How you load your clothes into your washer matters. We often have plenty of wash to fill a machine a few times over, so it’s easy to find enough for a full… or little more than full load… and who doesn’t want to just throw it in the machine? You could be doing more harm than good.
Spin and balance
We all want clean clothes, right? Let’s get a little technical for a minute. Washing machines are engineered to wash and spin at an optimal level with a full, balanced load of laundry. When you do have a full, balanced load of wash, your clothes will get cleaner and they will spin out in a way that extracts the most amount of water possible, resulting in shorter drying times.
Did you know there was a right way to fill a top load washing machine?
What to keep in mind if your washer has an agitator:
- Load items based on the amount of space they take up, not by their weight.
- Give your clothes enough room to move around, so the agitator can optimize the wash action that will help remove dirt as intended. Loading properly will ensure your clothes will get clean, not just wet.
- Drop items loosely into the washtub vs. packing them in or pushing them down to make room for more. If you need to push clothes down, it’s a sure sign that you’re going to need to do another load of laundry.
What to keep in mind if your washer has a wash plate:
- Load garments in loose heaps evenly around the wash plate, not directly over the center of the wash plate. When items fall over the wash plate, it’s not powerful enough to rotate them off.
- The wash plate should be visible when the load is full.
- Though you will typically save on water with a wash plate, you will not necessarily save on time since this type of agitator requires a longer cycle time.
Remember your resources
When in doubt, check your manual. If you’re not sure how a feature works or if you’re loading properly, it’s always a good idea to consult the manual that came with your machine. If you don’t have or can’t find the paper copy, you will be able to find it online.