A modern washer adds a great deal of convenience to the home. It has powerful and varied wash cycles and advanced features to remove stains and odors. The best appliances can wash clothes at a much faster pace than older generations. But when the washer seems to take too long to complete a wash cycle, it can be a frustrating experience. In this article, we will look at some possible causes and how you can deal with this problem.
Load Sense Systems
Many modern washers have a “Load Sense” feature or something similar. This automatic sensing system examines each load and makes adjustments to improve efficiency. The laundry is weighed before the commencement of the wash cycle, and the times are altered to save water. In theory, this is an excellent feature, but certain conditions can alter its effectiveness and extend its lifespan.
For example, if you’ve mixed bulky and lighter items with weight variations from pre-soaking, it’s all too easy to extend the wash cycle length for no good reason. This is a considerable problem for top-load appliances that need to rebalance automatically by filling with water. This will promote effective washing and separate the clothes, but it can add a lot of time, which uses more power, too.
A Malfunctioning Load Sense System
If the load sense system is malfunctioning, this will exacerbate the problem and routinely increase the wash load times. Even if the clothing density and distribution are diligent, there could be a tendency towards very long cycles due to a lack of automatic adjustment. The fabrics may not be sufficiently clean even after extended washing, which makes the entire process a waste of time and energy.
If the load sense is faulty, this can indicate a control board problem. Some tests will be needed to find the right repair or replacement strategy to restore full functionality to the load sense system. This is a job for a professional appliance technician; they have the skills, experience, and equipment to resolve this problem safely and quickly.
Adding Too Much Detergent
We live in a society that encourages more, which is always a better approach to resolving problems quickly. But, all too often, this is the wrong approach, which usually worsens the situation. This is especially true regarding laundry detergent and modern washing ¡g machines. We rely on detergent in various formats to clean our clothes, but if we add too much, we could extend the wash cycle times.
A heavy dose of detergent will take longer to rinse out of the fabrics. The washer is likely to have a sensor that detects the concentration of detergent in the drained water. This is designed to improve the rinse cycle and ensure that the fabrics are properly cleaned and rinsed before the spin cycle begins. Removing those excess soap suds can take a lot of extra time, use more energy, and degrade the washer’s efficiency.
Mixing Fabric Densities
Most busy people sort their laundry by color only, and they don’t pay much attention to the varying densities of the fabrics. This is understandable; it’s how we’re taught to extend the lifespan of our clothes, but it can also extend the wash cycle times.
Tossing a heavy towel in with t-shirts in similar colors may seem obvious, but that towel will be much heavier when wet. The washer may not detect these weight variances when the fabrics are dry because it’s not as noticeable at that stage. When the water is introduced, those fabrics that are heavy or designed to soak up water will get much wetter, and as a consequence, they will be heavier. At this point, the wash cycle will be adjusted to compensate, extending the length of the wash cycle. This will promote improved washing, but it can be frustrating if you expect a wash cycle to finish sooner.
To prevent this problem, avoid mixing extreme fabric densities in the same load. Sure, washing a bunch of towels will always take longer, but there’s no need to wait a long time to wash a regular load of lighter clothes. Bear in mind that even a single heavy towel or similar item could extend the time of what should be a typical wash cycle length!
A Faulty Water Inlet
The water inlet valve allows water to be pumped into the washing machine. If this part has failed and sufficient water pressure cannot reach the machine, the time to fill the washer with water will be extended. An internal sensor detects when there is enough water in the washer to begin the wash cycle. This is a relatively simple fix, yet it can add unnecessary time to every wash cycle until the problem is corrected.
If you’ve turned off the water to the washer recently, you should check that the valves are fully open. Even partially closed valves will decrease the water flow to the water inlet valve. If this doesn’t fix the issue, look at the solenoids on the water inlet valve to check that they are working properly. If either of these components is faulty, you should replace them entirely.
Hard Water Issues
Those with hard water will fully understand the impact on many aspects of their home life. This includes longer wash cycles due to obstruction caused by the accumulation of minerals. These materials can also be found inside the water hoses and the water inlet valve filters. Cleaning the components and hoses is impractical; replace them to get the water flowing again. The problem will always return unless the underlying cause is addressed and you add a water softener or other solution. This makes sense because hard water can cut the lifespan of water-using appliances in half.
3 Ways to Shorten Wash Cycles
There are three easy ways to shorten your wash cycles. They are:
- Washing Items with Similar Densities: We covered this earlier, but it bears repeating because it can significantly affect the wash cycle length. Organize your washing loads by density to avoid confusion in the load sense system. When the time calculations can be made more accurately, the wash cycle times are shorter.
- Avoid Washing Machine Overloading: When the appliance is overloaded, there’s an increased risk that the machine will become unbalanced throughout the wash cycle. Many modern machines will use an automatic process to redistribute the laundry load. However, other models may shut down automatically if the sensors detect that the load is too unbalanced for the washer. This can force a hard reset; the wash cycle could start over from the beginning, which lengthens the cycle time.
- Consider Your Options: If you’ve changed how you use detergent, sorted your laundry loads by density, and avoided overloading, what’s next? If the problem persists, there’s likely an underlying issue extending the wash cycle. In some cases, this can be pretty easy to diagnose; a prime example would be complex water mineral accumulation in the water inlet valve. However, if the problem lies in the control panel or the appliance itself, it will be much harder to identify. This is when you should contact an appliance repair specialist to look at your washer to find the fault(s) and fix them for you.
Front vs. Top Loading Washers
It’s essential to remember that a front-load washer will tend to have a longer wash cycle than a top-loading model. There is much debate on this topic, but older front-loading machines tend to be especially prone to unnecessarily long wash cycle issues. Top load models tend to be equipped with an agitator with a wash motion that speeds up the process. However, there is a drawback because this process can be more complicated on fabrics, which may degrade them faster in the medium to long term. Front-load washers use gravity in combination with an impeller-based system. This gentler process can make the fabrics cleaner without being too harsh. But, the tradeoff is that the wash cycles will be longer by design.
In Conclusion
If you follow the simple tips in the article and plan the laundry loads properly, you may be able to significantly shorten the wash cycle times. It may even be possible to finish multiple loads with the dryer finishing simultaneously with the washer. Modern appliances are complex; automatic balancing and sensor systems are a great way to improve efficiency. However, they can be confused or fail, leading to longer wash cycles that cannot be shortened with lifestyle changes. If you cannot shorten the wash cycle times, contact an appliance repair specialist to find the root cause and fix the problem.
