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I've always wondered, since we only have front-load washers here in the UK, is there some sort of advantage to it, aside from space, which seems to be the obvious one, does gravity help with battering the clothes around when the drum spins slowly enough they can fall from the top of the drum?

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Front loaders are gentler on clothes, use a lot less water, use a lot less energy, and spin faster in the spin cycle so there is less work for your dryer if you use one.

Top loaders are easier to load and unload, cheaper, and slightly easier to maintain.

With front loaders you should wipe the gasket after use because water left in its folds can promote mold and odors. With both you should leave the door open when not in use so air can circulate in the drum. With a front loader the open door can get in the way and is easier to accidentally close.

Front loaders are easier to stack.

Interesting, thanks, I had no idea about much of this, I was aware of the door/mould thing, and stacking, though it's not something I've ever seen done here in the UK personally.

As a "typical" British household, we don't use a dryer, don't even own one in fact, we just hang our clothes to dry, which always struck me as ironic for such a humid, cold country, with smaller (than the US) homes and thus less space to hang stuff to dry.

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