I've never run across an HE toploader that states quantity details of water usage. It's variable per the load size and whether a deep-fill cycle or option is selected so any stated figure would for a very specific load size and fabric mix.

I never have had mold in my frontloader and have had it about 6 years now. I use Tide Powder and have no issues at all. I leave the door open until the next load. In the beginning I used liquid detergent and the towels always got smelly really fast but once I switched to powder I never had any more issues.

@Jen Jobart, it's a misconception that toploaders are less susceptible to mold/smutz than frontloaders. I've posted photos of several nasty toploaders that I've personally cleaned in other threads.

dadoes where do you find the mold in the toploaders? I've been around a lot of frontloaders that smell moldy to me but toploaders usually don't.

Oh Jen Jobart,

Dadoes has photos...

You be surprised.

I can't figure out how to see Dadoes photos that he's posted. Dadoes any advice for keeping a mold free machine? My family is extremely allergic to mold to the point where we are building our own house because contractors don't want to go through the extra steps that will keep it mold free. I've been washing our laundry in a tiny Giantex top loading apartment washer but as soon as we have real hookups I want to install a full size washer. Our last front loader got moldy even though I cleaned it and left it open. What would you recommend Dadoes? I just can't have any mold in the washer because then it gets into our clothes and sheets and we're sunk.

Maybe dadoes will post a few photos of washing machines he has rehabbed back into service. There are threads on this forum with those photos, but I don't know where they are.

In the meantime, do use hot water washes, powder detergent such Tide or ALL (there are others too), and use chlorine bleach on a load of kitchen towels or such every so often. Leave door to washer open to dry, wipe out gasket at end of washing day if a FL.

Do a dedicated cleaning cycle every month with cleaning tablets like Affresh or chlorine bleach. I use dishwasher powder detergent and other times I've used Glisten washing machine cleaner solution to clean the washer (I have a TL and I still do cleaning cycles). I also use Borax in my lengthy pre-wash cycles, which has mild antimicrobial properties. Borax also puts the nix on mold.

Using cold or cool water with liquid detergent will set you up for mold whether a TL or a FL. Use warm for darks and delicates and hot 140F or above for hearty fabrics in your wash cycles, if possible.

Best of luck with your build!

I like to view washer action on Youtube. I could never own a topload HE washer without an agitator and back in the day our washers didn't smell until people started using liquid detergents.

This is an HE toploader. Inside of the basket looks nice. The exterior of it and the outer tub, not so much.

Another specimen of the same brand/model. The 4th pic is the port of the recirculation shower spray.

A non-HE toploader. I'd wiped the clean area before taking the 2nd photo. It's greasy/laundry soil residue from 1) too much cold water washing, 2) lower-end liquid detergent, 3) insufficient dosage to sequester the soil for flushing away. It's a myth that too much detergent causes smutz. Too little detergent is more likely to be the cause.

Yikes. Thank you for posting those pictures. Now I'm not sure what to do.

dadoes, you say that too little detergent causes that buildup...but I wonder why. I mean, how dirty is the average load of laundry? For the vast majority of us city dwellers that don't have sick/elderly/children for whom we do laundry, I just don't see where all that crud comes from that would cause a tub to have that kind of buildup if the user is routinely using warm/hot washes and not using liquid detergent.

@armjim, I'm closely familiar with the usage habits of one of the machines pictured above, it was my parents'. They used it for 6 years (from 2012 to 2018). I'd refurbished it at the beginning, it was pristine at that point. Mom primarily uses liquid detergents such as Arm & Hammer & Tide PureClean. A&H is high-sudsing and she doesn't use enough to give the water that "slippery" feel (which I know from the times I visit when a load is running and check the water). I gave her a supply of STPP but she rarely remembers to add it and probably doesn't add enough. Also Cheer powder which she can't find local so she tends to conserve it when she has some. She uses cold water on most "clothes" loads (tap cold, not ATC cold), probably per dad's insistence. I rarely saw the temp knob set to warm whether it was running or not, and never at hot. Their city water supply is moderately hard.

To be fair, dad has had medical issues ranging from an aortic aneurysm to colon and prostate cancer and vertebral fractures. He is not bedridden but has ongoing toilet issues, accidents occasionally occur. Rinsing the "evidence" away in a utility sink (or spraying with a hose ouside) is easy enough for garments but not so much for bed linens ...

Anyway, regards to from where the residue can come ... kitchen linens have grease and food soils. Bedsheets and body clothing catches sweat and skin sebum, oils from cosmetic products. Water supplies have mineral content that needs to be sequestered by a proper dose of detergent chemicals or it aheres to machine parts when water evaporates, and combines with laundry soils to form residues.

These photos are another "old-style" non-HE toploader that I bought from a young woman who was moving out of her apartment, perhaps after finishing college or to move in with her boyfriend/husband ... I didn't ask personal questions and have no direct info on the usage habits.

This has been a really helpful thread. Thank you everyone who is contributing.

Why powdered soap vs. liquid soap? We can't tolerate anything with scents in it so I generally use unscented liquid Ecos, sometimes with OxyClean or Borax added. I also currently wash and rinse on hot, but a new machine will probably only allow me to wash on hot. But I will probably always wash hot. Things just get cleaner. And I will do a sanitize cycle once a month with Affresh. Will that work or do I need to make changes?

We have had european front loaders for decades. Bosch and then Miele. We use liquid detergents almost exclusively. Almost 100% Tide PurClean unscented for years now. NEVER had mold or other issues. Most of our washes are 50 to 60C with some sanitize in there as well.

I can’t imagine doing true tap cold washes, especially with stool or other potentially infectious agents, much less mold.

We almost never use chlorine bleach, but use liquid oxygen bleach on almost every load.

If I was on a low yield well I would NOT be looking at a top load washer. Look at Miele or Bosch as almost all of their models use stainless inner and outer drums. They both have onboard heaters and can keep water at the proper temps.

Powder detergent is not necessary to keep a washer mold free. Frequent Warm and Hot washes are the best defense against mold and to keep a washer clean.

I didn't realize we could get machines in the US with an onboard heater. That might be the way to go.

Jen, frontloaders with water heaters have been on the US market for 20 years. Whirlpool, Kenmore, Maytag, Samsung, LG, GE, Bosch, Miele ... pretty much all the brands offer models with them. Look for a Sanitize or Allergen cycle (NOT Sanitize with Oxi), Extra Hot water temp, and/or Steam function. A few HE toploaders may have heater for a steam function but those aren't as common nowadays as they were 15, 10, even 5 years ago.