What Cleans Better? Washers with an Agitator vs No Agitator

Keith is here today to show you the difference between a washer that has an agitator and one that has a pulsator or an impeller.



An agitator is what are in older machines, mostly found in top-load washers. They are in the middle of the drum and turn. This allows your clothes to move through the water against each other to get the clothes clean. This method is more aggressive and is better for more dirty clothes.

A pulsator is a newer technology that does not have anything sticking out in the middle of the drum. Instead, in the middle of the drum is a wheel that moves the water. This allows your clothes to rub against each other to get them clean. The method uses friction between the clothes to get them clean. This method is more gentle on your clothes and is better for lighter fabrics. With a pulsator, it will not get stretched out like it would getting caught with an agitator. Without something in the middle of the drum, there is actually more room for your clothes.

The pulsator technology came from the front load washer. Front load washers do not have an agitator either and tumble clothes over each other. The manufacturers took this technology and applied it to the top load washers to improve the machine.

When looking for appliances in your next apartment or condo building, you will have to decide between an agitator or a pulsator washer. We hope that this will help you decide which one might be better for your units.

6 Things You Don't Know About Dishwashers

One of the most convenient things in your home is a dishwasher. If you do not have one in your home, you really are missing out. They can save you money and time and the technology is so great in them that you won’t even hear it running. If you do own a dishwasher, there are items that you wouldn’t even think about washing that are perfect for a cycle. There are other things that you should definitely avoid putting in your dishwasher.

1. Dishwashers are the Future

93% of all newer built homes include a dishwasher. The total number of households who have at least one dishwasher is 60%. If you want to add value to your home or are about to rent out a property, think about installing a dishwasher.

2. Small Spaces

Have a small kitchen? No problem, there’s a dishwasher for you! There are slimmer models and even countertop dishwashers available that are great for smaller spaces.

3. Quiet Technology

The technologies in dishwashers have improved tremendously over the years and have gotten much quieter. There are some dishwashers that are so quiet that you can have it running during a family dinner.

4. Saving Energy, Water, and Money

You can actually save on your water bill over time by using a dishwasher rather than washing by hand every time. Dishwashers made before 1994 take more energy than some of the newer models. So it is a good idea to upgrade if you have a dishwasher older than 1994. You can even save more energy and money in the long run with energy efficiency rating dishwashers.

5. Other Things to Wash

You can wash more in your dishwasher than just dishes to make your life a little easier. Here are a few other things you can wash in your dishwasher: baby toys, baseball caps, sink and bath mats, combs, toothbrushes, sponges, dish scrubbers and starch pads, light fixtures, and more.

6. What Not to Wash

On the other side, there are a couple of things that you should not try and wash in a normal dishwasher. Such as wooden items, tin, antique or lightweight crystal, cast-iron pans, hand-painted or antique china, gold-plated dishes, and other fragile items. There are a couple of different high-end dishwashers that can handle some more fragile items, but be very cautious and check in with your appliance store to check the model specks.

We hope that this will help you decide to invest in a dishwasher or try cleaning new things. If you have any question about your dishwasher leave it in the comments section or give one of our stores a call.

Kitchen Disposal Advice

Industry standard: Keep your dishwasher and garbage disposal approximately the same age. The performance of each, go hand in hand. If one is not functioning as designed it will age or limit performance of the other.

Things you SHOULD be doing:

• Proper use and conducting regular maintenance of your garbage disposal will help it last longer and prevent plumbing emergencies in your Colorado home.
• Run your garbage disposal on a regular basis. Infrequent use can cause rust, corrosion, and clogs.
• Putting ice cubes through the garbage disposal will keep the blades sharp and clean. Once in awhile, freeze vinegar into cubes and run those through as well.
• Keep it clean – run lemon and orange peels through the drain. The citrus will clean the garbage disposal and leave it smelling fresh.
• Use only cold water at full blast when running the garbage disposal, and keep your garbage disposal running until all the food has been ground up. Continue to let the water run for another minute to ensure all food particles have been flushed out.
• Run your dishwasher AFTER using your garbage disposal. Dishwashers and garbage disposals drain into the same pipe, so using the garbage disposal beforehand will ensure the pipe is clear.

Things you should NEVER do:

• The garbage disposal should NEVER be used for any non-food product that is not bio-degradable. Save yourself from having to call a handyman or plumber by following these guidelines.
• NEVER pour coffee grounds, grease, fats or oil down the drain. These will build up in the pipes and cause blockages.
• NEVER use the garbage disposal to grind fibrous foods (corn husks, onion peels, celery stalks, etc). These fibers will get wrapped around the blades and cause the motor to burn out.
• NEVER pour any chemicals down the disposal. If you must use one, choose Borax.  Harsh chemicals can cause damage to pipes and blades.

