Results may very. I wanted to love the front loaders too. I had no problems with mold smells and quickly figured out how little soap I needed. It was great for comforters, towels and jeans but all other clothing wore out far more quickly with the front loaders. It was most obvious with husbands work clothes (dress shirt and pants). His shirt colors and cuffs (sleeves) would get frayed within a year to fifteen months. His dress pants wore out and faded super quickly - just don't remember how fast. I had one new shirt get knotted up with one of his shirts and ruined it after I wore it twice. I don't mix heavy items with regular weight items: so a load of dress shirt and pants - was wearing out faster with front loader than a top loader. I tried all sorts of loading strategies and different wash cycles to attempt to get the front load washer to stop beating up and wearing out my clothes so fast but in the end, I had to concede defeat and go back to a top loader. The only inconvenience is washing bulky comforters has to be done at the laundry mat. We live in an area with ample water supply, the water isn't cheap but neither are the clothes. If you like buying a new wardrobe on an annual basis, then go for a front loader. Ugh - I just remembered it ripped a comforter once and split the entire side of a washable pillow. I don't miss the 2 to 3 hour wash cycles either.