How do these new HE machines work?

No doubt you have wondered about the strange actions of the HE machines. It rotates in one direction for a few turns and then stops. It starts up again after a while and turns in the other direction. Then it stops again. This continues for the entire wash and rinse cycles.

What’s up with that!

As an engineer with years of experience in cleaning things,  I must say that this method is absolutely the best way to clean fabrics using the smallest amount of water, detergents and electricity. I know from experience that cleaning is the result of the detergent dissolving the oils and greases that hold the dirt particles on the fibers of the clothes. It has very little to do with the agitation method used in older washers.

The soak period provides time to dissolve the oils. But, no electricity is used. Brilliant!!!

Some agitation is required to keep the detergent distributed in the load of clothes so the drum rolls back and forth a little. As the detergent is used up in one part of the load as it dissolves the oils, the drum rolls a little and gets fresh detergent to the area to be cleaned.

Some of the basic steps of HE cleaning are:

First (on some machines) the drum is spun with the dry clothes in it. Some machines will do this twice before water is added to the machine. The reason for the dry spinning is to find out how much laundry is in the tub. This is done by weight. Once the machine knows how much the load weighs it can add just enough water to effectively wash the clothes.

Second, water is added through the detergent holder. This dissolves the detergent and introduces it into the washing drum. The drum is doing its thing turning back and forth with soak periods in between. The load gets wetted with a high concentration solution. This soaks into the cloth and starts the cleaning process.

Third, more water is added until the proper amount is reached. The drum continues to roll back and forth for the rest of the cycle. Most of the cleaning action is due to the high concentration of detergent in the early stage of the cycle. The extra water that is added is to provide enough liquid to suspend the particles and completely dissolve the oils so they can be pumped out at the end of the cycle.

Fourth, the rinse cycle suspends the remaining detergent and soil with the same back and forth motion. This too gets pumped out.

Fifth, the machine spins the load as fast as possible (depending on the type of material being washed) to remove as much water as possible. Any water removed by spinning will not need to be removed in the dryer. It takes a lot of energy to evaporate water. So the less water there is, the less electricity will be used.

Now, this spin cycle is where the odor problem comes from. As the load is spinning, fresh water is sprayed into the clothes. This flushes though the material from inside to out.  Any remaining detergent or softener is flushed out in this process. This flushing action is very effective. It is so effective that the last portion of the water used is essentially fresh water from the tap. Why waste good water?

The last of the rinse water can be held in the machine to be used in the beginning of the next wash cycle. This sounds like a great idea. But, if the next cycle is not for a few days, the mold and mildew start to grow.

Not all makes and models hold the water intentionally. Some just have areas that stay wet. The result is the same as far a odors are concerned. Nu Fresh affects whatever area provides a wetted surface. It does not matter what kind of machine you have. The surface film formed from detergents and softeners is fouled by Nu Fresh molecules so mold and mildew do not grow back easily.