the clothes instead of immersing them.

@zneret

> Some of these washers have a low water usage rinse setting that sprays (recirculated) water on the clothes instead of immersing them.

So you're saying that i should see about disabling that setting? But then it wouldn't be an HE top loader, right? (which defeats the purpose of getting an HE machine)

HE is related to both reduced water usage and restricting water temperatures. Cold is cold. Warm is cold (typically 75°F to 85°F). Hot is warm (95°F to 105°F) ... unless using a designated Sanitize or Allergen cycle, or sometimes Heavy Duty runs at higher temperatures.

Top loader HEs are already inherently less efficient than front loaders in general. They may be as efficient as some older front loaders that use quite a big of water (you can see water above the lower sill in these washers and you hope the door seals are working!)

Immersion is relative. The amount of water used is still a fraction of an ol' school top loader. I don't think we're even talking 10 l (2 1/2 gallons of milk) while an ol' school top loader probably uses 2-5x that amount.

Your washer appears to have something called AquaJet Deep Clean which is _not_ used in the delicate cycle.

I would find the cycle that uses the hottest water (these machines dumb down the temps, so hot is not hot) and the most water, then add as many extra rinses as need to really rinse the clothes. You will then see and smell a difference.

Unfortunately top loader HE machines are notoriously bad at cleaning clothes. They do not submerge the fabric and do not use enough water. Yes, they save water and energy but at the sacrifice of clean clothes. I am sure some will disagree with me, but take a moment to do a little research here and elsewhere and Samsung gets lots of unhappy folks as do other brands. A front loader HE machine is a completely different animal.

I have to say that the Maytag HE top loader worked pretty well for us the ~3-4 years we had it before we sold it along with the house. The only exception was bulky stuff like sleeping bags and duvets. Would agree a front loader is much better, except perhaps for the models that use next to no water (e.g., bottom of the drum barely has any).

There have been many complaints about HE top-loaders now not using enough water to even get the cloths wet, much less clean. You should check and see which setting uses the most water. For my FL, its PermPress.

I would bet that Delicate uses a slow agitation and spin speed. This isnt what I'd use on permanent press adult cloths. Silk and wool, maybe.

Temperatures have changed for both machines and cloths. I still use hot for cotton underwear, warm for everything else. For my 10-yr old machine, that's 45C for hot and 35C for warm.

Are you aware of the recalls on Samsung top loaders?

Mama.... sigh... lol. I figured you had passed plum out.

Samsung is not a favorite here but since you have it, use HOT washes and whichever cycle uses the most water.

I have a LG top loader HD washer. I hardly use the delicate cycle. It swishes the clothes and does not twists the clothes like the old agitator machine did. Try using the normal cycle, warm water, HD Tide and a laundry booster. That being said, in my opinion the old water guzzling agitator machines did do a better job of cleaning clothes. I also never used any of that washer cleaner. I leave my lid open in between wash loads so it drys out inside so it doesn't get that mold some people complain about.

Tide Sport is fantastic at removing urine/body odor from clothing. Use the normal or heavy duty cycle set to hot which will actually be just lukewarm in an he washer. Cold water doesn't clean clothes and neither does Ecos. Check your Tandil bottle because it's been recently reformulated and the enzymes were removed so it's no longer a heavy duty detergent.

I guess every HD washer is different. When I set mine on hot water it is straight from the tap hot water, not lukewarm.

F: Nowadays, hot mixes with cold in order to achieve their set temperature setting. Even when set to Hot. And the machines will object if you turn off the cold trying to trick it.

First, you should be using bleach to clean the washer. I love vinegar for lots of things, but cleaning the washer isn't one of them. I know the manuals for my current top loading HE and the previous one specified Bleach for cleaning the machine.

You should also be using the normal cycle, not delicates for the toddlers clothes. It may mean doing a different load for your clothes and the toddler's clothes. If the problem persists try the pre-soak or stain cycle for the toddler's clothes.

Personally I don't think you need to necessarily use hot water for the toddler's clothes. Warm should be enough. Unless it's all white clothes I never use hot water, even when my kids were young. I've never had a problem with lingering smells. I use regular powdered Tide HE and sometimes some Clorax 2 or Oxyclean.

"rrah: Personally I don't think you need to necessarily use hot water for the toddler's clothes. Warm should be enough."

The trick, as I pointed out above, is that warm temperature on the Normal cycle typically on these HE machines nowadays is controlled at 75°F to 80°F which is not a reasonable "warm" ... particularly for toddler clothing that likely has food stains, possibly some fecal matter and nasal drippage, and general dirt from toddling and/or crawling around.

I just checked my LG top loader HD washer hot water temp. The hot water in the washer is 137 degrees. The hot water from the tap is 138 degrees. So mine does indeed uses straight tap hot water. So not every HE washer mixes water on the hot cycle.

FunctionThenLook,

What is a top loader HD washer? Do you perhaps mean HE (high efficiency)?

What is the specific model number of the machine, and what cycle are you selecting to get hot water?

Yes HE. I don't have a TV in my washer. lol Model # WT1101CW I can use hot water on the cotton normal, heavy duty, bright whites, bulky/bedding, and speed wash cycles. I can not use hot water on the pure color or delicate cycles.

For those of you who put many colors together in your washer you can use "Shout Color Catcher" in your wash. I love it. I can put reds in with the whites and the color catcher will take in the color, not the whites! One bit of warning, if you have a front loader you need to put it in a small laundry bag or safety pin it to a wash cloth, so your washer doesn't "eat" it. Really worth having.

I have 4 kids, all in their 30's and 40's and have never used the "delicate cycle"! Especially for kids clothes!!! Normal all the way. Buy decent detergent, I use All Free and Clear and if you have a front loader be sure to use a cleaner like Afresh once a month.

FunctionThenLook ... I found reference that model dates to 2013. You're fortunate it provides full-hot, many don't.

We bought ours new around 2016. I didn't know that most don't provide full hot water. When I need a new one I guess that is something I will have to research. I like washing towels and white sock in hot water. There is just the two of us, but we did notice the reduction in our water bill. I still think the old agitator washers cleaned better though.