The tech behind our washing machine testing (pictures)

Sewing a stain strip onto a hand towel before a cleaning cycle.

A mechanical action strip before and after a cleaning cycle.

Using the colorimeter to measure stain removal.

The colorimeter measures percent reflectance.

The higher the percent, the better the machine's cleaning performance.

A stain strip before and after a cleaning cycle.

Measuring the number of attached strings on the mechanical action strip at or over 2 millimeters.

The higher the tally, the rougher the machine was on the clothes.

The tech behind one of our two washing machine test stations, complete with a hot and a cold flow meter, a water temperature sensor, a water pressure sensor and more.