How big is a 4.2 cubic foot washer

1.0 out of 5 stars Wouldn't buy again or recommend. Don't buy this is you want enough water to cover your load.
By Sandi Bird Aldridge on December 9, 2020

The best thing about this washer was the two wonderful delivery guys who provided excellent service and made sure the washer was plugged in and running before they left. They communicated with me on delivery day and showed up exactly when they said they world.

Having said that. I don't remember ever doing a heavily negative review, but I'm completely dissatisfied with this washing machine, which is so disappointing, since I've never owned a new washing machine before. I had no idea that "Auto Load Sensing" meant that I would both (a) have absolutely NO control over the water level in my machine, and that (b) the "auto sensed" water levels wouldn't be high enough to cover the clothes in the drum.

On most loads, if I fill the drum more that 25% of the load capacity, I literally have to stand there and fill the machine by hand from the bathroom sink or there isn't enough water to cover my clothing. I've had clothing go through full wash/rinse cycles with parts still dry and with detergent still on them/on the drum.

I've uploaded several pictures. The pictures 2 and 5 show a load of "Bulky/Bedding" which is an option on the load type knob. There is no way to manually adjust the water level. For the First full wash/2-rinse cycle I didn't realize that my bedding wasn't submerged--I didn't buy a new washing machine to have to stand there and babysit it. I tried running another full wash/rinse cycle. For this load, I stopped the machine before it started "agitating" and filled the water manually to cover my clothes. My plan was to stop it again on the rinse to do the same. By the time the water filled for the rinse, it "agitated" a few times, and then started draining to spin. It took me THREE full wash/rinse cycles to finally get enough water in manually (2 quarts at a time from the sink) to wash the soap powder off of my bedding.

Even small loads don't get enough water to cover them. Pictures 3 and 6 show the size load and a close-up of the water level. I had to manually fill it again to cover the clothes.

If you want to soak your clothes for a while before washing, don't bother trying. There is a Soak setting. In my old-fashioned mind, "Soak" means that the washer fills with water and just sits there SOAKING the clothes until I tell it to do otherwise. Nope! Soak to this Kenmore means fill with a little bit of water, agitate a little bit, and then DRAIN. And you can't bypass that by just telling the machine to STOP, because after 3 minutes of being stopped, it drains on its own.

Okay, I thought maybe the "Deep Wash" setting might mean I could get a deeper water level... I tried this on my bedding. Silly me! Despite the fact that the Owner's Manual STATES, "Provides additional water and alternating wash action for heavily soiled mixed loads. Water-level sensing process may take longer for some items than for others because they will absorb more water than other fabric types." there was No...More...Water. My clothes were still not submerged.

I can't even rate this an "energy efficient" appliance, because I've had to run so many extra cycles to get things clean!

There are a couple "pros" if you can overlook the fact that you either stand by the machine the entire cycle to manually fill it or you don't get clean clothing. The 4.3 cu ft drum is really big, so it will hold large loads, and the impeller-style means that you can actually put bedding, pillows, or rugs in without them being damaged by an agitator.

Frequently asked questions on washing machines and load sizes

How big is a load of laundry?

You have a medium or regular load if the drum is around half full, for a large load you’ll have to fill it until three-quarters full, and if you have even more laundry to do, fill it up until you can fit your palm between the wall of the drum and your clothes.

How big is a small load of laundry?

Anything that’s smaller than a medium load—when the machine’s drum is half full—can be considered small. If you have nothing else to add to the load, see if your machine has a half-load setting to conserve water.

How much laundry can I put in a top loader?

Every machine is different when it comes to the load sizes they can handle. Top loaders are usually not as large as front-loading machines, so a full load would be about 12 pounds of laundry. Make sure to check the washer’s capacity recommendation for the exact amount.

How many towels can I wash in one load?

If you know the load size your washing machine can take, it’s easy to calculate. A small towel weighs about a half pound, and a large towel is about one and a half pounds.

How do I know my washer’s load size?

Generally if your machine is half full, you have a medium load. A large load fills it up until three-quarters full, and anything above that is considered extra large.

What is a normal size load of laundry?

A medium, large, or extra-large load of laundry can all be considered normal, just make sure you don’t overload your machine. Check out our infographic in one of the previous sections to find out what makes up a load.

Is a 4.2 washer big enough?

Can you wash a king size comforter in a 4.3 cu ft washer?

Is 4 cubic feet a big washer?

What size washer does a family of 4 need?