Why do front load washers clean better? (Answered!)

Rather than using an agitator, front loaders use gravity and the drum fins to slap firmly on clothes. Again the front loaders take a low amount of water. So the detergent mixture becomes thick and gets soaked by clothing evenly. Thus its cleaning performance is better than top loaders.

Additionally, front-loader washers come with numerous advanced cleaning features, such as “bubble soak,” “oxy fresh,” “steam wash,” “air wash,” and so on.

However, only the front loaders can clean sensitive clothing like silk, synthetic, linen, viscose, or wool with extra care through their built-in programs, which you won’t get in 95% top loaders.

How do front loader washers clean better than top loaders?

If I explain how does front loader machine washes the clothes elaborately, you might get a clear insight into why it cleans better.

The front load washer’s drum spins horizontally and contains three fins attached to the drum’s wall.  

Once you run the washer, the drum starts spinning, and your clothes get shuffled and slapped gently by those fins. Gravity adds an additional advantage to this procedure.

Now think about the top loader, where the agitator tries hard to shuffle all those clothes, and in several cases, the upper-level garments don’t get sufficient traction to be rubbed.  

However, the top loader washer only works by friction among clothes. Neither the agitator nor the drum can rub or slap on the clothes. As a result top loader fails to clean hard stains.

So, the front loader wins in stain cleaning level.

How does the front loader utilize detergents in a better way?

As the front loaders draw a small amount of water, the detergent mixture remains more concentrated than the top loaders. Notably, most of the front loaders can produce foam with a bubble generator technology that allows the clothing to soak the detergent quickly and evaporate the stain. 

Though few advanced top loaders, such as Samsung, have bubble generators. But in general, these advanced features remain only integrated with front loader washers of almost all prestigious brands.

These innovative technologies make front loaders better-cleaner and highly efficient.

Why do front loaders need less water and detergent?

Before the washing cycle, the front loader draws a small amount of water and detergent intelligently according to the number of clothes. 

Few advanced washers have intelligent detergent dispensing features, but for most one, you need to measure the detergent manually.

As the washer takes a little water under the drum, it doesn’t need too much detergent. After mixing the detergent with water, the washer evenly mixes it with all clothes by shuffling it.

But in the top loader, the drum fills with water, and the filled drum demands a handful quantity of detergent to be performed perfectly.

How do front loader washers keep sensitive clothes damage free?

Sensitive clothing like silk, synthetic, linen, wool, viscose, etc., demands extra care during the wash cycle. Fortunately, the front loader washer has some intelligent feature that allows it to handle this sensitive clothing very carefully.

Inverter technology plays an essential role here. Once you select “silk” or “wool” on the functional dashboard, the inverter starts spinning the drum left and right on a balanced and smooth symphony.

Manufacturers have programmed these advanced functions after infinity hours of experiment. As a result, none of your clothing’s fabric gets damaged when you select any sensitive washing function.

Notably, only the front loader can remove hard stains smoothly without damage or hardness on your clothes. 

Exceptional features of front loader washer

Please be noted that it’s different that just the front load washers have these fascinating features; a few top loaders also contain these. But in 99% of cases, prestigious manufacturers integrate these technologies into the front-loader models.

Eco Bubble

Samsung has introduced this eco-bubble technology in their recent washers. This feature allows the detergent mixture to go through a bubble generator. 

The bubble generator produces an ultrasonic wave to generate foam and passes it toward the drum channel.

Undoubtedly it adds an extra advantage in cleaning performance. Cause foam gets soaked by fabrics 80% quicker than a standard detergent mixture. Foam reduces surface tension and gets absorbed almost instantly when it comes in touch with fabric materials.

Oxy Fresh 

Oxyfresh is mainly an antibacterial cleaning mechanism advertised by several front-loader brands. 

In this mechanism, the front load washer mixes the detergent with air and steam, then gently spreads through clothes inside the drum.

This feature commonly remains integrated with babywear cleaning functionality and effectively makes clothes germ-free.

Air Wash

In the Air wash functionality, the front loader washer doesn’t use any detergent. But it blows hot air with steam at a tolerable temperature to make the clothes feel fresh and odor free.

Mainly if your clothes get wet by rainwater or snow, you might use the air wash feature to get instant freshness.

Steam Wash

On the steam wash feature, the front load washer flows hot water vapor to make the clothing germ free. It’s mainly an after-wash procedure and helpful for cleaning baby wear.

Samsung, GE, LG, and Whirlpool front loaders have this feature, but I found the Samsung and LG ones better performing.

Hot Water Wash

Almost all front load washer has the hot water wash feature. Washers have a PTC water heating element inside the water inlet chamber, and you might select the required water temperature from the dashboard.

Hot water boosts the performance of the detergent and helps dissolve oil and grease easily. 

Silk Care & Wool Care

Silk and wools are very sensitive to temperature and need a mild level of detergent for color and fabric sustainability.

When you choose the silk or wool care settings for the front loader washer, it draws slightly more water to make a mild detergent mixture. Additionally, the inverter slows the drum movement in a gentle symphony.

On the rinse and spin cycle, the drum spin remains under 400 rpm, while it may climb up to 1400 rpm for cotton fabrics. 

Thus the front loader washer can gently wash your silk and sensitive clothing without doing a single damage.

Stain Wash

For the stain wash feature, the front load washer offers several dedicated settings like wine stain, mud stain, kitchen stain, juice stain, and so on.

In those specific settings, the washer draws a certain level of water and detergent and raises the temperature necessarily. Then the microcontroller (the machine’s brain) operates adjacent drum movement for the finest rub on the clothing to make it stain-free! Heavy Clothing (Jacket or Backpack)

You can throw the entire backpack and jacket inside the front load washer. (Must keep the chains open).

At the dedicated settings for cleaning these heavy items, the front loader washer forcefully flows detergent & water mixture toward the jackets or backpacks corner to corner, and the drum’s rub ensures a fantastic cleaning outcome.

Will you need hand touch to remove hard stains like Shirt Color?

You won’t need a hand touch to clean the shirt color; your front loader washer can do it perfectly.

But you might need a hand rub if you have strong stains on your clothes, like a dark wine, curry oils, and grease. 

I put my clothes in the washer with a stain wash setup first. If my washer fails, then I attempt to clean it by hand with a brush.

Will you require rinsing clothes after the front loader’s wash cycle?

The front-load washer has an automatic program to rinse clothes after the wash cycle, so you don’t need to do it separately. 

But if you clean some heavy clothes like jackets and blankets with extra detergent, you might need to have an additional rinse cycle after the main wash.

Final Thoughts

Undoubtedly front loader washers clean better and provide numerous advanced features that are unavailable to top loaders. So, if you don’t have a budget issue, you may go for it.