What is a front-loading washing machine and how does it work?
As the name implies, clothes are loaded via a front, see-through door instead of a top, metal lid. In a conventional top loader, a large, central agitator moves the clothes through a vertical drum full of water. In a front loader, the horizontal drum itself moves (there’s no agitator) in a tumbling action, with the clothes lifted in and out of a much smaller amount of water. The spin cycles in a front-loading machine are also at much higher speeds, so clothes come out containing less moisture and thus need less time in the clothes dryer, providing additional energy savings. Front-loading machines have long been used in Europe, and the technology is well established.
