I have a frontloader and have always had a frontloader. So did my parents. My grandfather worked for Westinghouse back in the day (1920-1958) and for years Westinghouse held the patent for frontloaders so it was the only machine you could buy. . . . and we all bought Westinghouse appliances out of solidarity with Papa.
Once the patent ran out, everybody started making them. That occurred at least a decade before all this energy efficiency mandate business.
The article says: "front-loaders are expensive, often have mold problems, and don't let you toss in a wayward sock after they've started."
They tend to be more expensive because they're more expensive to make, but we've never had a mold problem (you just leave the door cracked open - just like you leave the door up on a toploader), and you CAN toss in more laundry - there's an "add an item" button which pauses the machine while you throw in more stuff. Then you just hit "start" again and it picks up where it left off. Of course, you can't throw in more stuff after a certain point in the wash cycle (duh).
Front loaders have a couple of real advantages over the toploaders - (1) they don't beat your clothes to pieces (no agitator vane). I have oxford shirts, polos, and dress khakis that are 10 years old or more, a bit faded but perfectly wearable. When we visit my mother in law (who has a top loader), you can SEE the extra damage to the clothes after a couple of runs through her machine. (2) they get the clothes cleaner. They are especially good at removing solid particles like sand and grit, and I really appreciate that because I train retrievers and everything (clothes, bedding, towels) gets muddy and dirty dealing with farm ponds and red mud.
I think the writer is exaggerating for effect.
Also, I haven't trusted Consumer Reports in years. Anything I have enough independent knowledge of to judge, they are often dead wrong. They used to be pretty reliable, I have no idea what's happened. I cancelled my subscription about 3 years ago and never looked back.
You are quite correct that front-loaders are in general a superior technology.
Most will develop mold if you don’t leave the door ajar, which it appears most people won’t.
Another way to vastly improve the life of clothes, particularly the more delicate items such as shirts, is to only run them in the dryer for about five minutes, then hang them damp to finish drying. All that “dryer lint” is actually just your clothes wearing out!
I believe my shirts last about twice as long by doing this.
A bit maybe, but both my daughters bought HE front loaders (2 different brands) and are unhappy with both the performance and the reliability.
One daughter even left her beautiful looking HE front loader behind when they sold the house and bought a beat up used Maytag top loader like I told her to for the new house. She's a happy camper now, even if her laundry room doesn't look as stylish.
My Sears best front loader simply will not get my clothes clean. It kinda dampens the clothes and tosses them around for a while and spins out the quart of water it used.
My old top loader would fill with hot water so I could let the really dirty stuff soak and then run it. did an excellent job!