How To Clean Mold From Front Load Washer Detergent Dispenser

The Electrolux EFLS627UTT washing machine and EFME627UTT dryer. — Credit: Electrolux

How We Tested Front-load Washers

The Testers

Hi there! We're Reviewed's appliance testing team. Between us, we've spent many years testing major appliances including washers, dryers, refrigerators, and dishwashers. We have plenty of experience testing these products in the lab, but we've also used them like normal people would in the course of their daily lives, which means that we have a great sense for what appliances are bargains at their price points, and which appliances have really useful extra features (as opposed to the kitchen-sink approach to features).

The Tests

Every washing machine that comes into Reviewed's labs gets put through the same testing regimen, which addresses both performance and user-friendliness. We test for stain removal power, wear and tear on clothes, water retention and the spin cycle, and cycle duration. The best washers have solid stain removal abilities, do not damage your clothes, retain little water, and have short cycle times.

Beyond these performance tests, we also assess the usability of each washing machine. Our main goal is to get the answer to one question: How easy is it to actually use this washing machine?

By combining the performance data with our own observations, we can make solid recommendations for someone looking for any type of washing machine at any price point.

What You Should Know About Buying Front-load Washers

Loading laundry into a front-load washing machine — Credit: Reviewed.com / Jackson Ruckar

Front-load washers are exactly what they sound like—instead of lifting up your washer's lid and arranging your clothes in a circle around a pole agitator or impeller, the door opens from the front, and you put your laundry in from the side of the machine.

Where you put your laundry may not seem like a big deal, but it really makes a difference in terms of the appliance's engineering. Additionally, front-loaders tend to outpace top-loaders when it comes to cleaning performance and efficiency.

Are front-load washers better cleaners than top-load washers?

Some studies, including our own, indicate that front-loaders may do a better job at cleaning dirty laundry than top-load washers do. This may have to do with the dynamics of a horizontally-oriented washer drum: in a top-loader, stains are removed from clothes by being in contact with the pole agitator (the big spiral column in the middle), the outside of the washer drum, or rubbing against other nearby laundry.

In a front-loader, the stain removal happens when clothing interacts with the wash drum and when it spins to the top of the wash drum and then falls down onto the laundry at the bottom of the drum. Because each piece of laundry will go through this process multiple times, there's an increased likelihood that stains will be removed from all of your laundry.

Is a front-load washer efficient?

Unlike a top-load washer, a front-load washer does not have to fill a tub with water. Because the drum is oriented horizontally, the washer relies on the fact that your load of laundry is going to be mingling with all of the other laundry a lot, whether they're spun on the drum together or whether they're squished together when wet laundry falls from the top of the wash drum.

Front-loaders use water much more efficiently than top-loaders, because all they have to do is spray water while spinning the drum. This gets all of the clothes wet in two ways: firstly, most of the clothes will get wet because of the water spray, and secondly, those that don't get hit with the initial spray will absorb water from other wet clothes during the spinning-and-falling process.

By using less water in each wash cycle, front-loaders are typically more efficient (i.e. they cost less to operate on a per cycle and per year basis) than top-load washers.

Other Front-load Washers We Tested

Meet the testers

Mark Brezinski

Senior Writer

@markbrezinski

Mark Brezinski is a senior writer with over ten years of experience reviewing consumer tech and home appliances.

Jonathan Chan

Senior Manager of Lab Operations

@ReviewedHome

Jonathan Chan currently serves as the Lab Manager at Reviewed. If you clean with it, it's likely that Jon oversees its testing. Since joining the Reviewed in 2012, Jon has helped launch the company's efforts in reviewing laptops, vacuums, and outdoor gear. He thinks he's a pretty big deal. In the pursuit of data, he's plunged his hands into freezing cold water, consented to be literally dragged through the mud, and watched paint dry. Jon demands you have a nice day.

Julia MacDougall

Senior Scientist

@reviewed

Julia is the Senior Scientist at Reviewed, which means that she oversees (and continually updates) the testing of products in Reviewed's core categories such as televisions, washing machines, refrigerators, and more. She also determines the testing methods and standards for Reviewed's "The Best Right Now" articles.

Checking our work.

Our team is here for one purpose: to help you buy the best stuff and love what you own. Our writers, editors, and lab technicians obsess over the products we cover to make sure you're confident and satisfied. Have a different opinion about something we recommend? Email us and we'll compare notes.

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