On Mon, 03 Apr 2006 13:57:56 -0400, "Percival P. Cassidy"
wrote:

It's important to use the HE stuff. The regular detergents foam/suds
excessively and can get into the bearings, resulting in an expensive
repair. I don't see that simply using a small quantity of regular
detergent will work (despite what another contributor to this thread
says): it's likely to have insufficient cleaning power to do the job.

Regarding "insufficient cleaning power to do the job," I have not
noticed same in my experience (assuming I'm the other contributor you
mention), and I *CAN* say that most, if not all, soap manufacturers
want you to use as much soap as they can con you into using. Think
about shampoo! Lather, rinse, repeat! Same concept, and in all
honesty, the instructions probably call for double the soap actually
needed. My strategy so far hasn't had any deleterious effects over
the 3 years we've had our Frigidaire Gallery front loader. But if
BJ's ever shows an HE detergent marked way down, I'll buy that. Why
not?