Peckish

Putting aside any questions about how a washer made your quilt fade... my answer is hands down, a Speed Queen!! I watched and researched for about 4 years, just waiting for my front loader to die. There are videos on Youtube where you can watch an entire cycle of many different machines - how they agitate, how full they get, etc. As a quilter, I knew I wanted a top-loader that had an option of completely filling the tub with water. I got the model TC5000. It's a workhorse. Our clothes now actually smell clean.
I have a quilt top I made years ago, before I knew one of the fabrics was a bleeder. I had to decide if I wanted to quilt it and *then* treat the bleed, or fix the bleed first, then quilt it. If I quilted it first, I'd have to deal with the extra weight of the batting and backing. If I didn't quilt it first, I'd end up with a mess of knots from the raw edges on the back of the quilt top. I decided to fix it before quilting. I filled the Speed Queen with hot water and a dab of detergent, put the top in. After it stopped filling but before it started agitating, I quickly unplugged the washing machine. I let it sit overnight, then plugged it back in and held down the cancel button. After the cycle canceled, I then hit the drain-and-spin button, which it did, and when it was finished I laid the top out on the family room floor to dry. All my bleeding fabric was fixed, and there were *no* loose threads or knots from the raw seams on the back. I was so happy!