Editing Washing machine (section)

===Front-loading===
{{anchor|Frontloader}}
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[[File:WashingMachine, manufactured by ArcticRomania.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Arctic S.A.|Arctic]] BE1200A+ is a front-loading budget model sold in 2008 with {{convert|6|kg|adj=on}} load, LCD indicator, operating up to 1200 RPM.]]
[[File:Drum of a washing machine (Bosch Maxx WFO 2440).jpg|thumb|Modern drum of front-loading washing machine (Bosch Maxx WFO 2440)]]
The front-loading or horizontal-axis clothes washer is the dominant design in Europe and in most parts of the world. In the United States and Canada, most "high-end" washing machines are of this type. In addition, most commercial and industrial clothes washers around the world are of the horizontal-axis design.

This layout mounts the inner drum and outer drum horizontally, and loading is through a door at the front of the machine. The door often but not always contains a transparent window. Agitation is supplied by the back-and-forth rotation of the cylinder and by gravity. The clothes are lifted by paddles on the inside wall of the drum and then dropped. This motion flexes the weave of the fabric and forces water and detergent solution through the clothes load. Because the wash action does not require the clothing to be freely suspended in water, only enough water is needed to moisten the fabric. Because less water is required, front-loaders typically use less soap, and the repeated dropping and folding action of the tumbling can easily produce large amounts of foam or suds.

Front-loaders control water usage through the [[surface tension]] of water, and the [[capillary action|capillary wicking action]] this creates in the fabric weave. A front-loader washer always fills to the same low water level, but a large pile of dry clothing standing in water will soak up the moisture, causing the water level to drop. The washer then refills to maintain the original water level. Because it takes time for this water absorption to occur with a motionless pile of fabric, nearly all front-loaders begin the washing process by slowly tumbling the clothing under the stream of water entering and filling the drum, to rapidly saturate the clothes with water.

Compared to top-loading washers, clothing can be packed more tightly in a front loader, up to the full drum volume if using a cotton wash cycle. This is because wet cloth usually fits into a smaller space than dry cloth, and front-loaders can self-regulate the water needed to achieve correct washing and rinsing. However, extreme overloading of front-loading washers pushes fabrics towards the small gap between the loading door and the front of the inner drum, potentially resulting in fabrics lost between the inner drum and outer tub, and in severe cases, tearing of clothing and jamming the motion of the inner drum.

====Mechanical aspects====
Front-loading washers are mechanically simple compared to top-loaders, with the main motor (a [[universal motor]] or [[variable-frequency drive]] motor) normally being connected to the drum via a grooved pulley belt and large [[pulley]] wheel without the need for a gearbox, clutch or crank. The action of a front-loading washing machine is better suited to a motor capable of reversing direction with every reversal of the wash drum; a universal motor is noisier, less efficient, and does not last as long, but is better suited to the task of reversing direction every few seconds. Some models, such as those by [[LG Electronics|LG]], use a motor directly connected to the drum, eliminating the need for a belt and pulley.

However, front-load washers suffer from their own technical challenges due to the horizontal disposition of the drum. A top-loading washer keeps water inside the tub merely through the force of [[gravity]] pulling down on the water, while a front-loader must tightly seal the door with a [[gasket]] to prevent water dripping onto the floor during the wash cycle. This access door is locked shut with an [[interlock|interlocking device]] during the entire wash cycle, since opening the door with the machine in use could result in water gushing onto the floor. If this interlock is broken for any reason, such a machine stops operation, even if this failure happens mid-cycle. In most machines, the interlock is usually doubly redundant to prevent either opening with the drum full of water or being opened during the spin cycle. For front-loaders without viewing windows on the door, it is possible to accidentally pinch the fabric between the door and the drum, resulting in tearing and damage to the pinched clothing during tumbling and spinning.

Nearly all front-loader washers for the consumer market also use a folded flexible [[bellows]] assembly around the door opening to keep clothing contained inside the drum during the tumbling wash cycle. If this bellows assembly were not used, small articles of clothing such as socks could slip out of the wash drum near the door and fall down the narrow slot between the outer and inner drums, plugging the drain and possibly jamming rotation of the inner drum. Retrieving lost items from between the outer drum and inner drum can require complete disassembly of the front of the washer and pulling out the entire inner wash drum. Commercial and industrial front-loaders used by businesses (described below) usually do not use the bellows, but instead require all small objects to be placed in a mesh bag to prevent loss near the drum opening.