Things to Remember:

• NEVER stick your hand down the garbage disposal without first unplugging it. Once it’s been unplugged, wear safety gloves and goggles to protect yourself.
• If something has fallen into the disposal, try alternate options first. Use an extra long pair of needle-nose pliers or a bent wire hanger to remove the object.

The Self-Clean Feature May be the Reason Behind Your Next Service Call

Should I try the oven’s self-clean or use a little elbow grease?

It’s a terrible irony but using the self-clean feature on your range may significantly shorten its life span. Simply put, the electronics in today’s ranges often can’t handle the high temps reached (upwards of 1,000 degrees) during the cleaning cycle and the motherboard burns out or a fuse blows.

Most ranges today utilize hidden bake elements which compound the issue by trapping heat and limiting circulation. Using the self-clean feature does not guarantee mayhem will ensue but it increases the likelihood. It could happen the first time the feature is used, the tenth time, or it may never happen at all. However, that the self-clean feature is leading to more service calls on ranges cannot be denied.

Though consumers are not willing to purchase manual clean ovens, this isn’t exactly a catch 22. For example, you can still clean your self-breaking using LG’s “Easy Clean” feature, which takes advantage of LG’s new oven cavity enamel to help lift drops of cheese or light splatter using water for a 20 minute cycle, which loosens soils before hand-cleaning.

KitchenAid’s “Steam Clean” feature also removes light food spills and saves time and energy compared to a traditional self-clean feature. Similarly, 10 ounces of water is added to the base of the oven for a 20 minute cleaning cycle before it’s advised that a sponge be used to wipe the interior clean.

The “Easy” and steam cleans of the world are effective, but do require a little more of that elbow grease than simply wiping out ash, but it’s not much more. The real trick is not letting food spills build up in the first place. It’s funny – how many of us bought a self-cleaning range and have yet to use that feature anyway? Guilty.  

Why is it so important to inspect a dryer vent?

How do you inspect a dryer vent?

Dryer vents clogged with lint are the cause of an estimated 15,000 house fires each year. There are three parts to the dryer heat exhaust system:

1. The transition duct from the dryer to the permanently installed vent
2. The hard metal vent duct itself
3. The duct termination. Let’s start with the transition duct, and a list of what we look for:

• The transition duct should be securely connected to the dryer at one end and the vent duct at the other.
•  It should not be crimped, damaged, and be a single length not longer than eight feet. Two transition ducts connected together are not allowed.
• The transition duct should be ul rated. We look for the ul sticker (ul 2158a), but it is not always visible. Unrated plastic foil vents are not acceptable and a fire hazard.
• The entire length of the transition duct should be visible. It cannot run through a wall, floor, or any other construction.
• Lint and dust buildup behind the dryer is an indication that the transition duct is damaged or not securely connected, and the lint should be removed when the transition duct is repaired.

What to check at the vent duct:

• Duct should be a stiff metal (minimum 0.016 inch thick) with a smooth interior surface. Ribbed ducts are no longer acceptable and are noted as a safety defect.
• Connections of duct sections cannot be made with sheet metal screws that stick into the duct.
• The maximum length of a straight duct is 25 feet, with a 5 foot reduction for each 90-degree bend and a 2.5 foot reduction for each 45-degree bend. The 25-foot length restriction does not include the transition duct.

The Duct Termination:

• Ducts must terminate at the exterior of the home, not in an attic, crawl space, or—worst of all—interior wall. A clothes dryer can exhaust as much as a gallon of water as vapor that will condense on the surfaces of an enclosed space and lead to mold infestation. Many mobile home manufacturers put a sticker at the dryer location in the laundry like the one above, because termination under a home is such a problem.
• The termination should have a back-draft damper, typically a set of louvers that open under hot air flow, and should not have any type of screen in place.
• Dryer vent should not terminate within three feet of any door or window openings into the home. Also, although it is not mentioned in the building code, locating a dryer vent termination directly behind an air conditioning condenser is problematic because the escaping lint collects on the condenser coils and eventually clogs them.
• The building code defers to the dryer and vent manufacturers regarding length and size of ducts, so exceptions to some of the standards may be allowed per manufacturer. For more information on dryer vent sizing, see our blog post  “what is the maximum length for a clothes dryer vent?”
• Maintenance and regular cleaning of the lint at the filter screen at the dryer and the duct interior is also important. The consumer products safety commission provides fire prevention guidelines for dryer maintenance in their fact sheet below.