Needed: A washing machine that washes

I need to buy a new washing machine. I guess I'm out of luck.

I refer to a fascinating article written by Mark Thornton for Mises Daily, part of the Ludwig von Mises Institute website (mises.org).

Thanks to the government, you see, washing machines aren't what they used to be -- and they're getting worse.

It wasn't long ago -- prior to World War II -- that folks washed their clothes by hand or used clunky hand-cranked machines.

During the postwar consumerization boom, labor-intensive clothes washing was made easy by automatic electric machines.

In 1956, Wisk, the first liquid laundry detergent, offered a vast improvement over the soaps Americans had been using to clean their clothes.

Competition among detergent and washing-machine makers continually improved the quality of both.

To be sure, clothes washing had become so easy and effective, even clumsy oafs such as I could do it with little effort.

But our government is unwittingly reversing our washday advances.

Thornton cites a 1996 Consumer Reports test of 18 washing-machine models. Thirteen were rated excellent, five as very good.

In fact, any decent detergent and any machine would get your clothes nice and clean back then.

In 2007, Consumer Reports tested 21 models. Not one of them was rated excellent. Seven were rated as poor, the rest as mediocre.

What's worse: Consumer Reports found that in most cases, the clothes were as dirty after washing as they were before!

True, some high-end front-loading machines fared slightly better, but they are much more expensive and, the report found, have issues with mold.

Why are newer models so much less effective than 1996 models? The federal government.

It set energy standards for washers in the early 1990s. A decade later, the Department of Energy made those standards significantly more stringent.

To meet the new standards, machine manufacturers began abandoning the traditional top-loaders in favor of front-loading washers, which use less water and, therefore, less energy.

But that also results in less rinsing -- the mother's milk of getting clothes clean!

"The easy stuff like sweat is mostly removed, but all the tough stuff like grease and body oils largely remains," writes Thornton. As a result, people using the new machines end up doing multiple loads with higher water levels or washing the same clothes two or three times -- all of which defeats the government's energy- and water-saving goals.

Washer Troubles

Washing your clothes in cold water is excellent for those who have cold-water detergent, but regular detergent is made to perform best with warm or warm water. When the water temperature of your washer isn't properly regulated your clothes may not be getting as clean as they should.

Focusing on how your washing machine regulates temperature of water will help you determine whether your washer is in working order. Selecting the temperature setting for the wash cycle doesn t ensure the temperature of water is correct.

Water enters your washer from separate cold and hot water taps in your house. Before making any unnecessary repairs, regulate the temperature of those two taps. In summer months your cold water will be warmer compared to winter season, so you won't need the temperature of the hot water tap to be as high. You can adjust the temperature of the warm water tap by adjusting the temperature settings in your furnace or boiler.

After adjusting the water temperature, look into the following:

-Make sure the hot and cold taps are completely open.
-Make sure the temperature selector on your washer is set to the correct setting.
-Make sure the and cold water hoses are correctly attached to your washer.

When the water temperature is still not correct, check the parts within the washer that regulate water temperature. Some washers only allow hot or cold water to flow during certain cycles. Some models switch between cold and hot water, while others allow both hot and cold water to flow simultaneously. (You can also try looking in the washer's manual for additional info on how the water entering your washer is regulated.) The parts responsible for regulating the water temperature are the temperature selector switch and water inlet valve.

The temperature selector switch allows you to choose the temperature from the wash and rinse cycles. Some washers only have several choices of water temperatures, plus some washers have numerous choices. The temperature selector switch includes electrical circuits and contacts that enter and exit depending on the water temperature selected.

Water inlet valve is situated at the rear of your washer and it's connected to the cold and warm water taps in your house. The water inlet valve contains two solenoids sometimes known as coils. One solenoid is perfect for the hot water and something is for the cold water.

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