Laundry HE (High Efficiency) Detergents
Laundry HE (High Efficiency)
Detergents New front loading washing machines generally recommend the
use of HE (high efficiency) detergents. There are import ant reasons to
follow these recommendations, both for optimum cleaning results &
for the protection of the machine itself. Since front loadingmachines
do not have an agitator, the laundry is tumbled in a drum, similar to
how clothes are tumbled in a dryer. The tumbling action lifts the
clothes, then drops them back into a shallow pool of detergent &
water, providing the mechanical action needed for cleaning. However,
this motion continually traps air, creating a higher level of suds than
would typically develop in a top loading machine. Suds can become so
excessive that they overflow the washer or interfere with the operation
of the machine. While reducing the amount of detergent used would
generally help to minimize this problem, using less detergent than is
needed for load size, water hardness, and soil content generally
results in poor cleaning results. Some new machines, such as the Maytag
Neptunehave features built in to the engineering design to deal with
excess sudsing. If the washer detects an oversuds condition it adds a
shower of water to knock down the suds, followed by a partial drain.
While this is a partial answer to the sudsing problem, it is still best
if suds never get to an excessive level. For this reason, low sudsing
detergents for front load washers have been developed. Brand names of
these products include Tide HE and Wisk HE (High Efficiency). These
detergents contain suds suppressors which reduce or elimina te suds.
The usage recommendations are based on average water conditions. As
with any detergent, if the water supply is harder than average, more
detergent will be required to provide optimum cleaning results.
Similarly, if water is soft, either naturally or because a mechanical
softener has been used, less detergent will be needed.
J
& B Appliance Service 850 544 9696
