First time owing a front load washing machine. Do you stuff yours full to the top? Do you press down the clothes to fit in more? Feels like we were getting more into our previous 5.5kg top load than this new 8.5kg front load.
Just Replaced 5.5kg Top Load Washer with 8.5kg Front Loader but It Seems Smaller?
Peter Enis on 21/06/2025 - 20:06
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Went from a 10yr old LG 5.5KG to Chiq 8.5kg washer / 5kg dryer.
https://www.chiq.com.au/products/chiq-8-5kg-washer-dryer-com…Lightly loading the clothes into the barrel as per the instructions.
We have a very small laundry space and being in QLD, only need to use the dryer a few times a year. So this seemed perfect as we get some bench and cupboard space back. But disappointed that the load size seems small.
Or do people just stuff the front loader barrel full?kg is used to measure weight, not volume
Can you check the volume of each?
Old one is gone now. Surely though 8.5kg > 5.5kg load size unless front loader are measured different?
I would have thought so too. Perhaps it is actually bigger (volumetrically). You may just need to stuff the clothes in a bit more so they don't spill out the front and so they can occupy the available volume?
Try this.
Grab a clothes basket. Stand on bathroom scales while holding the basket. Note the weight.
Now fill that clothes basket with a 'full load' about as much as you would have washed in your old top loader. Stand on the bathroom scales while holding the full basket. Note the weight.
The difference in the two weights is approximately the weight of your clothes.
Is it >5.5kg? Is it >8.5kg?
Now try to put them in your new front loader (assuming it's less than 8.5kg of laundry).
Does the dirty laundry physically fit inside? Can you close the door? If yes to both, try running a wash cycle. Did they wash? Did the machine throw any errors or give out?
kg is used to measure weight, not volume
Not when you are shipping things.
https://www.couriersandfreight.com.au/help/cubic-weight-calc…
Kg is still for the weight. They're just assuming some density to convert the volume of a box into a weight without actually weighing it. It sounds like a good deal if you want to ship lead. But a bad deal if you want to ship feathers.
The top loaders use about twice the amount of water, which accounts for a lot of the weight limit.
Lack of basic maths and physics knowledge. Vertical vs horizontal.
Take a storage container and try to fill it in vertical and horizontal positions.
That's why we could not and still cannot make our own brand car and even bankrupted Holdon (fake Opel)!Not denying Holden had some good cars - such as the Apollo and Nova, both great examples.
Maybe if Holden had copied the Japanese instead of slapping their badge on over-engineered German headaches they’d still be making cars.
Maybe if Holden had copied the Japanese instead of slapping their badge on under-engineered Korean headaches they’d still be making cars.
FTFY
I thought Holden is Chevrolet GM , not german ?
The early Commodore was a based off an Opel shitheap. Then they gradually became an Australian design before going full circle and being a fully imported masterpiece of German overengineering.
@JIMB0: Ironically the best thing about VL Commodores was the 3L Nissan engine. Once the head /coolant issue was fixed they were a great power plant. Shower of shit. Most sedans and a back window rust issue. Shit headlights. But a good urbane runaround suitable for the average Joe, in most cases. They sure disappeared quick though.
@Protractor: That's the best engine they ever fitted to a Holden. It's a shame they couldn't design the cooling system properly, the same engine in the Skyline had no issues. The only reason they used an imported Nissan motor is because the old Holden engine was well past it's used by date and would have cost too much to be updated to run on unleaded.
@JIMB0: The height of the radiator VS the head was out enough to create ongoing dramas re air locks and over heating, so they began to crack around the expansion points in the alloy heads. Once that was fixed it was good to go, but piss poor design from the get-go. If you look at the way the VLs front was shaped you can see why the top of the radiator ended up to low. Apples and oranges comparing the old superseded Holden 6 and a Nissan RB. So well built. I guess Nissan had to get something right at some point. The RB 30 was rocket already and with a few mods flew along. They should have stuck with the Nissan six and combined with a better locally designed body shape (based on the slimmer VL shape) rather than the VN onwards ex American bloated crap.
Hold on a minute…
Hold-en a minute!
I'd brush on your English ,punctuation and grammar before you add incorrect historical BS to the already heady mix.
dont front loaders use heaps less water, this could likely mean the drum can be smaller and still fit more clothes
Without being able to measure directly its hard. I feel like you can easily over load on a top loader and use all the space, while a front loader ends up having a lot of free space as the clothes fall down?
I see you question front load VS top load calcs, but part of me wonders if your volume is smaller (but it can hold more weight) due to the dryer internals taking up more spaceI've always suspected washing machine capacities are complete BS and just made up for marketing BUT are you actually checking the size of the load you're putting in? You could've always been overloading the old machine. Further, I believe different cycles are supposed to have different load sizes as well.
Why would you not have sussed all this out pre-purchase?
Maybe their old one died and they were in urgent need of clean clothing? Not everyone lives in povo areas or yuppy inner city areas that have laundromats like an American downtown ghetto.
Right. Not everyone has 5 mins to look online before,during or after purchase, or ask among their peers, either. /s
No ghettos or laundromats when we changed over. Nobody died of soiled clothing in the interim period either.
Not all of us are into hand holding like you,either https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/16646647/redirOP>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWqGfQyWYH0
It doesn't really matter why it was not sussed out pre-purchase, does it?
Not all of us are into hand holding like you,either https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/16646647/redir
Oh I'm sorry. Was the joke was too pointed for the rusty protractor stuck measuring angles over 90 degrees? I'll provide a special simplified version next time to ironically hold your hand.
Recently I've had to use a laundromat**. The local laundromat has a range of sizes of washing machines, by maximum load weight, with increasing prices per load.
What I quickly noticed is that everyone seriously overestimates what weight-size washing machine they have to use and pay for for bulky items.
For example, my neighbours had to wash a quilt. They picked the largest washer, the 30 kg load one and paid accordingly. No-one would want a near 30 kg quilt on top of them in bed. I weighed mine. It was 2 kg. Although bulky it was only a fraction of the maximum load weight of the smallest - 10 kg - washing machine. It simply would not have been able to be fitted into my 4.5 kg washing machine at home.
…………….
**Damn mice, they chew on anything!The difference in size from top load is very obvious when you try to wash quilt in a 8.5kg front load , barely stuff through the door and completely filled up the whole drum hardly spin / tumbles , the quilt just stuck there in the same position turning in circles , not thoroughly cleanse / agitated / rinse by water.
Stuff it really full, but leave enough room at the top for your fist to fit. Don't stuff completely full because it needs room for the clothes to move around when it rotates.
What does the user manual say about loads of the different options? What brand/model is it?