When you shop for a new washer, one thing that is important to do is to thoroughly evaluate each of the settings that the machine offers. You'll typically find that most machines have a number of different settings—each of which you may use at different times during the machine's life. One common setting is an extra rinse cycle. As its name suggests, activating this setting means that your clothing will go through a conventional rinse cycle toward the end of the load, and then go through a second rinse cycle immediately thereafter. It's ideal to buy a machine that has this setting, as you may wish to use it on these occasions:
Pet Hair
When you own a pet that sheds, its hair can thoroughly cover many of your articles of clothing. You may even find that strands of hair are able to weave through the fabric in sweaters and T-shirts. Placing these garments in your new washing machine will remove most of the hair, but having an extra rinse cycle will be valuable. In the event that the machine's first rinse cycle doesn't remove every strand of hair, the second cycle should be effective for getting rid of the stubborn ones.
Skin Sensitivity
If you or a member of your family suffers from sensitive skin, you may have previously encountered problems when a small bit of laundry detergent remained on one of your pieces of clothing. The detergent could have transferred to your skin when you wore the garment and caused itching or other irritations. A good solution to this issue is to ensure that your new washing machine has an extra rinse cycle. By running this cycle whenever you do a load of laundry, you'll dramatically cut down on the risk of any detergent remaining behind on your clothing.
Extra Detergent
If your family's clothing is often heavily soiled—something that can be the case when you have children who play outside in the grass and dirt—you might sometimes add extra detergent to a load of laundry. While the extra detergent can be useful for removing stains on the clothing, a single rinse cycle may not be sufficient for washing all the detergent away. In this scenario, you'll want to have a machine that has an extra rinse cycle. Visit an appliance dealer that specializes in washing machines so that you can browse several models, including those that have an extra rinse setting.