Originally Posted by
charlottequilts
I am curious as to why you think that. Wouldn't it be harder on the stitches with the batting heavy and wet, as it lifts up and then down?
Central agitators are notorious for twisting whatever is in them, which is why they can be hard on quilts if you don't skip the agitation cycles. Several Europeans I know who moved to the U.S. complained about the central agitators, as they are much harder on clothing than front-loaders -- the twisting and pilling (from excessive abrasion) take the "new" look out of clothing fast compared to front-loaders.
The falling of a quilt in a front-loader is not hard on the stitches, especially compared to the stress on the stitches if a quilt is twisted or hung on a clothesline (continuous water weight on the specific stitches on the line).
Some of the newer domestic top-loaders do not have the central agitator, and these are probably easier on quilts too, but I am not familiar with those.